Winners: Elaine Tanner, Swimming
Elaine Tanner in the water.
Date: 1960’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
1966 - Feature Story
When reporters asked swim coach Howard Firby about his great protégée Elaine Tanner, Firby noted the diminutive dynamo didn’t know how to swim slowly. Her work ethic was such that swimming fast was the only way she knew how to churn through a pool, even in workouts. In 1966, Vancouver’s Tanner, dubbed Mighty Mouse, enjoyed a stellar season where swimming faster than any woman had before, garnered her championships, medals and a landslide vote as Canada’s top female athlete for the year. The slight 15-year-old turned heads in July when she set a world record in the women’s 220-yard medley at the British Columbia Open Championships. At the Canadian Championships she set five national records, winning six events. As a member of the Dolphin relay teams, they rewrote Canadian marks. She capped the season at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica by winning four Gold medals and three Silver medals, setting a world record in the 220-yard butterfly and contributing to a world record by the Canadian team in the 4x110-yard freestyle relay.
Career Highlights
- 1968 Silver medals in 100m backstroke, and 200m backstroke; Bronze medal in 400m freestyle relay at the Olympic Games in Mexico City
- 1967 Gold medals in 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg
- 1966 Gold medals in 110yd butterfly, 220yd butterfly, 440yd individual medley, 440yd freestyle relay at the British Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica
- 1966 Lou Marsh Memorial Award
- 1966 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
Medal won by Elaine Tanner at the B.C. Centennial Indoor Age Group Swimming and Diving Meet in Crystal Gardens Victoria British Columbia
Date: April 23-24, 1966
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Trophy awarded to Elaine Tanner by the Victoria Amateur Swim Club for placing first in the Women's 100M Butterfly.
Date: 1966
Collection: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
Swimsuit worn by Elaine Tanner.
Date: 1960’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Elaine Tanner swimming the backstroke.
Date: 1960’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Gold medal awarded to Elaine Tanner at the 9th Annual Swimming and Diving Championships at the Empire Pool in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Date: July 1, 1966
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Elaine Tanner swimming the backstroke.
Date: 1960’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Gold medal won by Elaine Tanner in the Women's 200m Backstroke at the Pan Am trials in Winnipeg.
Date: 1967
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
The Elaine Tanner Trophy awarded to Canada’s Junior Female Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association.
Date: 1972-present
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
