Courtesy: Swimming Canada
MONTREAL— On the 50th anniversary of the Montreal 1976 Games, Swimming Canada honoured both Olympic medallist, Nancy Garapick, and her legendary coach, Nigel Kemp, with induction into the Circle of Excellence at the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials.
“Few individuals have left a mark on Canadian swimming quite like Nancy Garapick and Nigel Kemp. Their accomplishments on the international stage helped elevate our sport and remain a source of pride nearly five decades later,” said Suzanne Paulins, chief executive officer, Swimming Canada. “As we celebrate the 1976 Olympics, we are honoured to welcome them into Swimming Canada’s Circle of Excellence, where their legacy will stand alongside the greatest names in our history.”
Garapick, who passed away this spring, was blazing a trail in the pool long before Canada emerged as a powerhouse in international swimming, A fearless competitor with exceptional talent, Garapick rose from the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club to become one of Canada’s most accomplished athletes. Her groundbreaking performances in the 1970s helped elevate Canadian swimming to new heights and established her as one of the nation’s first international swimming stars.
Garapick burst onto the world stage as a teenager. By age 12, she had established 12 national age-group records, several of which stood for more than four decades. At just 13 years old, she became one of the youngest swimmers in history to set a world record, lowering the global standard in the 200-metre backstroke by more than a second.
Her international breakthrough came at the 1975 World Championships in Cali, Colombia, where she won silver in the 200-metre backstroke and bronze in the 100-metre backstroke. Later that year, at only 14 years of age, she became the youngest athlete ever named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year.
Competing in front of a home crowd at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Garapick delivered one of the defining performances in Canadian swimming history, earning bronze medals in both the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke. She continued to represent Canada with distinction, adding a bronze medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1978 World Championships and capturing five medals at the 1979 Pan American Games. Over the course of her remarkable career, Garapick won 17 national titles, and earned 38 Canadian championship.
“Nancy was certainly not one who ever sought this sort of recognition, but I know she would appreciate this,” said Nigel Kemp, who coached Garapick throughout her career. “Nancy was someone who once the swimming career was over, she was happy to leave that part of her life behind her. She was certainly someone who recognized the roles others played and I’m sure she’d be very happy to know she was being inducted at the same time as me.”
Few individuals have left a more enduring mark on Canadian swimming than Kemp.
For more than five decades, he helped shape the sport through coaching excellence, mentorship, leadership and an unwavering commitment to athlete and coach development.
A former international swimmer for Great Britain, Kemp arrived to Canada in 1971 to join Dalhousie University as a lecturer in Physical Education and head coach of both the Dalhousie swim program and the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club. What followed was one of the most distinguished coaching careers in Canadian university sport.
During his 27-year tenure at Dalhousie, his teams captured 27 Atlantic conference championships while his swimmers earned 63 national university championship medals, including 19 gold medals. His programs accumulated more than 260 conference dual-meet victories and earned widespread recognition across Canadian sport.
“When I came to Halifax, people didn’t feel they could accomplish things at a national level let alone international level,” said Kemp. “I was keen to let athletes travel. We had wonderful people in our club who helped us raise money so we could go to competitions in the United States and across Canada. As a result, our athletes found out people trained the way they did and realized they could do things they thought only other people could do.”
Kemp was named Atlantic University Coach of the Year 10 times, received three Dalhousie Coach of the Year awards, earned two CIAU Coach of the Year honours and was recognized as the Canadian Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1975.
His impact extended far beyond the university ranks. Kemp served on Team Canada’s coaching staff at the 1976 Olympic Games and was selected for the 1980 Olympic Games. He also represented Canada at World Championships, Commonwealth Games and FISU World University Games. Among his most celebrated accomplishments was coaching Nancy Garapick to her two Olympic bronze medals at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games.
“During the time I was coaching Nancy, I was very much engaged in coaching – not really feeling what was happening was quite outstanding, but as I look back now, it was really an amazing time,” added Kemp. “I can walk on the pool deck today and see the all the records listed on the Halifax Aquatic Trojan banners, and Nancy still holds 20 of them 50 years later.”
Kemp’s influence can be measured not only through medals and championships, but through the hundreds of athletes and coaches whose lives were shaped by his mentorship, guidance and belief in personal growth. A passionate educator and respected mentor, he became one of Canada’s leading contributors to coach development while also serving the sport through leadership roles, including President of Masters Swimming Canada.
“I’m most proud of having opportunity to work with a large number of individuals, and to have had the opportunity to influence the way they approach life,” he said. “I think it was something I enjoyed doing – coaching every individual – and I still enjoy coaching Masters. That particular group of individuals are always keen to learn.”
