04/08/2026
REMEMBERING NANCY GARAPICK
Nancy died peacefully at home in Langley B.C. on Monday 6th April.
Nancy Ellen Garapick (born September 24, 1961), Nova Scotia’s greatest swimmer, was Canada’s youngest ever Female Athlete of the Year at fourteen in 1975. She established a world record at 13 years old in the 200 metres Backstroke on April 27, 1975 at the Eastern Canadian Swimming Championships in Brantford, Ontario, while a member of the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club. That same year she won the 200 yards Backstroke at the US National AAU Championships and Silver and Bronze in the 100 and 200 metres Backstroke at the Second World Aquatic Championships in Cali Columbia.At the 1976 Montreal Olympics she was a double Bronze medalist in the 100 and 200 metres Backstroke. In 1977 Nancy won the 200 and 400 yards Individual Medley at the US AAU National short course Championships. At the 1977 Canadian short course Championships in Edmonton she set World Best Times in both the 200 and 400 Metres Individual Medley. In her career she won 17 Canadian National titles and 38 Championship medals. By 12 years of age she had set 12 National age Group records and in 1973 she was the youngest participant in the Second Canada Summer Games in New Westminster. Swimming for the University of California in 1981 Garapick won the AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) 200 Individual Medley and in 1982, representing Dalhousie University, was a five time Gold Medallist at the Canadian Inter University Swimming Championships in Sherbrooke, PQ. She has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame and in 2008 became a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 1982 she graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and in 1983 a Bachelor of Education Degree from Mount Saint Vincent University.
Nancy wished to send her very best wishes to everyone in Canada’s swimming community, and to her lifelong Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club swimming family she sends all her love.
