Karen Muir

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Karen Muir swim
Karen Muir 1967.jpg

Karen Muir (1967)

Personal information
Surname: Karen Muir
Nickname (s): Tepid torpedo
Nation: South AfricaSouth Africa South Africa
Swimming style (s) : move
Birthday: September 16, 1952
Place of birth: Kimberley
Date of death: April 1, 2013
Place of death: Mossel Bay

Karen Muir (born September 16, 1952 in Kimberley , † April 1, 2013 in Mossel Bay ) was a South African swimmer .

Live and act

Karen Muir grew up in the South African city of Kimberley. In the summer of 1965, the South African Swimming Union sent her to the ASA National Junior Championships in Blackpool to gain experience in international swimming competition. On August 10, 1965, she surprisingly undercut the previous world record by a seventeenth of a second over 110 yards back with 01: 08.7 minutes, which had been set two weeks earlier by the 17-year-old Englishwoman Linda Ludgrove (* 1947). At this point in time, Muir was 12 years, 10 months and 25 days old, making it the youngest world record holder of all sports and times. From 1965 to 1969 she set a total of 15 world records over 100 meters, 200 meters, 110 yards and 220 yards back. She won 22 times in the South African national competitions in freestyle , backstroke and medley swimming and three times in the United States Swimming National Championships (backstroke). She could not compete in the Olympic Games because South Africa was excluded from participation from 1964 to 1992. In 1980, Muir was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as the first South African woman.

In 1970, Muir ended her sporting career and graduated from Diamantveld High School in Kimberley in the same year. She then studied at the University of the Free State and then obtained a doctorate in medicine . She and her husband de Graad later worked as doctors in South Africa. In 2000, Muir emigrated to Canada, where she first lived in Saskatchewan and then practiced as a general practitioner in Vanderhoof .

In 2009, Karen Muir was diagnosed with breast cancer. She returned to South Africa in January 2013 after the cancer began to spread. She died at the age of 60 in her sister's house in Mossel Bay . She left three daughters living in South Africa and one son residing in Canada.

Successes (selection)

world records recognized by FINA
route style time date place
200 metres move 02: 27.1 July 25, 1966 Beziers
200 metres move 02: 26.4 18th August 1966 Lincoln
200 metres move 02: 24.1 January 6, 1968 Kimberley
100 meters move 01: 06.7 January 30, 1968 Kimberley
100 meters move 01: 06.4 April 6, 1968 Paris
200 metres move 02: 23.8 July 21, 1968 los Angeles
100 meters move 01: 05.6 July 6, 1969 Utrecht

Web links

Commons : Karen Muir  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karen Muir ( Memento from May 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) in the South African Sports and Arts Hall of Fame, accessed on April 4, 2013.
  2. ↑ World Swim Mark Set By South African, 12. In: Ellensburg Daily Record. August 11, 1965, p. 5 , accessed April 4, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Karen Muir in the International Swimming Hall of Fame , accessed April 4, 2013.
  4. ↑ Sarah Evans: "Tepid Torpedo" Karen Muir remembered. iol.co.za, April 3, 2013, accessed April 4, 2013.
  5. ^ Ted Clarke: Doc makes splash at Citizen Iceman. ( Memento of February 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: Prince George Citizen , February 8, 2009
  6. ^ André Botha: Karen Muir sterf. In: Rapport April 2, 2013, accessed April 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ Swemlegende, Karen Muir oorlede. In: Mossel Bay Advertiser April 4, 2013, accessed April 4, 2013.
  8. ^ André Botha: Karen Muir veg nou om hair lewe. ( Memento of February 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Volksblad January 17, 2012, accessed April 4, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Muir, Karen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Muir de Graad, Karen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Kimberley
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 2013
Place of death Mossel Bay