'The Pride of Whitby' took gold, silver and bronze in the pool
Aug 10, 2008 - 04:30 AM
Canadian men and women have enjoyed success throughout the years at the Summer Olympic Games, most notably on the track and in the water.
While Canadian eyes are focussed on today's Olympic competitors including Brent Hayden, Canadian record holder in the 100M freestyle, the residents of Whitby, Ontario are undoubtedly thinking back to 1984 and the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In 1984 Canada collected 10 swimming medals, including dual individual gold to medley swimmer Alex Baumann and individual gold and silver medals to breaststrokers Victor Davis and Whitby's Anne Ottenbrite.
Canada also won a combined 12 medals [three gold] in the sports of rowing and canoe/kayak. With a total of 42 medals, the 1984 Los Angeles Games were by far Canada's most successful Games.
The pride of Whitby, Ottenbrite pulled off the trifecta of medals, winning one of each at the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. She fought through adversity, considering just weeks prior to the Canadian Olympic trials, she dislocated her knee. He success included a gold medal in the 200M breaststroke, silver in the 100M breaststroke and bronze in the 4 x 100 m relay
Even though she failed to qualify at the trials, Canadian head coach Trevor Tiffany gave her a reprieve, adding her to the team. She remains the only Canadian athlete to win gold, silver and bronze in a Summer Olympic Games. In the aftermath, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Swim Ontario Hall of Fame and had the pool at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby named in her honour.
Leaving competition didn't mean the end of swimming for Ottenbrite. Coaching has been Ottenbrite's passion for years and she's instructed at the university, high school and age group level along the way.
In an interview with the Ajax & Pickering News Advertiser in 2002, having accepted a coaching job at the Pickering Swim Club, she said she enjoys helping up-and-coming swimmers set goals and then watching them achieve them.
"I don't expect everyone to reach that pinnacle (of Olympic gold), but I expect them to get the same satisfaction out of reaching goals as I did," she said.
Prior to the 1984 Olympics, she won gold medals in the 200M breaststroke and 4 x 100M medley relay and silver in the 100M breaststroke at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. She won a gold medal in the 100M breaststroke and a silver in the 4 x 100 m relay at the 1983 Pan-American Games, where she was disqualified in the 200M breaststroke for using a dolphin kick.
At the 1984 Los Angeles OLYMPICS, while still a high-school student, . Her 1984 gold-medal win marked the first gold-medal performance by a Canadian female swimmer. She has been a Member of the Order of Canada since 1984 and in 1985 was inducted into the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame.
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