Noel Oxenbury

By the age of 15 Noel Oxenbury was a rising star on the Canadian swimming scene and was well-known in her native province of British Columbia. She participated in the trials for the 1934 British Empire Games, but failed to make the team. Two years later, however, she represented her country at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in her opening heat, which included eventual gold medalist Nida Senff of the Netherlands. Oxenbury’s next stop was the 1938 British Empire Games where she, along with Phyllis Dewar and the non-Olympians Dorothy Lyon and Mary Baggaley, won the 4x110 yard freestyle relay. She also finished fourth in the 3x110 yards medley relay (alongside Baggaley and Joan Langdon) and competed in the 110 yards backstroke. Nationally, Oxenbury was the Canadian champion in the 50, 100, and 200 m backstroke categories from 1934 through 1940.

Oxenbury retired from active competition in the 1940s, but picked up the sport again at the master’s level in the 2000s. In 2009 she took home gold medals in the 50 m freestyle, 50 m backstroke, and 100m backstroke categories at that year’s World’s Masters Games. She was inducted into the Swim B.C. Hall of Fame in 2003.