Phyllis Dewar

Phyllis Dewar was little-known prior to achieving widespread athletic fame at the 1934 British Empire Games, where she won four gold medals: individually in the 110 and 440 yard freestyle events, with Irene Pirie and the non-Olympians Florence Humble and Margaret Hutton in the 4x110 yards relay, and with the non-Olympians Hutton and Phyllis Haslam in the 3x110 yards medley relay. For these feats, she was awarded the first Velma Springstead Trophy as Canada’s outstanding female athlete of the year. After setting five Canadian records at the 1935 national championships, she was selected for Canada’s delegation to the 1936 Summer Olympics and entered into three events: the 100 and 400 m individual freestyle tournaments and the 4x100 m freestyle relay, the latter with Pirie, Mary McConkey, and Margaret Stone. The nation’s high hopes were dashed, however, when Dewar came down with the flu in Berlin; she was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 m and was not even able to start in the 400 m. In the relay, the Canadians came in joint-fourth alongside the Hungarians.

Dewar had one last hurrah at the 1938 British Empire Games, where she took gold in the 4x110 y freestyle relay with Noel Oxenbury and non-Olympians Dorothy Lyon and Mary Baggaley, and then retired from active competition. After her husband was killed in a car crash, her health declined, and she died seven years later the relatively young age of 45. She is a member of the Saskatchewan Sports (1967), Canadian Sports (1971), and Canadian Olympic (1972) Halls of Fame.