Michael Wilkinson is a member of Canada's strong rowing team which is projected to medal at these Games. He is competing in men's double skulls. Rowing is a family affair for the Wilkinsons as his sister, Lauren is on the Women's 8 team. This is the 25 year old's first Games.
Summer Mortimer is a Paralympic Swimmer who hails from nearby Ancaster. She's earned her nickname The Storm because of her strength and force. She had a trampoline accident that left her with no range of motion in her feet. She is the world record holder in 5 different races. Her family is part of the swimming industry so she was brought up in the water. She trains year round 6 days in the pool and 4 in the gym. She admits that she's driven, saying "Can't is not a word in my vocabulary".
She competed in the 2008 Olympic trials. This all changed with her accident when she missed a foam pit coming off a trampoline and crushed the bones in her feet. Following this, she spent 6 months in a wheelchair with Drs considering amputating her feet. It wasn't clear that she would walk again, but she did. She says, “I feel going from able bodied to para has allowed me to be grateful, even when my feet hurt and I don’t want to get in the pool, it could have been a lot worse; I could have died had I landed within an inch of where I did. I try to look at the positive side. I try to be optimistic. (http://www.toronto2015.org/lang/en/gallery/news/the-pain-filled-road-to-crushing-world-records-one-athletes-story.html)”
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