Marion Beverly Lay, (born November 26, 1948) is a former 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 ...
who represented Canada in the
1964 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...
and
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
. Swimming the anchor leg for Canada's third-place team in the
women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, she won an Olympic bronze medal, together with teammates
Angela Coughlan
Angela Denise Coughlan, O.Ont. (October 4, 1952 – June 14, 2009) was a Canadian competition swimmer. At the peak of her competitive swimming career from 1968 to 1971, she was the best Canadian female freestyle specialist, going undefeated in f ...
,
Marilyn Corson
Marilyn Corson (born June 6, 1950), later known by her married name Marilyn Whitney, is a Canadian former competitive swimmer who swam in the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1972 Summer Olympics. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Corson won a bronz ...
and
Elaine Tanner
Elaine Tanner-Watt, (born February 22, 1951) is a Canadian former competition swimmer. Olympic medallist, and former world record-holder in two events.
Career
Nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" partly because of her small stature (standing barely five fe ...
.
Swimming career
Through the 1960s and 1970s, Canada produced a remarkable number of world-class swimmers and Lay is notable for her contributions to that success. Despite a political squabble concerning her eligibility to compete for Canada, she reigned as Canadian
100 metres freestyle
The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics.
The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...
champion for four straight years from 1964 to 1967 and held the national record in the event for eight years, from 1964 to 1972. At the
1964 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...
, she finished fifth in 100m freestyle. Four years later
in Mexico City, she placed fourth in the event. Other notable results include gold medals in 110yd freestyle and 4×110 yd freestyle relay, the latter in
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
time, at the
1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...
. At the
1967 Pan American Games
The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967.
Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...
, Lay won four silver medals. She won the 1965 ASA
National Championship 100 metres freestyle title.
TV career
Following retirement from competition, Lay was CBC's swimming colour commentator until 1973. As a coach of women swimmers, she held positions at California State Polytechnic College in Pomona, California State University at Hayward, the University of Western Ontario, and the
Ottawa Kingfish Swim Club.
Activism
Lay is a leading activist in eliminating inequities faced by women in sport. She was the consultant for the first women and sport program at
Fitness and Amateur Sport Canada and later became
Sport Canada
Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportunities ...
's special advisor on gender equity. She is a founder of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS; WomenSport International; PromotionPlus, British Columbia's organization for girls and women in physical activity and sport; the National Sport Centre Greater Vancouver (Canadian Sport Institute Pacific); and was founding President and Chief Executive Officer of 2010 Legacies Now. She was an organizer of Canada's first Women and Sport Conference in 1974 and a member of the steering committee for the 1st World Conference on Women and Sport, which developed the
Brighton Declaration in 1994. In 2015, she was a member of the planning committee for the National Conversation on Women in Sport at
Laval University
Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of:
People
* House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne
* Laval (surname)
Places Belgium
* Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxemb ...
in Quebec City. She served on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Olympic Committee and was President of Operations for
Rick Hansen
Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord ...
's Man in Motion World Tour.
Honors for advocacy
Over the years, Lay's advocacy has not gone unnoticed. Her honours include the 2001 International Olympic Committee's Women and Sport Trophy for the Americas; the inaugural Carol Anne Letheren International Sport Leadership Award in 2002, acknowledging a Canadian woman who has made an outstanding contribution to international sport leadership; the
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier B ...
in 2012; the Leadership in Sports Award at the 2001 Canadian Sport Awards; and the 1995 Bryce Taylor Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian sport. Lay was inducted into
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...
as a Builder in 2012, the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum as a Builder in 2005; the BC Swimming Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2003, the California State Polytechnic College Sports Hall of Fame for swimming, basketball, and volleyball in 1991, and the Aquatic Hall of Fame and Museum of Canada as an athlete in 1972. She received the Vancouver
YWCA Women of Distinction Award
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
in 1991, the Bobbie Steen Award of Excellence for leadership in women in sport in 2001, and the CAAWS Women in Sport Herstorical Award (now the Marion Lay Herstorical Award) in 2002. She was a recipient of the
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...
in 2002 and the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...
in 2012.
Contributions to olympics and Paralympics
Lay was heavily involved with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, serving first as the Chair of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Committee and later as the City of Vancouver representative on the Board of Directors of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee. She was also President and CEO of the 2010 Legacies Now Society. She is President of Think Sport Ltd., a Vancouver-based sport management and consulting firm specializing in event management, program planning, evaluation, and gender equity education.
Personal life
Lay is an adjunct professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, a member of the Board of Directors of
ParticipACTION
ParticipACTION is a national non-profit organization, originally launched as a Canadian government program in the 1970s, to promote healthy living and physical fitness. It shut down due to financial cutbacks in 2001, but was revived on February 19, ...
, and co-chair and honorary board member of the
BC Games Society
The BC Games Society is a provincial crown corporation in British Columbia created in 1977. The organization is the governing body responsible for the BC Summer Games and BC Winter Games, and manages the Team BC program at the Canada Games. Ron ...
. She was a member of the steering committee for the
Vancouver 2010
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
Pride House
Pride House is a dedicated temporary location which plays host to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes, volunteers and visitors attending the Olympics, Paralympics or other international sporting event in the host city. The firs ...
and sat on the advisory committee of the City of Vancouver LGBTQ mission to the
2014 Sochi Winter Olympic and
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
advocating that sexual orientation be included in the International Olympic Committee Charter.
An editor of ''Playing it Forward: Women and Sport in Canada'', published by the Feminist History Society and Second Story Press in 2012, Lay was also a contributor to ''Play Fair'', the feature-length
documentary on women and sport in Canada produced in 2015 by Donna Gall and based on "Playing it Forward".
Following the end of her competitive career, Lay came out as
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
, and was a coordinator of the
Pride House
Pride House is a dedicated temporary location which plays host to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes, volunteers and visitors attending the Olympics, Paralympics or other international sporting event in the host city. The firs ...
at the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
.
She is the partner of
Penny Ballem Penny Janet Drury Ballem is a Canadian physician and government administrator. She was the city manager for the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 2008 to 2015 and served as a member of the VANOC board of directors, corporate directo ...
, a civil servant who was the
city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
of Vancouver.
See also
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
This is the complete list of women's Olympic medalists in swimming.
Current program
50 metre freestyle
100 metre freestyle
200 metre freestyle
400 metre freestyle
800 metre freestyle
1500 metre freestyle
100 metre backstroke
20 ...
*
List of LGBT Olympians
There have been 622 modern Olympians (including Paralympians, Summer Olympic athletes and artists, and Winter Olympians) who have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, and/or having an intersex con ...
References
* Kelso, John G. The History of Competitive Swimming In Canada (1867-2002). Published by: DB Perks & Associates, N. Vancouver, BC. . May, 2003.
* Canadian Journal for Women and Coaching, April 2004, Vol. 4, No. 3: Meet Marion Lay, Sport Leader Extraordinaire by Sheila Robertson
External links
Marion Layat
Swimming Canada
Swimming Canada is the Canadian national governing body for competitive swimming in the country.
Swimming Canada oversees the management of all swim programs throughout the nation and provides the foundation for beginner-level athletes to train ...
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lay, Marion
1948 births
Living people
Swimmers from Vancouver
Canadian female freestyle swimmers
Olympic swimmers for Canada
Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1967 Pan American Games
Swimmers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Olympic bronze medalists in swimming
Olympic bronze medalists for Canada
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada
Members of the Order of British Columbia
Canadian lesbian sportswomen
LGBT swimmers
Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
Pan American Games medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games
Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
20th-century Canadian LGBT people
21st-century Canadian LGBT people