Winners: Cindy Nicholas, Swimming
Portrait of Cindy Nicholas.
Date: 1970’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
1977 - Feature Story
Swimming the English Channel has long been considered a worthy, and difficult, athletic feat. But a non-stop, two-way crossing is a formidable task. Cindy Nicholas of Scarborough, Ontario, was more than up to the challenge when she took to the water at Shakespeare Beach on September 7, 1977. The 20-year-old University of Toronto student had already proven her marathon swimming mettle. In 1974, she crossed Lake Ontario in record time and completed her first one-way swim of the English Channel. In 1976, she was named the world’s top woman marathon swimmer for a season that included two, one-way trips across the Channel. On September 8, 1977, Nicholas became the first woman and youngest swimmer to complete a round-trip, non-stop crossing of the English Channel. Her time of 19 hours, 55 minutes was also a record, demolishing by some 10 hours, the previous mark set in 1975 by American Jon Erikson.
Career Highlights
- 1978 First person to complete two-way crossing of Baie des Chaleurs
- 1978 Inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame
- 1977 First woman to swim the English Channel both ways non-stop, setting a new world record of 19 hours and 55 minutes
- 1977 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
- 1976 Women’s International Swimming Champion
Medal presented by the Channel Swimming Association to Cindy Nicholas in honour of her 19 crossings of the English Channel between 1978 and 1992.
Date: 1990’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
An exact replica of the boat Cindy Nicholas used on her English Channel crossings.
Date:
Collection: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
Trophy won by Cindy Nicholas at the Jaballah to Lattakia (25 km swim in Syria).
Date: October 19, 1975
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Swimsuit worn by Nicholas on her 6th crossing of the English Channel on August 27, 1978.
Date: 1978
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
An autographed photograph of Cindy Nicholas.
Date: August 10, 1974
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Map showing the direction of the course for Cindy Nicholas on the coastguard chart of the English Channel.
Date: 1976
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
This certificate was presented to Cindy Nicholas by the Channel Swimming Association to certify that she swam the English Channel as a double crossing in a world record time of 19 hours and 55 minutes.
Date: 1977
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Diploma showing the course of the Jaballah to Lattakia long distance swimming race won by Cindy Nicholas, the first and only woman to compete.
Date: 1970’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Swimsuit worn by Cindy Nicholas in her two way crossing of Chaleur Bay (from Pasepebiac, Quebec to Grand Anse, New Brunswick and back to Quebec) on August 13, 1978. Swim time: 14 hours and 54 minutes.
Date: 1978
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
