Nancy Ellen Garapick (September 24, 1961 – April 6, 2026) was a Canadian competitive swimmer, Olympic medallist, and onetime world record-holder. She won two bronze medals in the 100-metre backstroke and 200-metre backstroke at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal at the age of 14, behind two East German athletes, Ulrike Richter and Birgit Treiber, who later were confirmed to be longstanding participants of the East German doping scandal of the 1970s.[1] She broke the Olympic record for the 100-metre backstroke during the heats.
Biography
As a 13-year old, Garapick set a world record in the 200m backstroke of 2:16:33 on April 27, 1975 at the Eastern Canadian Swimming Championships in Brantford, Ontario, as a member of the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club, coached by Nigel Kemp.[2]
In 2008, she was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.[3] The official ceremony took place November 5, 2008, in Toronto, Ontario.[4]
In 2018 she was named one of the greatest 15 athletes in Nova Scotia’s history.[5]
Garapick died on April 6, 2026, at the age of 64.[6][7]
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
- List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
- World record progression 200 metres backstroke
References
- ^ “Doping’s Darkest Hour: The East Germans and the 1976 Olympic Games”. Swimming World. 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
- ^ “Nigel Kemp, Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame”. Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. 2008-10-08. Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ “Yzerman, Lewis among Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductees”. The Sports Network. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ “Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inducts its newest Honoured Members”. Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. 2008-11-05. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ Tattrie, Jon (30 April 2018). “Sidney Crosby to headline ‘greatest sports dinner’ in Nova Scotia”. CBC Sports. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ “Former Canadian swim star, Olympic medallist Nancy Garapick dead at 64”. Yahoo Sports. The Canadian Press. 2026-04-09. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
- ^ White, Nathan (2026-04-08). “REMEMBERING NANCY GARAPICK”. Swimming Canada. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
External links
- Nancy Garapick at Team Canada (archive)
- Nancy Garapick at Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame (archive)
- Nancy Garapick at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (archive)
- Nancy Garapick at World Aquatics
- Nancy Ellen Garapick at Olympics.com
- Nancy Garapick at Olympic.org (archived)
- Nancy Garapick at Olympedia
- Nancy Garapick at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)
- Nancy Garapick at IMDb
- Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
