Helena Konanz (née Manset) is an American tennis player and Canadian politician.

College career

Manset attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

for her undergraduate. In 1982, Manset as well as her partner

Kathy O'Brien Kathy O'Brien is an American former professional tennis player. O'Brien was a four-time All-American tennis player for the UCLA Bruins, the first in the program's history to achieve such honors. She and Helena Manset were doubles runners-up at ...

were defeated in the finals of the NCAA Women’s Doubles and in 1982 and 1983 she was named as an All-American. She graduated from UCLA in 1984 with a degree in political science.

Professional career

After being narrowly defeated in the NCAA Women's Doubles Finals Manset began to compete professionally. Manset had competed across the world including in the US Open and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. She reached her peak in 1987 when she was ranked 228 overall in women's doubles. She retired from professional tennis on August 17, 1987 after 5 years as a pro player.

Political career

After she retired from tennis Manset began working for Nike which eventually lead to her moving to Canada to work in the sport equipment uniforms. After spending some time in the private sector, Manset (now Konanz) ran for the Penticton City Council and won with 3,737 votes. Konanz was re-elected in 2014. In 2018, Konanz opted not to seek re-election and instead announced her candidacy for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

for the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Member of Parliament (Canada), Members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the Fixed election dates in ...

for the district of South Okanagan—West Kootenay. In September of the same year Konanz won the nomination and was formally announced as the riding's candidate by the Conservatives. In the election, held in October 2019, Konanz finished a close second to

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

incumbent Richard Cannings. In 2021, a rematch resulted in Cannings winning with an increased majority.

Personal life

Manset married Adam Konanz and changed her name to Helena Konanz in 1995. The couple have two children.

ITF Tour finals

Doubles (1–2)

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konanz, Helena 1961 births Living people American female tennis players UCLA Bruins women's tennis players Tennis players from California Canadian sportsperson-politicians American emigrants to Canada British Columbia municipal councillors Sportspeople from Penticton Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 2019 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election