Sport: Swimming

Sheilagh Croxon never set out to become a world-renowned synchronized swimming coach and advocate for female participation in coaching programs.

Growing up in Scarborough as the middle child between two brothers, Sheilagh was the original “water baby”. By the time she was ten she switched from speed swimming to synchronized swimming, where she discovered a passion that would last a lifetime!

Sheilagh’s synchro career began with the Aquamaids in Leaside, but really took off when she started training at Etobicoke’s Olympium. By the time she was 18, Sheilagh had discovered that training other people was more fulfilling to her than competing. She began to coach at Olympium, working with girls just a few years younger than she was while continuing her university studies.

In just a short time, Sheilagh’s swimmers began to win national titles. After formalizing her coaches training through the Coaching Association of Canada, Sheilagh returned to Olympium to help build its synchro program into one of national prominence.

There was no stopping her…in her mid-twenties, Sheilagh was appointed the head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team. And in 1996, Sheilagh coached the Canadian Olympic synchro team to a silver medal finish in Atlanta. Four years later, Sheilagh became coach and choreographer for Canada at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where her swimmers captured a bronze medal.

By then, Sheilagh was also synchronized with her home team, including her husband Jean Constantin, son Nicolas and daughter Natalie. She stepped down as a coach in 2002 after the birth of daughter Marley, now seven and in Grade 2 at Etobicoke’s Millwood Public School.

In 2007, Sheilagh returned to coaching at the grassroots level, and in her two years at the helm of the Granite Club Synchro team, she has led the club to unprecedented provincial and national success.

Today, Sheilagh’s coaching expertise is sought by synchro organizations and clubs all over the world. She is a passionate advocate for female participation in the coaching profession and currently acts as a consultant to the Coaching Association of Canada, working to increase the number of women coaches in Canada.

Kim Lumsdon was born in 1957, and took up swimming at the age of 9. As a young girl, Kim traveled with her father, famed swimmer and Etobicoke Sports Hall of Famer, the late Cliff Lumsdon.

Kim spent five successful years in the 1970s on the pro-circuit and was ranked in the top three in the world for the Women’s Division. She competed with fellow Canadians Loreen Passfield and Cindy Nichols in the 1977 Lac Saint-Jean 32 km race finishing in 11 hours, 5 minutes.

Kim is particularly proud of her two Lake Ontario crossings – first in 1976 at the age of 19, where she was coached by her father; and for the second time in 2006 at the age of 49.

She says the second crossing was much more challenging, due to the cold temperatures and six-foot waves, but managed to complete the swim in 26 hours and 32 minutes.

Her achievements include placing in the Top 10 for the 1500m Masters in 1994 and 1995, and breaking the 1000 yard freestyle Ontario record in 1997.

Among her awards, the Special Achievement Award by the Province of Ontario in recognition of her contribution to Fitness and Amateur Sport; and 1996 Coach of the Year by the Splash Program.

Kim has three beautiful, grown daughters… Sasha, Jana, and Natasha, all of whom are involved in swimming. She is a long-time resident of Etobicoke, and is currently the Aquatics Manager of the Boulevard Club.

Marilyn began her swimming career at the age of nine with the Toronto Dolphinettes, under the tutelage of Alex Duff. As an amateur swimmer she had marginal success as a sprinter, but her ability to swim longer distances in open water caught the attention of famed coach Gus Ryder.

Marilyn successfully completed her first course in Lake Ontario at the age of eleven with the water temperature hovering at 49 F. In 1953 Marilyn won the Lou Marsh Trophy, as Canada’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year, after achieving the distinction of being the first woman to finish the well known Atlantic City Marathon.

Marilyn will best be remembered by Canadians, when on September 9, 1954, at age 16, Marilyn Bell became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. She had entered the lake at Youngstown, New York shortly after 11:00 p.m. on September 8, and was forced to swim much further than the 51.5 kilometre route, due to poor water and weather conditions.

Just after 8:00 p.m. on September 9, with Gus Ryder’s guidance, and Marilyn’s strong determination, she reached the Toronto shore despite the freezing cold water, stomach cramps, and fatigue.

In July of 1955, Marilyn swam the English Channel, becoming the youngest swimmer to succeed in this event. On August 23 1956, she became the first Canadian woman to swim the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

In the years that followed, Marilyn married Joe Di Lascio and raised four children in Willingboro, New Jersey. She earned a graduate degree in special education, and taught traditional classes as well as programs for children with special needs. In addition, Marilyn has been inducted into both Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame . . .

Joining the Etobicoke Memorial Aquatic Club in 1963 at the age of eight, Jane Wright’s swimming career blossomed. She became a member of the Canadian National Swim Team by the age of 13.

Jane was with the National Team from 1968 to 1973, and represented Canada in the pool at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, the 1971 Pan-American Games in Munich, and the 1973 World Championships in Yugoslavia. Her gold medal at the Pan-American games came as a member of the medley team in which she swam the breaststroke portion. The win was especially sweet since the Canadians beat an extremely powerful American team in the race.

During her swimming career Jane established more than 100 Ontario and Canadian records. In 1991 she was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame.

A dedicated athlete, Jane was also an extremely hard-working student who notched top marks while attending Richview Collegiate. She was also very modest about her swimming achievements; few friends were even aware that she competed in the Olympics.

Jane competed in swimming for the love of her sport and remembers the pride she felt as a member of the Canadian team when our anthem was played at the Pan-American Games. She also treasures the thrill of walking into a stadium during the opening ceremonies as a member of the Canadian team.

Jane still lives in Etobicoke, on the same street she grew up on, with her husband and three children.

Gus Ryder’s irrevocable link to water was established early in life when, as a young lad, he rescued two boys who had fallen through the ice of Toronto’s Grenadier Pond in 1916.

On that fateful day, the foundation of a legend was cast. Ryder, who died at the ripe age of 92, was a man who touched the lives of everyone who crossed his path, whether in his role as a swim coach, a teacher of handicapped children, a renowned handball player, prospector or businessman. But it is his role as founder and driving force behind the Lakeshore Swim Club that made his name.

“He taught me things that helped me live my life like the sun is going to come up tomorrow and that the tide will always turn” said Canada’s sweetheart, Marilyn Bell, shortly after Ryder’s death in 1991. “And he taught me not to be a quitter.”

Ryder used all his tools as a coach on that memorable day in 1954 when a little blond schoolgirl, Marilyn Bell, upstaged the American favourite Florence Chadwick to become the first person to swim across lake Ontario. Bell now acknowledges that there were times when only the will of her coach, urging and cajoling her on from the tiny support boat, Mipepa, kept her from faltering.

As a swim coach, Ryder was a master innovator and psychologist and, more than anything else, a father figure to the legion of swimmers who were fortunate to be tutored by the longtime Etobicoke native. “He was like a father to me” said Cliff Lumsdon, another former protégé and fellow Etobicoke sports Hall of Famer. “He had a bond with us.”

But more than anything else, it was his work with handicapped children that prompted the Government of Canada to award Gus Ryder the Order of Canada in 1975.

Erin Woodley is both an athlete and coach. This synchronized swimming sensation was born in 1972 in Mississauga, Ontario and later moved with her family to Etobicoke.

As a child, her parents encouraged Erin and her two sisters to try all sports – gymnastics, swimming and dance. She was a natural in the water. At the age of 9, Erin participated in a synchronized swimming camp, and fell in love with the sport.

She attended high school at Silverthorne Collegiate, and later the University of Toronto, as she trained for some of the biggest events of her swimming career.

In 1991, Erin won three gold medals at the Canada Games for her solo, duet and team performances, and was the recipient of the Unisys Quest for Excellence Award.

In 1994 she won the national duet title with partner Lisa Alexander, then on to a gold metal at the Commonwealth games.

And while the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 would mark the end of a fantastic career, Erin counts her Olympic experience as one her proudest moments. It was there, where years of training, goal setting and careful planning, would come to fruition for the entire world to see, and where she would lead her team to a silver medal win in the synchronized swimming team event.

Erin has been busy since her Olympic medal win nearly 10 years ago; counting motivational speaking, coaching synchronized swimming, and raising two beautiful little girls as some of her most recent accomplishments.

Cliff Lumsdon, much like his coach and mentor Gus Ryder, was not only a remarkable long-distance swimmer but also a compassionate and respectable individual. His achievements in swimming were formidable, earning him five World Marathon titles between 1949 and 1956 under Ryder’s guidance.

Lumsdon’s journey in swimming began when he joined the renowned Lakeshore Swim Club in the 1940s. He quickly made a name for himself, winning his first World Marathon title at the age of 18. Notably, he didn’t swim solely for victory but also to test his own limits, exemplified by his daring swim across the treacherous Juan de Fuca Strait between British Columbia and Washington state in 1956.

Even after his passing in 1991, Lumsdon’s legacy lived on through the memories shared by his wife Joan. She recalled his aversion to swimming alone, highlighting his love for competitive races that motivated him. Lumsdon’s endurance was legendary, with a rigorous training routine that included five hours of swimming daily in the Credit River, often alongside his close friend Marilyn Bell.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Lumsdon was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as the Outstanding Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1949 after winning his first world title. His contributions to the sport earned him induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1967.

Even after retiring from competitive swimming, Lumsdon remained deeply involved in the sport he loved. He coached numerous aspiring swimmers, including his daughter Kim, who herself accomplished the remarkable feat of conquering Lake Ontario in 1976.

Lumsdon’s dedication to swimming and his community was unwavering. He spent decades coaching at the Lakeshore Swim Club and also served as a valued employee of the City of Etobicoke for 30 years, leaving a lasting impact on generations of swimmers and residents alike.

As a long time volunteer with the Lakeshore Swim Club, Lucille Gamble continues to give back to the community, which has watched her become one of the area’s most decorated long distance swimmers.

Lucille’s involvement with swimming began in 1930 under the guidance of Gus Ryder. During her six years as a competitive swimmer she participated successfully in several long distance swims.

Her accomplishments have been recognized on the local, provincial and federal levels.

Some of the awards include the Mayor Jackson Trophy for three consecutive wins in competitive long distance swims, the 1981 Province of Ontario Certificate of Recognition for her contributions to swimming, a 1988 Certificate of Merit from the Government of Canada and a 1992 Volunteer of the Year award for the City of Etobicoke.

At the age of nine, Loreen Passfield realized that marathon swimming was her calling after competing in the “Cross Couchiching,” a three-mile amateur swim race where she finished 18th out of 23.

In 1975, while swimming with the Lakeshore Swim Club, Loreen set a new record for the four-mile distance from Port Carling to Windermere, Ontario.

At the Lac St Jean World Championship, she finished 16th in a twenty-five-mile race, becoming the first Canadian and only the third woman to finish the course, earning her the meet’s Swimmer of the Year award.

For five years, between 1975 and 1979, Loreen was ranked in the top five by the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation. She won two back-to-back number one rankings in 1975 and 1979. Loreen became president of the Federation in 1980.

In 1977, Loreen was included with only five others on the final ballot for the Lou Marsh Award, given to Canada’s Athlete of the Year.

She was also selected as Outstanding Newcomer to Marathon Swimming in 1975. That same year, she also received the Faustina Trophy as Lakeshore Athlete of the year.