On November 11th, 1989, one of the great Canadian swimmers in history, Victor Davis, was struck by a car outside of a nightclub in Montreal.
Davis, who was the 1984 Olympic Champion in the 200 breaststroke, had retired only a few months prior to the accident. On that fateful night, he got into an altercation with Glen Crossley, and stepped out into the road with a juice bottle in front of Crossley’s car. He was hit, and would die two days later.
This was one of the tragic stories in all of swimming in the 1980’s, as Davis was incredibly popular and a three-time Canadian Swimmer of the Year.
In Davis’ honor, the Victor Davis Memorial Fund has been set up to fund the training and education of young Canadian Olympic hopefuls. Birthdays
- Doug Frost, 68 – The man who is legendary as the coach who took Ian Thorpe to many of his great successes.
- Eleanor Simmonds, 17 – Simmonds is a 10-time IPC World Champion and a two-time Paralympic gold medalist. In Beijing in 2008, at only 13 years old, Simmonds was the youngest Brit at either the Olympics or Baralympics.
- Kevin Enrdl, 32 – Husband of National Teamer Erika Erndl, Kevin had his own successful career at North Carolina. Since it’s recruiting season, he was the #2 50 freestyler in the class of 1998.
there were two swim posters of the era that resonated with testosterone-driven male athletes…one was tom jager in mid air off a start…the second was a picture of victor davis behind the blocks cheering on his relay teammates in an international competition…he was one-of-a-kind and a throwback in a sport that could use more of them.