Tess Lloyd

Sailing

The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.

Personal Details

Home town:

Melbourne

Occupation / Area of Study / Work:

Master of Teaching

Hero / Most Admired Athlete:

Cathy Freeman

Date of birth:

19 June 1995

Sporting Details

Event(s) / Discipline:

Women's 49er FX

Home Club:

SSCBC

Olympic / Paralympic History:

2020, Tokyo Olympics, 13th 

World Championships History:

2020, World Championships, 10th 

Sporting Highlights:

Tess Lloyd is set to make her Olympic Games debut in Tokyo in the sport of sailing.

But the journey hasn’t been smooth for Tess Lloyd with a number of setbacks stopping her from reaching the sailing pinnacle.

In early 2012, at the age of 16, Lloyd was competing in a youth regatta in Brisbane together with her crew mate Lewis Duncan when their 29er Skiff was involved in a collision with a windsurfer. She was knocked unconscious and Duncan found her face down in the water.

The injury had fractured Lloyd’s skull and swelling pushed into her brain. The Doctors put her in an induced coma to treat the brain trauma. 14 days later she woke up with no recollection of what had happened and was told she would never sail again. Before she could even think about sailing she also had to learn how to talk and walk again.

To everyone’s surprise and with the support of the VIS, ten months later she was back on the water.

“As soon as I was back on the boat everything just came back to me.” She says.

With her sights set on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Tess faced another hurdle. A decision was made not to send a 49er FX team to the Games, which put her Olympic dream on hold.

“I have used each set back to reset and they have also motivated me to keep going. If it was meant to be easy, everyone would do it,” Lloyd says.

Earlier this month, she was officially selected for Tokyo 2020 and she says that after seven years of campaigning and commitment to sailing, the news of her selection in the Australian Olympic Team, is “relieving and exciting.”

- Australian Olympic Team

Tess in the News

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