Winnifred "Winnie" Frances Roach-Leuszler,

O.Ont The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered ...

(February 3, 1926 – May 1, 2004) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

long distance swimmer. A long distance swimmer of international acclaim, she started swimming when she as a child and later became the first Canadian to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

Early life

Leuszler was born February 3, 1926, in

Port Credit, Ontario Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, ...

. She started swimming when she was three years old. At nine years of age, she won her first medal as a competitive swimmer. She would go on to win local, provincial, national, North American, and international medals throughout her career. In 1944, she was labeled Canada's All Round Athlete of the year. That same year she joined the Women's Corp and was dominating Army, Navy and Air Forces sporting championships. In 1946, while three months pregnant, she won the 5 mile World Swimming Championship and while four months pregnant in 1949 she was second in the same event. On August 16, 1951, she became the first Canadian to swim the

. She came home to a ticker tape parade in Toronto. In 1954, she entered the swim across

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

with

Marilyn Bell Marilyn Grace Bell Di Lascio (born October 19, 1937) is a Canadian retired Long-distance swimming, long distance swimmer. She was the first person to swim across Lake Ontario and later swam the English Channel and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Perso ...

but was forced from the event due to problems with her guide boat. In the 1950s, she was lured into baseball and in 1957 she was Canada's first female baseball umpire. In 1996, she was inducted into the Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame. In 1999 she received the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

and was inducted into the Ontario Swimming Hall of Fame. She died in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

, on May 1, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leuszler, Winnie 1926 births 2004 deaths Canadian female long-distance swimmers Members of the Order of Ontario Swimmers from Mississauga Women referees and umpires 20th-century Canadian sportswomen English Channel swimmers