Donovan Tildesley
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname | Big D | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 24, 1984 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 166 cm (5.45 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Medley Freestyle Butterfly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of British Columbia Dolphins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Donovan Tildesley (born July 24, 1984) is a retired blind Canadian swimmer. He was the flag bearer of Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games.[1]
Swimming career
[edit | edit source]He started swimming at the age of nine.[2] Until 2000, he had swum in many provincial and national competitions, setting many Canadian records.[2]
He is the current world record holder for the 800-metre freestyle[3] and the 1500-metre freestyle.[3]
Personal life and education
[edit | edit source]Tildesley graduated from the University of British Columbia in spring 2008 with an English degree[4] Donovan works full-time as an insurance broker for Buntain Insurance Agencies in Vancouver.[5] He also does public speaking and is a co-owner of a small radio station in Whistler, British Columbia.[4] In May 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Tildesley advocated for blind British Columbians to be given vaccine priority similar to vulnerable groups with other medical conditions.[5] Donovan is also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and is currently contracted with Virgin Cruise Lines as an Accessibility Consultant. In 2024, Tildesley portrayed a blind veteran and lent his voice for the end narration of a Heritage Minute honouring Edwin Baker.[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [dead link]
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [dead link]
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
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- 1984 births
- Living people
- Paralympic swimmers for Canada
- Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic silver medalists for Canada
- Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada
- Swimmers from Vancouver
- World record holders in paralympic swimming
- Paralympic swimmers with a vision impairment
- University of British Columbia alumni
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- S11-classified para swimmers
- St. George's School (Vancouver) alumni
- Paralympic medalists in swimming
- Canadian male medley swimmers
- Canadian male freestyle swimmers
- Canadian male butterfly swimmers
- Canadian blind people
- Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Parapan American Games medalists in swimming
- Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games
- Parapan American Games gold medalists for Canada
- 21st-century Canadian sportsmen
- Canadian swimming biography stubs
- Canadian Paralympic medalist stubs