Winners: Graham Smith, Swimming

1978 - Feature Story

Graham Smith, already an outstanding Canadian and international swimmer, would confirm his status with a Silver medal as a member of Canada’s 4X100m medley relay team at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. In 1977 he began his assault of the record books by setting a world record in the 200m individual medley. But 1978 proved a golden, albeit poignant year for the 20-year-old Edmonton swimmer, whose father died of cancer in 1976, shortly after seeing his son stand on the Olympic podium. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, competing in the Dr. Donald F. Smith pool named after his father, Smith unleashed one of the most memorable campaigns in Canadian sport by winning six Gold Medals, three in Commonwealth record time. Weeks later he proved best in the world by winning the 200m individual medley at the World Aquatics Championships in West Berlin, adding a world record to his glory. The year’s achievements prompted Smith to acknowledge he was, indeed, “a big fish in a big pond.”

Career Highlights

• 1978 While competing in Edmonton, Smith became the first competitor to win six Gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games.
• 1978 Gold medal, 200m individual medley, World Aquatic Championships in Berlin.
• 1978 Lou Marsh Memorial Award
• 1978 Lionel Conacher Award (Canada’s male athlete of the year)
• 1976 Silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the Olympic Games in Montreal