July 6, 2004
CBC Sports Online

Athletes In History: Elaine Tanner

To this day, Elaine Tanner remains one of the greatest swimmers in Canadian history. Perversely, though, what she is best remembered for is the disappointment of not winning gold medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics -- as if her three medals, two silver and one bronze, were not enough.

Tanner had been pegged for greatness as a swimmer almost from the start. When she was six, her family moved to California, and every day on her way to school, she would walk by the La Nai swim club.

"I remember the chain link fence," Tanner told CBC. "I watched them practice day in and day out. And I went, 'Gee, I'd love to do that!'"

Tanner was a natural in the water, and by her third practice, coaches thought she had potential to become an Olympic champion. At Saturday morning swim meets, Tanner was already hauling in a boatload of medals.

At this point, Tanner swam because she loved the water, not because of a strong competitive drive. That changed when she moved back to Vancouver, joined the Dolphin Swim Club and came under tutelage of coach Howard Firby.

Firby, who had overcome polio, inspired Tanner to strive for greatness, and watching the 1960 Rome Olympics galvanized the nine-year-old Tanner.

"I watched them get up on the podium and I said, 'That's what I want to be -- an Olympic swimmer. I want to be there one day,'" recalled Tanner.

Tanner developed into a powerful swimmer, although her tiny frame -- four-foot-nine and 92 pounds -- led others to take her rather too lightly. Kaye Hall, a swimmer from Tacoma, Wash., respected Tanner's talent and knew why she became known as Mighty Mouse.

"She was always my main competition," said Hall, "and always, anytime I swam against her, she always won."

Commonwealth coming out party

Tanner was an anonymous underdog for the last time at the 1966 Commonwealth Games.

"It was really neat because there was no pressure on me, no one had really heard of me outside of swimming circles. Canadians didn't know who I was. And I remember a reporter saying to me before I left, 'What do you expect to come back with?' And I said a tan," Tanner said.

Tanner came back with an armload more than a tan -- four gold medals, three silver and two world records, to be exact.

At the 1967 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, she proved it was no fluke. She won two gold medals, three silver and set two more world records. Tanner was now Canada's undisputed Queen of the Pool and a media sweetheart.

"All the press came down on me, the reporters, the media, the autographs, this and that. It was my first exposure to what it was like to be a so-called sports hero."

The media attention soon wore thin. Even as Tanner was being touted as a clear favourite to win Olympic gold in Mexico in 1968, she grew weary of the attention.

According Ralph Hutton, Canada's top male swimmer at the time and a silver medallist in Mexico City, the media pressure on Tanner was "outrageous."

"The press got so bad, and by bad, I mean just because they were there all the time," explained Hutton. "I don't know if she knew it, but I could see it was having an effect on her. On her preparation, her mood and her attitude towards things."

Letdown in Mexico City

It also didn't help that Firby would not be with her in Mexico City. Instead, the Canadian swimming federation picked an inexperienced coach to head up the women's swim team.

Nevertheless, Tanner looked unbeatable as the Mexico City Games unfolded. In her first qualifying race in Mexico, she set an Olympic record in the 100-metre backstroke. She lowered that record in the second round. But that didn't quell her doubts and fear of losing.

"I was that rabbit out there with all those greyhounds chasing me. And I'm going, 'What if they catch me?' So I wasn't going out there to win the gold medal. I was going out there I hope I don't lose it," said Tanner.

To make matters worse, the new coach advised Tanner to start slowly in the 100 m backstroke final -- a strategy completely at odds with her normal approach. He also made the cardinal mistake of delivering that advice within earshot of American Kaye Hall, Tanner's childhood rival. Hall later said that miscue gave her a big psychological advantage over Tanner.

Tanner did swim well in the final, once again breaking her own Olympic record. Hall broke it by just a little more.

"All I remember is that I knew I had lost," Tanner said. "And it was almost like a traumatic experience, like some one who goes through an accident. It was weird. I almost had a blackout."

Tanner still won two silver medals and a bronze, but the experience of not winning the gold had a devastating impact on her. Tanner became discouraged and mired in disappointment; she couldn't, or wouldn't, commit to anything.

"My rationale was that I was so badly hurt by setting a goal that I didn't reach, and I was so devastated by it that I thought it would be safe not to set any goals," said Tanner.

The "black hole years"

She competed half-heartedly in one more meet in the Soviet Union. She drifted through two failed marriages and dead-end jobs, suffering from depression and anorexia. She grew more distant from her family, and her two children from her first marriage.

"I would say I hit bottom in the mid-80s, when, I mean there were times when I really wondered if I could get out of bed. I didn't have any self-worth. There was no self-love within me," said Tanner. "I was estranged from my family and from my children. Basically, at one point I was living out of my car. I didn't have anywhere to go."

In 1987, Tanner met her current husband, John Watt. She credits Watt for helping her helped emerge from what she calls those "black hole years."

"He believed in me when no one else believed in me. And then I believed in myself, and that's what got me through."

Tanner's growing self-confidence helped her come to terms with what happen in the pool in Mexico many years before.

"I think the only way to heal yourself is to honestly look at yourself and take responsibility for your decisions and your actions."

Today, Tanner and her husband deal in vintage cars, travelling mainly up and down the west coast putting sellers in touch with buyers. Every now and then, Tanner finds herself in a school or in a gym, talking to kids about what she has learned and counselling them not to put too much pressure on themselves.

"We put too much emphasis on a gold medal. I mean it's great to have it, but I think it's more important to try and support and encourage a child to try. Just to try, to be the best they can be, no matter what level that's on."

reprinted with permission

UPDATE: May 2008

Elaine Tanner-Watt (born February 22, 1951 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired Canadian swimmer.

Nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" partly because of her small stature (standing barely five feet tall) and partly due to her competitive drive, Elaine Tanner made one of the biggest impacts in the water of any Canadian swimmer ever.

During the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, Tanner won four gold medals and three silvers, becoming the first woman to ever win four golds at a Commonwealth Games. She was named Canada’s best athlete in 1966 — the youngest person to ever receive the award — and was also selected this country’s top athlete overall.

The following year at the Pan American Games, Tanner won two gold and three silver medals in Winnipeg, breaking two world records in the process.

Tanner arrived at the 1968 Summer Olympics as a heavy medal favorite. She earned three times in Mexico City, winning two individual silver medals and one relay bronze.

Tanner retired from competition after the 1968 Olympics at just 18 years of age, and was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.

The Elaine Tanner Award has been presented to Canada’s top junior female athlete since 1972.

In 1969, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Visit her new webpage www.elainetanner.ca or contact her directly mightymouse@elainetanner.ca