With the world's longest saltwater coastline and shorelines lapped by four of the five Great Lakes, Canada offers swimmers abundant opportunity to test their mettle in all kinds of aquatic conditions. Over the years, Canadian swimmers have distinguished themselves nationally and internationally in many categories and competitions.
Marilyn Bell
In 1954, the Canadian National Exhibition, an annual summer fair held in Toronto, offered a world-famous American marathon swimmer, Florence Chadwick, a prize of $10,000 to achieve something never before done: swim across Lake Ontario. Affronted that no Canadian swimmer had been approached first, Marilyn Bell, a 16-year-old Toronto high school student, decided to compete with Chadwick without payment. They both started from Youngstown, N.Y., at the same time but Chadwick had to be pulled out of the water a few hours later. Forging ahead through high waves, oil slicks and lamprey eels, Bell reached the Toronto shoreline 21 hours later, where she was greeted by the wild cheers of a crowd of 300,000. The next year, she became the youngest swimmer to cross the English Channel and the year after that, swam the treacherous Juan de Fuca Strait. Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1958, Bell was also named one of Canada's top athletes of the century.
International Competitions
Montreal native George Hodgson was the first Canadian swimmer to win Olympic gold, anchoring two medals in Stockholm in 1912 and shattering both world and Olympic records in three events. While Canadian swimmers continued to excel in other international competitions, 72 years passed before Canada's swim team again struck gold at the Olympics. At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, the team paid tribute to Hodgson with buttons reading "George did it -- we're doing it in 1984." Alex Baumann, sporting a maple leaf tattoo over his heart, won two gold medals, and Victor Davis and Anne Ottenbrite won one each.
Synchronized Swimming
Canadian synchronized swimmers have enjoyed an unbroken winning streak at the Commonwealth Games ever since this aquatic spectator sport was introduced in 1986, taking 13 gold medals in all 13 events entered. In the 2010 games in Delhi, Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon won two golds, one in the solo competition and the other for a duet performance with Chloe Isaac. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Carolyn Waldo, a two-time world championship winner, was twice-golden again, first in the solo category and next for a duet with Michelle Cameron. Four years later in Barcelona, Sylvie Frechette won Olympic gold for her solo performance, although a judging error had initially put her in second place.
Paralympic Athletes
Among the Paralympic swimmers who have brought pride to their homeland are Elisabeth Walker-Young, a 13-year member of Canada's Paralympic Swim Team. In addition to breaking many Canadian and world records, between the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992 and Athens in 2004, she took home three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Stephanie Dixon has won a total of 13 Paralympic medals, including six golds, and Kirby Cote added the five gold medals she won in Athens 2004 to the seven gold and four silver medals she was awarded in two previous Paralympic competitions.
References
- Swimming Canada: Canadian Swimming History
- CBC: Canada and the Commonwealth Games
- Toronto Star: Canada Wins Double Gold in Synchronized Swimming, Oct. 7, 2010
- The Canadian Encyclopedia: Synchronized Swimming
- History by the Minute: Swimming
- Canada's Sports Hall of Fame: Honoured Members: Marilyn Bell
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