Marie Claire Ross
Personal information
National team Canada
Born1975 or 1976 (age 47–48)
London, Ontario, Canada
Alma materRyerson Polytechnic Institute
Sport
Country Canada
SportPara-swimming
DisabilityVisual impairment
Disability classB3
Medal record
Women's Para-swimming
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Paralympic Games 2 2 6
IPC World Championships 0 1 1
Total 2 3 7
Representing  Canada
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place1996 Atlanta100 m breaststroke B3
Gold medal – first place1996 Atlanta200 m medley B3
Silver medal – second place1992 BarcelonaWomen's 100 m Breaststroke B3
Silver medal – second place1996 AtlantaWomen's 100 m Backstroke B3
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaWomen's 50 m Freestyle B3
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaWomen's 4x100 m Freestyle B1-3
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaWomen's 4x100 m Medley B1-3
Bronze medal – third place1996 AtlantaWomen's 50 m Freestyle B3
Bronze medal – third place1996 AtlantaWomen's 100 m Butterfly B3
Bronze medal – third place1996 AtlantaWomen's 100 m Freestyle B3
IPC World Swimming Championships
Silver medal – second place1994 VallettaWomen's 200 m medley B3
Bronze medal – third place1994 VallettaWomen's 100 m Butterfly B1-3

Marie Claire Ross (born 1975 or 1976) is a Canadian B3 classified para-swimmer who has a visual impairment and competed in the Paralympic Games and the IPC World Swimming Championships. She began swimming at the age of 14 and joined a swimming club in her home town of London, Ontario. Ross won four medals: one silver and three bronze medals in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. She earned six more medals with three bronze medals, two gold medals and one silver medal in the 1996 Summer Paralympics at Atlanta. Ross has also won a silver medal and a bronze medal at the 1994 IPC World Swimming Championships in Valletta.

Early life and education

Ross was born in either 1975 and 1976, and comes from London, Ontario.[1] Until she was eight, she had normal eyesight until a genetic disorder reduced it to less than ten percent peripheral vision in the space of two months and thus became legally blind.[1][2] Ross has no central vision and cannot detect finer details or has a perception of depth.[2][3] She matriculated to Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Toronto and studied nutritional science.[4]

Career

Although she disliked sports due to negative experiences making her feel frightened by the activity, Ross took up swimming at age 14,[1] and got enough money to become a member of a swimming club in London.[2][4] She completed just two or three strokes to start with but improved it to 75 by the conclusion of the year.[2] At the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain, Ross won the silver medal in the women's 100 metres breastroke B3 event and the bronze medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay B1–3 alongside Nancy Irvine, Carla Qualtrough and Yvette Weicker.[5][6][7] She also won two further bronze medals in the Women's 4x100 metres Medley B1-3 with the same team and the Women's 50 metres Freestyle B3 events.[5]

Ross finished third for the bronze medal in the women's 100 metres freestyle in the 1994 Canadian Youth Swimming Championships in Winnipeg.[8] She later qualified to compete at the 1994 IPC World Swimming Championships in Valletta, Malta.[9][10] Ross won the silver medal in the women's 200-metre medley B3 competition and the bronze medal in the women's 100 metres butterfly B3 event.[11][12] The following year, she was a medallist in the women's 200 metres individual medley at the Superior Propane Cup in Lethbridge.[13] Ross was subsequently named a recipient of the Petro-Canada Olympic Torch Scholarship program by the Canadian Olympic Association.[14] At the 1996 Canada Youth Swimming Championships for Swimmers with a Disability in Nepean, Ontario, she set a new world disabled record in winning the women's 200 metres individual medley B3 event.[15] Ross then won the women's 100 metres breaststroke the following day.[16]

Following these results, she was nominated to be part of Canada's swimming team at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, United States.[17] Ross established a new world disabled record to claim the gold medal in the women's 200 metres individual medley B3 event.[18] She went on to claim a second gold medal with another new world disabled record in the women's 100 metres breaststroke B3 competition.[19] Ross also claimed the silver medal in the women's 100 metres backstroke B3 event and the bronze in each of the women's 50 metres freestyle, the women's 100 metres butterfly and the women's 100 metres freestyle all in the B3 category.[5] For her achievements, she was named a Swimmer of the Year for 1996 by Swimming Canada.[20]

Ross took the gold medals in each of the women's 200 metres freestyle,[21] the women's 100 metres breaststroke,[22] the women's 100 metres butterfly,[23] and the women's 200 metres individual medley at the 1997 National Youth Championships for Swimmers with a Disability in Regina, Saskatchewan.[24] She placed first in the women's 100 metres butterfly B3 and the women's 50 metres freestyle events at the 1997 US National Championships for Swimmers with a Disability in Springfield, Massachusetts.[25][26] At the 1998 Ontario Swimming Championships in Toronto, Ross finished third in the women's 100 metres butterfly and second in the women's 50 metres butterfly competitions.[27][28]

She went on to finish fourth in the women's 50 metres freestyle, second in the women's 200 metres individual medley and first in the women's 100 metres butterfly events at the 1998 Canadian Swimming Championships for Swimmers with a Disability in Sherbrooke, Quebec.[29][30] At the 1998 IBSA World Championships in Madrid, Spain, Ross won gold medals in each of the women's 100 metres butterfly and the women's 100 metres backstroke events.[31][32] During the following year's Canadian National Championships for Swimmers with a Disability in Victoria, British Columbia, she placed second in the women's 100 metres breaststroke before going on to finish eighth in the women's 100 metres freestyle.[33][34]

References

  1. 1 2 3 MacLeod, Robert (February 14, 1997). "Paralympic gold medalist changes lanes Swimming / Legally blind, Marie Claire Ross will compete for Ryerson at the intercollegiate championship". The Globe and Mail. p. D1. ProQuest 384943138. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Starkman, Randy (February 25, 1997). "Ross set for big challenge". Toronto Star. p. C7. ProQuest 437620758. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ "Going for More Gold". Canada AM/CTV News. August 15, 1996. ProQuest 190353860. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  4. 1 2 Moser, David (May 30, 1997). "Ross values competitive swimming". The Leader-Post. p. F5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  5. 1 2 3 "Marie Claire Rose". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Canadians win gold". Red Deer Advocate. The Canadian Press. September 5, 1992. p. A8. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ↑ "Paralympic record". Vancouver Sun. September 10, 1992. p. D11. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ↑ "Canadian Youth Championships". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. May 29, 1994. p. D5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ↑ "Marieclaire Rose". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Valletta 1994 IPC Swimming Championships". Swimming Canada. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Swimming – World Disabled Championships". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. November 5, 1994. p. G4. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  12. ↑ "Swimming – World Disabled". Times Colonist. The Canadian Press. November 8, 1994. p. C6. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  13. ↑ "Swimming –Superior Propane Cup". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. June 4, 1995. p. D5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  14. ↑ "Scholarships awarded to 100 student-athletes (by Canadian Olympic Assn)". The Canadian Press. June 1, 1996. ProQuest 356759816. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  15. ↑ "Pair set world disabled swim records". Vancouver Sun. June 1, 1996. p. C10C. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ↑ "Swimming – Youth". Times Colonist. The Canadian Press. June 3, 1996. p. D4. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  17. ↑ "Paralympics – Team Canada". Ottawa Citizen. June 4, 1996. p. C10. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  18. ↑ "Canadian sets mark at Paralympics". Montreal Gazette. The Canadian Press. August 19, 1996. p. E5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  19. ↑ "Canadians shine at Paralympic Games". Whitehouse Daily Star. The Canadian Press. August 20, 1996. p. 19. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  20. ↑ "Swim exploits honored". Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. February 23, 1997. p. C9. ProQuest 437620390. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  21. ↑ "Swimming – National Youth Championships". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. May 30, 1997. p. C4. Retrieved May 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  22. ↑ "Swimming – National Youth Championships". StarPhoenix. May 31, 1997. p. A18. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  23. ↑ "Swimming – National Youth Championships". Ottawa Citizen. June 1, 1997. p. B7. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  24. ↑ "Canadian – National Youth Championships". StarPhoenix. June 2, 1997. p. C8. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  25. ↑ "U.S. Nationals". Ottawa Citizen. July 20, 1997. Retrieved May 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  26. ↑ "Swimming – U.S. Nationals". Edmonton Journal. July 21, 1997. p. D5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  27. ↑ "Swimming – OUA Championships". Ottawa Citizen. February 15, 1998. p. C8. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  28. ↑ "Ontario Swimming Championships". Ottawa Citizen. February 16, 1998. p. D10. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  29. ↑ "Swimming – Canadian Championships". Ottawa Citizen. May 30, 1998. p. C6. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  30. ↑ "Swimming – Swimmers with a Disability". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. May 31, 1998. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  31. ↑ "Record, two gold for Wu". The Province. The Canadian Press. July 21, 1998. p. A34C. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  32. ↑ "Canadians win swimming gold". Windsor Star. July 22, 1998. p. D5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  33. ↑ "Swimming – Canadian Youth Championships". Calgary Herald. The Canadian Press. May 29, 1999. p. E7. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  34. ↑ "Swimming". Nanaimo Daily News. The Canadian Press. May 31, 1999. p. B5. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
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