At a glance
- Status: In training
- Filly, Ontario-bred, foaled March 30, 2023
- By Mo Town out of Turkmenistan
- Trainer: Kevin Attard
- Acquired at the 2024 CTHS Premier Yearling Sale
Behind the name
Long before Canadians celebrated Olympic medal hauls by Summer McIntosh and Penny Oleksiak, a lone Canuck became a sporting and cultural phenomenon when she set the swimming world ablaze in the late 1960s.
Vancouver-born Elaine Tanner is a three-time Olympic medallist, former world record holder in five events, and the only swimmer voted by the Canadian Press as one of the Top 10 Canadian athletes of the 20th century,
In 1965, 14-year-old Tanner added her first Canadian national swim title to six gold medals. At four-foot-nine and just under 90 pounds soaking wet, she earned her moniker “Mighty Mouse” when she stood on the podium between runner-ups who towered over her.
No financial support was available for Tanner or her coach to enter the 1966 US National Championships, but she remained undeterred. Arriving without a coach as an unknown, the young underdog stunned the Americans and the press when she set two US records and left the event with two gold medals and the world’s fastest time in the backstroke.
At age 15, Tanner became the first athlete to ever win four golds at a Commonwealth Games and the first to win seven medals in those games.
As a 15-year-old, the small but mighty Tanner dominated the 1966 Commonwealth Games with four historic gold medal finishes and three silvers. That same year she became the youngest winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy for Canada’s Athlete of the Year and then won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the nation’s Best Female Athlete. At the 1967 Pan American Games, Mighty Mouse captured two more gold medals and three silvers while setting two world records in a pool that Canadians had dubbed “Tanner’s Tank”. Her ensuing road show included trips to South Africa, New Zealand, England, and Russia, always going head-to-head with the host country’s best.
By the age of 17, the remarkable Canadian held five world records along with major international titles and 17 national titles. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, she further cemented her place in sports history by becoming the first Canadian woman to ever medal in any Olympics.
Arguably one of the greatest, most versatile swimmers in Canadian history, Tanner pioneered Canadian swimming internationally and laid a foundation of excellence for others to follow.
Tanner was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1970 and the Elaine Tanner Award has been presented to Canada’s top junior female athlete since 1972. Her name can be found in the BC Sports Hall of Fame (1969), BC Swimming Hall of Fame (1999), Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1971), Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (1971), and the International Swimming Hall of Fame (1980). In 2010, the Canadian Sport Advisory Council voted Tanner as one of the Top 50 greatest Canadian athletes of all time.
But hers is not solely a tale of triumph.
Prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics, Canada’s top swim executives told Tanner’s long-time coach that he would not be allowed to accompany her for the most important races of her life. To everyone’s disbelief, they replaced him with an inexperienced political appointee. In order to acclimate to altitude, Tanner was sent to Banff to train in an area that did not have a competitive-sized pool. She was forced to prepare in a small recreation facility managed by Parks Canada where the whole team got food poisoning.
Once in Mexico City, Tanner broke two Olympic records en route to the finals. Despite having always gone out fast and never been caught, her coach instructed her moments before her 100-meter backstroke medal attempt to change from her usual quick start to a slower pace due to the altitude. Young, nervous, and always compliant, Tanner altered her race strategy and held back.
Although Tanner captured three of Canada’s five medals in those Olympics, 0.05 seconds separated her from a gold medal that the press had guaranteed to a nation that placed an immense burden of unrealistic expectations on a teen. Back home, Tanner’s world-class results were met not with accolades due a national hero, but with the headline “Tanner loses gold”. Shamed by questions about why she fell short and convinced that she had failed her country, the depressed youth retired from competitive swimming at age 18 and crawled into an emotional black hole that took her two decades to climb out of.
The Canuck Racing Club is proud to name our thoroughbred in honour and appreciation of this truly exceptional Canadian.
Now living in Kelowna, Elaine Tanner is a mental health advocate and author of children’s books who has dedicated herself to helping others.
About the sire
Our Mighty Tanner was sired by multiple graded stakes winner Mo Town, a Kentucky-bred son of Uncle Mo who sold for $200,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Sale. He went on to earn $519,600 in 10 starts with a record of 4-1-2 in wins that included wins at the G2 Remsen Stakes as a 2-year-old (96 eSpeed) and the G1 Hollywood Derby as a 3-year-old (119 eSpeed). Mo Town clocked triple digit eSpeeds four times in his career.
“He was brilliant on both dirt and turf,” shared his trainer Tony Dutrow, a veteran with more than 2,000 wins. “I only hope I am fortunate to get another like him some day.”
Mo Town is the progeny of top sire Uncle Mo, a sire of sires who retired from racing with a record of 5-1-1 in eight starts and $1,606,000 in purses won. Debuting as a 3-year-old, Uncle Mo won his first four starts including two G1s and only finished out of the money once in his career.
About the mare
Our filly’s mare, Kentucky-bred Turkmenistan was sired by Candy Ride. Turkmenistan retired from racing with a record of 4-4-3 in 18 starts.
