There was a time in Southampton when the annual Water Sports Day was a big event. There was kite flying while being towed by a boat, barefoot skiing, water ballet, water skiing displays of jumping and slalom, outboard motorboat racing and more … it was an exciting time on the Saugeen River.
‘This was the headline of a story from Southampton in the Toronto Star in July of 1957’… “Tyro Swimmer Surprises Pros”.
This past May, I was looking at an old picture from the Beacon of my Grade 3 Class in 1950. Let me correct the errors in the 1981 reprint of it that is attached. First, it was not Grade 3, it was a 3/4 split as there were not enough for a full Grade 3 or Grade 4 or Grade 5 so there was a 3/4 and a 4/5 split; Wayne Tasher is Wayne Tasker and John Large is John Longe. We were 30 in number with an even split of boys and girls.
I went through each of them thinking about them and things we may have done together and how our lives were then and from what I knew and what I had I heard since and current for those of us that are still around here. As they say, there has been a lot of water go under the bridge since then.
Now if you go to Row 3 and see the little fellow 3rd from left, named Calvin Piper, you will be looking at the 1950 version of the 1957 “Tyro Swimmer”, who surprised the pros.
Professional long-distance swimming had become very popular in the 1940s when the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) added it to their big annual event. Cliff Lumsdon was the big star and, in 1954, Marilyn Bell was the first to swim the 32 miles across Lake Ontario … and there were big races in the U.S.
In 1957, a Marathon Professional Swim was planned for Owen Sound to include a world-class field, including Cliff Lumsdon. The week before that was the Southampton Water Sports event that had been held on the river between the Victoria Street bridge (old bridge) and the harbour at the lake’s edge for a few years. Stan Hills was the President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce who sponsored and ran the Southampton event that featured all kinds of water competitions.
Stan conceived the idea of having a small three-mile race and got commitments from four of the professionals to come here and do the three miles during the Water Sports Day. Now how does our own Calvin Piper fit into this story?
Well, some of the 15 boys, who are in the Grade 3 picture, had figured out that the lake was far too cold to swim in until summer and that the river was considerably warmer. Hence, some of us would bike down to the river after school starting in May and swim off the dock. The better swimmers would race across the river to the north side and back. This is where Cal showed everybody up by being the fastest and best swimmer.
When the big news got out about the four Pros coming here to do the three-mile race, 15-year-old Cal begged his parents to be able to go into the race. His father relented and went to Stan Hills to see if it could happen. I have no idea of the details other than Cal phoned me to row the boat for him to swim three miles to train. This was a week before the race. His family lived in a new home on the north riverbank just past the road down to the boat docking area.
We got his dad’s boat, and I rowed along beside him down the river, south to the island, and back to his home. We guessed that it was about three miles. There was a second training run and he was then set to go.
Now, let’s go to the local Southampton Beacon after-event news report to read the details of the BIG race.
HEADLINE: Jeremy Wins Swim Event
“Four noted swimmers and one local boy took part in the three-mile swim into Lake Huron,
At the halfway mark, there was less than 50 yards between the swimmers. At the buoy off the mouth of the Saugeen River, the order of the swimmers was Jeremy 1st, Piper 2nd, Bill Sandlo, Whitestone N. Y. 3rd, Ted Simmons, Toronto 4th , and Jim Woods of Orlando Fl. 5th.
As the swimmers neared the mouth of the river, Woods was leading, with Jeremy 2nd and Piper 3rd. From therein, young Piper ran into difficulty but fought off a bad spell and came in to finish the race. At the finish, Jeremy had a substantial lead and was followed by Sandlo, Woods, Simmons, and Piper.
John Jeremy of Toronto, the only man to complete the swimming of Lake Ontario, was the winner. Cal Piper, 15, a local entrant was leading the field until just before the halfway mark. Piper was swimming 66 strokes per minute during the first leg of the race.
Pat Roach, a veteran swim coach was present at the Annual Water Show, on board the official boat, and he expressed the opinion that Cal Piper, young teenager from Southampton “… could become a talented professional with good coaching and practice.”
While Cal was disappointed in how he finished, he could be extremely proud of what he had done. His mom and dad would hear nothing of his going off to the city to become a pro swimmer. So, that September, it was back to Saugeen District Secondary School for us all.
NOW for the latest news.
I was aware that Cal had gone west and more than 30 years ago he was the owner/operator of a Go Cart Track in Sicamous B. C., just off the Trans-Canada Highway. There were also stories before that about him being a fighting star in Kamloops at events under the “So You Think That You Are Tough” title.
The really big news is that, through the power of Facebook, I have found him in Peace River in Northern Alberta and I have visited his sister Barbara who now lives in Port Elgin.
He and I are now “Facebook Friends”, so, there will be more to come on the “Tyro Swimmer Who Surprised the Pros”.
