Elaine Tanner

Elaine Tanner

Personal information
Full name	Elaine Tanner-Watt
Nickname(s)	"Mighty Mouse"
National team	Canada
Born	(1951-02-22) February 22, 1951 Vancouver, British Columbia
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, butterfly, freestyle
Club	Pacific Dolphins
Medal record Women's swimming Representing Canada Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City 100 m backstroke 1968 Mexico City 200 m backstroke 1968 Mexico City 4x100 m freestyle Pan American Games 1967 Winnipeg 100 m backstroke 1967 Winnipeg 200 m backstroke 1967 Winnipeg 100 m butterfly 1967 Winnipeg 4×100 m freestyle relay 1967 Winnipeg 4×100 m medley relay British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1966 Kingston 110 yd butterfly 1966 Kingston 220 yd butterfly 1966 Kingston 440 yd individual medley 1966 Kingston 4×110 yd freestyle relay 1966 Kingston 110 yd backstroke 1966 Kingston 220 yd backstroke 1966 Kingston 4×110 yd medley relay

Elaine Tanner-Watt, OC (born February 22, 1951) is a Canadian retired professional swimmer. She was a backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer. She was nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" because of her small height but also because of her competitive drive.

Career

Tanner competed for Canada at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. While there, she was able to win four gold medals and three silver medals. By doing this, she became the first woman to ever win four golds at a Commonwealth Games. In 1966, Tanner was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy for being Canada's top athlete. She became the youngest person to ever win the award. The same year, she also won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award for Canada's female athlete of the year.

In 1967, Tanner competed at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg. She won two gold medals and three silver medals at the games. She was also able to break two world records.

Tanner competed for Canada at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. She won two individual silver medals and one relay bronze medal. She suffered from depression and retired from competition after the 1968 Olympics at 18 years of age.

She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1969 and was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. Since 1972, the Elaine Tanner Award has been given to Canada’s top junior female athlete.

Other websites

• Canadian Olympic team profile