16-year old Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak has won the 20116 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s Athlete of the Year – making her one of the youngest-ever to win this award (behind Elaine Tanner, who won in 1966 at 15).
The award, organized by the Toronto Star, is selected by a panel of sports journalists from across the country. It has been given every year since 1936, with the exception of the war-time years of 1942, 1943, and 1944.
Oleksiak learned of the news while in class on Tuesday. During her high school law class, her teacher let her check her phone to learn of her fate – an exception to school policy.
“It was pretty exciting when I found out,” Oleksiak said via conference call after winning. “One of my teachers, Mr. McAlpine, is across the hallway. He was like freaking out after class when he found out. So that was fun.”
Oleksiak reignited the fire in Canadian swimming in 2016 to become the first Canadian to win 4 medals at the same Summer Olympics (in any sport) and the country’s youngest-ever Olympic champion when she won gold and broke the Olympic record in the 100 free – tied with American Simone Manuel. She also picked up a silver medal in the individual 100 fly and bronze medals as part of Canada’s 400 and 800 free relays.
The success built off her 2015 season where she won 6 medals at the World Junior Championships.
She wasn’t the only swimmer who placed as a finalist for the honor in 2016. Aurelie Rivard was nominated as well after winning 4 medals (3 golds, 1 silver) at the 2016 Paralympic Games. She was the country’s flag-bearer at the Paralympic closing ceremonies.
Also among the nominees were golfer Brooke Henderson, who won her first major title this year at the Women’s PGA Championship; Tennis player Milos Raonic, who reached the Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and finished the year ranked 3rd in the world; and high jumper Derek Drouin, who won gold in Rio after 6 consecutive successful jumps.
Oleksiak becomes the 8th swimmer in history to win the award, and first since Mark Tewksbury was honored in 1992. One synchronized swimmer, Carolyn Waldo, has also won the award. Swimmers have won the award more often than any sport aside from hockey (13) and figure skating (9).
Winners of the Lionel Conacher Award (male) and Bobbie Resenfeld Award (female) for 2016, a similar award given out by the Canadian Press, have not been announced yet.
All-time list of winners:
| Year | Winner | Sport | Win # |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Phil Edwards * | Track and field | 1 |
| 1937 | Marshal Cleland | Equestrian | 1 |
| 1938 | Bobby Pearce | Rowing | 1 |
| 1939 | Bob Pirie | Swimming | 1 |
| 1940 | Gérard Côté * | Marathon | 1 |
| 1941 | Theo Dubois | Rowing | 1 |
| 1942 | None | – | – |
| 1943 | None | – | – |
| 1944 | None | – | – |
| 1945 | Barbara Ann Scott | Figure skating | 1 |
| 1946 | Joe Krol * | Canadian football | 1 |
| 1947 | Barbara Ann Scott ^ | Figure skating | 2 |
| 1948 | Barbara Ann Scott ^ | Figure skating | 3 |
| 1949 | Cliff Lumsdon | Swimming | 1 |
| 1950 | Bob McFarlane | Canadian football & track and field | 1 |
| 1951 | Marlene Streit | Golf | 1 |
| 1952 | George Genereux | Shooting | 1 |
| 1953 | Doug Hepburn * | Weightlifting | 1 |
| 1954 | Marilyn Bell ^ | Swimming | 1 |
| 1955 | Beth Whittall | Swimming | 1 |
| 1956 | Marlene Streit ^ | Golf | 2 |
| 1957 | Maurice Richard * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1958 | Lucile Wheeler ^ | Alpine skiing | 1 |
| 1959 | Barbara Wagner & Bob Paul | Figure skating | 1 |
| 1960 | Anne Heggtveit ^ | Alpine skiing | 1 |
| 1961 | Bruce Kidd * | Track and field | 1 |
| 1962 | Donald Jackson | Figure skating | 1 |
| 1963 | Bill Crothers | Track and field | 1 |
| 1964 | Roger Jackson & George Hungerford | Rowing | 1 |
| 1965 | Petra Burka ^ | Figure skating | 1 |
| 1966 | Elaine Tanner ^ | Swimming | 1 |
| 1967 | Nancy Greene ^ | Alpine skiing | 1 |
| 1968 | Nancy Greene ^ | Alpine skiing | 2 |
| 1969 | Russ Jackson * | Canadian football | 1 |
| 1970 | Bobby Orr * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1971 | Hervé Filion | Harness racing | 1 |
| 1972 | Phil Esposito * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1973 | Sandy Hawley | Horse racing | 1 |
| 1974 | Ferguson Jenkins * | Baseball | 1 |
| 1975 | Bobby Clarke * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1976 | Sandy Hawley | Horse racing | 2 |
| 1977 | Guy Lafleur * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1978 | Graham Smith | Swimming | 1 |
| 1978 | Ken Read * | Alpine skiing | 1 |
| 1979 | Sandra Post ^ | Golf | 1 |
| 1980 | Terry Fox | Marathon of Hope | 1 |
| 1981 | Susan Nattrass | Shooting | 1 |
| 1982 | Wayne Gretzky * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1983 | Rick Hansen[6] | Wheelchair racing | 1 |
| 1983 | Wayne Gretzky * | Ice hockey | 2 |
| 1984 | Gaétan Boucher | Speed skating | 1 |
| 1985 | Wayne Gretzky * | Ice hockey | 3 |
| 1986 | Ben Johnson * | Track and field | 1 |
| 1987 | Ben Johnson * | Track and field | 2 |
| 1988 | Carolyn Waldo ^ | Synchronized swimming | 1 |
| 1989 | Wayne Gretzky * | Ice hockey | 4 |
| 1990 | Kurt Browning * | Figure skating | 1 |
| 1991 | Silken Laumann ^ | Rowing | 1 |
| 1992 | Mark Tewksbury * | Swimming | 1 |
| 1993 | Mario Lemieux * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 1994 | Myriam Bédard ^ | Biathlon | 1 |
| 1995 | Jacques Villeneuve * | Auto racing | 1 |
| 1996 | Donovan Bailey * | Track and field | 1 |
| 1997 | Jacques Villeneuve * | Auto racing | 2 |
| 1998 | Larry Walker * | Baseball | 1 |
| 1999 | Caroline Brunet | Kayaking | 1 |
| 2000 | Daniel Igali | Wrestling | 1 |
| 2001 | Jamie Salé & David Pelletier | Figure skating | 1 |
| 2002 | Catriona LeMay Doan ^ | Speed skating | 1 |
| 2003 | Mike Weir * | Golf | 1 |
| 2004 | Adam van Koeverden | Kayaking | 1 |
| 2005 | Steve Nash * | Basketball | 1 |
| 2006 | Cindy Klassen ^ | Speed skating | 1 |
| 2007 | Sidney Crosby * | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 2008 | Chantal Petitclerc ^[5] | Wheelchair racing | 1 |
| 2009 | Sidney Crosby *[7] | Ice hockey | 2 |
| 2010 | Joey Votto[8] | Baseball | 1 |
| 2011 | Patrick Chan *[9] | Figure skating | 1 |
| 2012 | Christine Sinclair ^[10] | Soccer | 1 |
| 2013 | Jon Cornish[11] | Canadian football | 1 |
| 2014 | Kaillie Humphries[12] | Bobsleigh | 1 |
| 2015 | Carey Price*[13][14] | Ice hockey | 1 |
| 2016 | Penny Oleksiak[15] | Swimming | 1 |