According to the Canadian Press on Thursday, two-time Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Nancy Garapick of Halifax, Nova Scotia passed away on April 6 at the age of 64. Garapick won the bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 100 metre backstroke and women’s 200 metre backstroke at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Garapick was one of three Canadians who were multi-medalists from the first Olympic Games to take place in Canada. The other two were swimmers Anne Jardin of Montreal, Quebec, and Becky Wiber of Edmonton, Alberta.
In the women’s 100 metre backstroke, Garapick had a bronze medal time of 1:03.71. Ulrike Richter of East Germany had the gold medal winning time of 1:01.83 (at the time an Olympic record). Birgit Treiber of East Germany won the silver medal with a time of 103.41. Garapick reached the podium by 0.22 seconds over Wendy Cook-Hogg of Vancouver, British Columbia, who had a fourth place time of 1:03.93.
In the women’s 200 metre backstroke, Garapick had a bronze medal time of 2:15.60. Richter won the gold medal with an Olympic record time of 2:13.43. Birgit Treiber of East Germany won the silver medal with a time of 2:14.97. Garapick reached the podium by 0.68 seconds over Nadiya Stavko of the Soviet Union, who had a fourth place time of 2:16.28.
What was extraordinary about Garapick’s two Olympic bronze medals was the fact she was only 14 years old at the time. Garapick was only 13 years old when she set the world record in the women’s 200 metre backstroke with a time of 2:16.33 at the 1975 Eastern Canadian Swimming Championships in Brantford, Ontario. Also in 1975, Garapick won a silver medal in the women’s 200 metre backstroke and a bronze medal at the women’s 100 metre backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Cali, Colombia.
Garapick won the 1975 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award presented to the top Canadian female athlete. At 14, she was the youngest recipient of the award. She was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1986 and inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
