Mortimer began swimming at age two; At age nine, she began swimming competitively. She is classified SM10, the least-disabled
paraswimming classification. SM10 is open to those with "very minimal weakness affecting the legs; Swimmers with restriction of hip joint movement; Swimmers with both feet deformed; Swimmers with one leg amputated below the knee; Swimmers missing one hand. This is the class with the most physical ability".
Paraswimming for Canada A serious injury at a competitive trampolining event shattered most of the bones in Mortimer's feet; she was nationally ranked in the sport. Mortimer wears an elastic band which she snaps when aware of a negative thought; "incredibly hard on myself", it helps her realize the frequency of her "down" thinking and changes her mental perspective. At the April 2012 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials in Montreal, Mortimer aimed to lower her world record in the 50-metre freestyle from 28.30 seconds to about 28.27; she finished in 28.17 seconds. Between the Trials and the Paralympics, she won the 100-metre backstroke in July at the
Canada Cup; this result surprised Mortimer, who had a "rough time" with her feet the previous month. That month, she also won the women's 100-metre S10 at the
Speedo Paraswimming CAN-AM in
Winnipeg.
London Paralympics , where Mortimer won four Paralympic medals Mortimer qualified for six women's SM10 events at the 2012 London Paralympics—the 200-metre
individual medley,
4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34pts, 4 × 100 m
medley relay, 50- and 100-metre freestyle and 100-metre backstroke—and expectations for her were high. For a half-hour before the competition, Mortimer was "bawling her eyes out"; In the
100-metre freestyle (her final solo event) Mortimer finished third, 0.69 second behind Mortimer's bronze was Canada's only medal on day nine of the competition. With
Katarina Roxon,
Morgan Bird and
Brianna Nelson in the medley relay, Mortimer's team finished seventh and last. Her times of 32.35 for the 50-metre and 1:06.37 for the 100-metre were the fastest for her legs of the events. At the 2012 Olympics, Mortimer's four medals were the most for any Canadian athlete or para-athlete.
After London Following Mortimer's last individual event at London she said that although she intended to try for the
2013 World Aquatics Championships, the
2015 Parapan American Games, and the
2016 Paralympics, For the event, Paralympic athletes were given rooms at a hotel on the outskirts of Toronto while Olympic athletes were housed downtown and received gifts; at a dinner, the Paralympians were relegated to a different dining room. A
Canadian Paralympic Committee spokesperson told
The Spectator that the committee scrambled during the Paralympics to have their athletes included, and with their limited funding they could not afford the perks received by the Olympic athletes. Mortimer receives honorariums for these appearances, and hoped to earn $3,000 in speaking fees in 2012. assisted with the post-position draw at the
Pattison Canadian International Championship Stakes, and has appeared in publicity photo shoots. Competitive-swimwear manufacturer
Arena sponsors Mortimer. In November 2012, she went public about her and her uncle's difficulty in finding sponsorship since the 2010 Worlds.
Paraswimming for the Netherlands In 2013, Mortimer applied to switch to the Netherlands national team; since her mother is from that country, she has dual citizenship. In June 2014, the
Hamilton Spectator reported the change. Although day-to-day funding in the Netherlands is similar to that in Canada, the former offers prize money; in the 2012 Paralympics, Mortimer would have won $60,000 for her gold medals alone. In the S10 100-metre backstroke, she broke the European record in the morning's heats and again in the final. Although she won a gold medal, she told the IPC website: "I wanted a world record. I'm not satisfied, I'm not super happy. That wasn't the perfect race. But this was a gauge to see where I am at."
Awards The Big Splash (from
Swimming Canada) • 2011: Female Para-Swimmer of the Year; her father was the Para-Female Coach of the Year • 2012: TAS Para-Swimming Female Swimmer of the Year
Ontario Sport Award (from
Sport Alliance Ontario) • 2011: Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year • 2012: Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year; her coach, Reg Chappell, was Male Coach of the Year.
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) Mortimer,
Melissa Tancredi and
Cory Conacher were nominated for the 2013 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year for residents of Hamilton or Burlington. Tancredi won. Columnist Dave Feschuk of the
Toronto Star listed Mortimer as a contender for the 2012
Lou Marsh Trophy (won by
Christine Sinclair). ==Arts and broadcasting career==