Elaine Tanner
Elaine Tanner-Watt, OC (born February 22, 1951) is a Canadian retired professional swimmer. She was a backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer. She was nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" because of her small height but also because of her competitive drive.[1]
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| Nickname(s) | "Mighty Mouse" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 22, 1951 Vancouver, British Columbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke, butterfly, freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Pacific Dolphins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Tanner competed for Canada at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. While there, she was able to win four gold medals and three silver medals. By doing this, she became the first woman to ever win four golds at a Commonwealth Games. In 1966, Tanner was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy for being Canada's top athlete. She became the youngest person to ever win the award. The same year, she also won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canada's female athlete of the year.[2]
In 1967, Tanner competed at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg. She won two gold medals and three silver medals at the games. She was also able to break two world records.[3]
Tanner competed for Canada at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. She won two individual silver medals and one relay bronze medal broke the Olympic record in the preliminary no one beat her. Sadly prior political sports interference she would not allowed her long time successful coach Howard Forbey to go the the most important event of her life the Olympics WHY? A rookie new coach told her to change her rare strategy elaine being a blind obedient soldier changed to started slow compared to her always blast off start to finish she lost her first race to a rival that never beat her ever prior by a hand touch. Elaine was the overwhelming favorite she felt she let Canada down as she was touted Canada's only Gold medal. Headlines read Tanner Loses Gold rather than being the first women in Canada to win at the Olympics in swimming actually 3 medals total a first ever. No parades brutal negative press sports authorities threw her under the Bus 17 year young old teenager. She suffered from depression and retired from competition after the 1968 Olympics at 18 years of age.[4]
She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1969 and was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.[2] Since 1972, the Elaine Tanner Award has been given to Canada’s top junior female athlete.
References
- ↑ "If dancing in parks were an Olympic event, B.C. would be in great shape". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Canada's Sports Hall of Fame profile". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
- ↑ "B.C.'s all-time sporting greats". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
- ↑ "Promise after a painful past". The Province. Archived from the original on 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
Other websites
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