Karen Muir (16 September 1952 – 1 April 2013) was a South African competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. Born and raised in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, she attended the Diamantveld High School, where she matriculated in 1970."Tributes pour in for Karen Muir", ''Diamond Fields Advertiser'', 3 April 2013, p 4

Biography

On 10 August 1965, aged twelve years, Muir became the youngest person to break a sporting world record in any discipline when she swam the 110 yards

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

in 1m 08.7s at the

ASA ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: Biology and medicine * Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent * Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin * Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery * Anterior spinal ar ...

National Junior Championships in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.History
Swimming South Africa
''The New York Times'', 14 August 1965"Karen Muir: She Just Goes Out and Swims"
''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'', 15 August 1965 Over the following five years Muir would go on to set fifteen world records in the backstroke at

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, 110 yards, and 220 yards."Swimming in South Africa"
, SouthAfrica.net She also won 22 South African Championships and three US National Championships.
,

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

Due to the

sporting boycott of South Africa South Africa under apartheid was subjected to a variety of international boycotts, including on sporting contacts. There was some debate about whether the aim of the boycott was to oppose segregation in sport or apartheid in general, with the la ...

during her active career, she was never able to participate in an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Muir was elected to the

in 1980. After retiring from her sport, she qualified, through the

University of the Orange Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

, as a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

and practiced in the

African continent Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Since 2000 she worked as a family physician in

Vanderhoof, British Columbia Vanderhoof is a district municipality near the geographical centre of British Columbia, Canada. Covering 2.92 square kilometers., it has a population of about 4,500 within town limits, and offers services to nearly 10,000 people in nearby rural c ...

, Canada. During 2009, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. On 19 January 2012, it was reported that the cancer had spread.André Botha (17 January 2012)
"Karen Muir veg nou om haar lewe"
. volksblad.com Muir died of breast cancer at the age of 60 in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

, South Africa on 1 April 2013. Kimberley's Olympic-sized swimming pool was named the Karen Muir Swimming Pool in honour of the young swimmer, who was nicknamed locally as the "Tepid Torpedo". When Muir revisited the city in 2009 she donated her Springbok blazer to the Diamantveld High School.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, Karen 1952 births 2013 deaths South African female backstroke swimmers Sportspeople from Kimberley, Northern Cape World record setters in swimming Deaths from breast cancer in South Africa South African people of British descent 20th-century South African women 21st-century South African women

Biography

See also

References

External links