Routliffe sisters pursue lifelong dreams at U.S. Open, Paralympics — at the same time

New York or Paris?

That was the question facing Rob Routliffe this summer — one that, on the surface, seemed to have no wrong answers.

He could either watch his oldest daughter Erin defend her U.S. Open women's double titles in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., or he could watch his youngest, Tess, swim in pursuit of her second career Paralympic medal at La Defense Arena.

Both competitions are set to begin in late August and run through the first week-plus of September.

Rob chose Paris.

Besides, Rob added, he and Tess were both on hand for Erin's victory — alongside Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski — last year.

He said the even-keeled Erin wasn't upset by the decision.

"She's a pretty easy going person. Obviously she's pretty competitive and she can wind herself up, but she understands. All three of my girls have been very athletic and so there were always choices to make as to who went where."

Indeed, Erin and Tess Routliffe have carved out daily successful athletic careers for themselves. Erin and Dabrowski reached World No. 1 status after their Grand Slam victory last year, and kept the good times going with a trip to the Australian Open semifinal in January and Wimbledon final in June. The duo will begin their U.S. Open title defence Wednesday against Canada's Leylah Fernandez and her Kazakh teammate Yulia Putintseva.

Tess, meanwhile, is coming off a 2023 world championship in which she claimed four medals — two of which were gold. A year earlier, she left worlds with a medal of each colour. Paris will mark Tess's first Paralympics since 2016 after a back injury forced her to miss Tokyo 2020.

Even the middle sister, Tara, has an athletic background, having played NCAA volleyball on a full scholarship.

But what makes the whole thing