Mark Tewksbury

Mark Tewksbury

Personal information
Full name	Marcus Tewksbury
Nickname(s)	"Mark"
Nationality	Canada
Born	February 7, 1968 (1968-02-07) (age 43) Calgary, Alberta
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	80 kilograms (180 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Backstroke
College team	University of Calgary
Medal record Men’s swimming Competitor for  Canada Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona 100 m backstroke Silver 1988 Seoul 4x100 m medley Bronze 1992 Barcelona 4x100 m medley World Championships (LC) Silver 1991 Perth 100 m backstroke Pan Pacific Championships Gold 1987 Brisbane 100 m backstroke Silver 1987 Brisbane 200 m backstroke Silver 1991 Edmonton 100 m backstroke Bronze 1989 Tokyo 100 m backstroke

Mark Tewksbury, MSM (born February 7, 1968 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian former swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100 metres backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted the first season of How It's Made, a Canadian documentary series, in 2001.

Tewksbury was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) in 1993 for being a "motivational speaker and a gifted athlete." ^[1]

Olympic involvement

Raised in Calgary, Alberta, Tewksbury trained at the University of Calgary. He attended the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and won a silver medal as part of Canada's relay team. For some years he ranked as one of the top backstrokers in the world; never a strong below-the-water swimmer, he was unmatched on the surface, but, as the importance of below-the-water swimming increased, Tewksbury's ranking began to fall.

Going into Barcelona, Tewksbury was ranked fourth in the world and most pundits picked one of the powerful American swimmers to win gold. Tewksbury's gold medal was Canada's first at the Barcelona games and the first Canadian gold in swimming since the Communist-boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Tewksbury also won a bronze medal in the relay event in Barcelona. He made the cover of Time magazine. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame and was named Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year.

After the Barcelona games, Tewksbury retired from swimming. He received a number of high-profile endorsements deals and worked as an athlete representative with the IOC, a position from which he resigned in disenchantment in 1998, accusing the IOC of rampant corruption. He was also part of the group of former Olympic athletes that was pushing for the resignation of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. Only months after the scandal surrounding the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic winter Games broke, Tewksbury became prominent around the world as a critic of the IOC and demanded reforms to the system.

Post-sports career

In December 1998, Tewksbury announced to the Canadian media and people that he was gay. He was the first Canadian athlete to voluntarily state his homosexuality and his announcement drew great public attention. In 1998, he lost a six-figure contract as a motivational speaker because he was "too openly gay."^[2]

Tewksbury was also highly critical of Swimming Canada's organization in the wake of the national team's poor performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where they failed to medal. He suggested that there was a lack of accountability within Swim Canada, and that head coach Dave Johnson was given too much power.^[3][4]

Tewksbury and Martina Navratilova read the Declaration of Montreal at the opening ceremonies of the World Outgames.

Tewksbury became a prominent advocate for gay rights and gay causes in Canada and the world. On May 16, 2003, Tewksbury joined the board of directors for the 2006 World Outgames in Montreal and was named co-president.

Tewksbury was the narrator for the TV show How It's Made during the first season. In 2006, he published his second book, an autobiography entitled Inside Out: Straight Talk from a Gay Jock.^[2] Tewksbury remains a public figure working as a motivational speaker, a television commentator for swimming events, and a continued activist. He is a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.

On November 30, 2006 Tewksbury was the Master of Ceremonies for the Tribute to former Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Liberal Party of Canada's Leadership and Biennial Convention in Montreal.

During the 2008 Summer Olympics, Tewksbury served as CBC Sports' Swimming analyst alongside play-by play announcer Steve Armitage.^[5]

In December 2008 Tewksbury was invited by the government of France to speak at the United Nations in New York City on the day that a declaration was introduced that affirms gay rights and seeks to decriminalize homosexuality.

On September 19, 2009 Tewksbury was inducted into Canada's LGBT Human Rights Hall of Fame, the Q Hall of Fame Canada, in honour of his outstanding achievements and efforts to end descrimination in the sports world.

On August 5, 2010, he was named the chef de mission of the 2012 Canadian Summer Olympic team.^[6]

References

1. ^ Citation for MSM
2. ^ ^{a b} Moore, Dene (2006-04-05). "Olympian Tewksbury reveals his struggles being gay". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060405.TEWKSBURY05/TPStory/National. Retrieved 2007-08-12. 
3. ^ Canadian Swimmers Strike Out in Athens
4. ^ CANOE - SLAM! 2004 Games Swimming : Rock bottom
5. ^ The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080625.TRUTH25/TPStory/GlobeSports. 
6. ^ "Tewkesbury to lead Canada's team for 2012 Games". CBC.ca. 2010-08-05. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2010/08/05/sp-tewksbury-london-games.html. 

External links

• Mark Tewksbury's website (MarkTewksbury.com)
• Montréal will be a legacy for the future (QueerSports.org) Sep 30, 2004

Awards
Preceded by Silken Laumann	Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1992	Succeeded by Mario Lemieux

Persondata
Name	Tewksbury, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 7, 1968
Place of birth	Calgary, Alberta
Date of death
Place of death