Cindy Nicholas
| Cindy Nicholas | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1987–1990 | |
| Preceded by | William C. Davis |
| Succeeded by | Steve Owens |
| Constituency | Scarborough Centre |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 20, 1957 Toronto, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Cynthia Maria Nicholas, CM (born August 20, 1957) is a former athlete and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990.
Background
Nicholas was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor. She works as a lawyer in Scarborough, Ontario.
Swimming
At age 16 she attained provincial fame by swimming across Lake Ontario in 15 hours and 10 minutes. She would later swim across the English Channel on 19 occasions, including the first two way crossing by a woman. She went on to complete a record 5 two way crossings (see below for list of successful two way channel swims) including 2 in one year, earning her the sobriquet Queen of the Channel. (The title now belongs to Alison Streeter who has completed 43 crossings). She was named top female athlete of the year in 1977 and given the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award.[1] In 1979 she was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1979. In 1993, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame[2] and into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005.[3] She was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[4]
Two Way Channel Swims[5]
1977 - 19 h 55 mins (10 h 05 mins quicker than the previous record)
being the first woman to complete the two way crossing and breaking the previous mans record.
1979 - 19 h 12 mins
1981 - 22 h 21 mins
1982 - 18 h 55 mins
1982 - 20 h 09 mins
Politics
She was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, defeating New Democratic Party candidate Menno Vorster by 3,396 votes.[6] For the next three years, Nicholas served as a backbench supporter of David Peterson's government. She was parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General from 1989 to 1990.
The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 provincial election and Nicholas lost her seat to NDP candidate Steve Owens by 3,068 votes.[7] She returned to a her legal practice in Scarborough.
References
- ↑ "Cindy Nicholas top female star". Montreal Gazette. 1977-12-22. p. 12. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- ↑ "Four athletes inducted into Canadian Hall of Fame". The Ottawa Citizen. October 29, 1993. p. C6.
- ↑ "Cindy Nicholas (CAN):Honor Open Water Swimmer". International Swimming Hall of Fame. 2005. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ↑ "Cindy Nicholas". http://oshof.ca/''. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ↑ Two Way Channel Swim Successes- from the Channel Swimming Association
- ↑ "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.
- ↑ "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.