Edward 'Ted" Thomas
Swimming Achievement - Inducted 2011
Edward "Ted" Thomas exemplifies the true meaning of a volunteer. For more than twenty-five years he has committed thousands of hours to the sport of swimming in Alberta and to the development of our youth and coaches. Ted was instrumental in developing swimming at the club level in both Calgary and Edmonton - the club system providing the basic building blocks. Prior to the days of professional coaches in Alberta, Ted put Alberta Swimming on the map by competing against teams with professional coaches in the rest of the country and by winning.
Ted was devoted to his swimmers and to Canada. He had a desire to help lead coaches to improve and enhance their skills. Ted was dedicated and had a phenomenal ability to inspire and challenge every level of swimmer to achieve through disciplined hard work and honest commitment. He managed to spend four to five hours a day with the Killarney Swim Club in Calgary and the Jasper Place Swim Club in Edmonton as a volunteer coach. With a full-time job at AGT, he would take his vacation from work to travel to competitions with his swim team.
Ted Thomas was president of the Alberta Coaches Council and the Canadian Swim Coaches Association. He was named to the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympic coaching staff, was the Pan Am coach in 1971 in Cali, Columbia and a part of the Canadian Tour Team that went to China in 1974.
In 2008 Swim Alberta honoured Mr. Thomas with an Honorary Life Time Member Award for his contribution and achievement in sport. His selfless contributions to the sport of swimming are unprecedented as a coach and mentor to young and elite athletes.
After Induction
Edward passed away on March 18, 2013
