Howard Firby
ISHOF Inductee - 1985
Howard Firby was one of the greatest innovators of stroke technique in the world of swimming. His book Firby on Swimming, which was published in 1975, is considered a classic. His unique outlook on the technical aspects of swimming came from the combination of his knowledge of aerodynamics, which he acquired from serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force and his study of anatomy and biomechanics, something he took up to aid his recovery from a bout of polio.
Assisted by his skills as a professional artist Firby had an incredible gift of communicating his thoughts on swimming technique through blackboard drawings and eventually designing a plasticine figure which he would use to demonstrate the specific ways that he wanted athletes to position their bodies in the water.
He began his coaching career in 1948 volunteering with the Vancouver Amateur Swim Club under the guidance Percy Norman who was one of the Canada’s foremost swim coaches having been on the Olympic staff in 1932 and 1936.
In 1956 Firby would go on be the founding father of the Canadian Dolphins Swim Club, which has been one of the most successful and prominent clubs in Canadian swimming history.
During his time as the Head Coach of the Dolphins his teams won six national championships, he had swimmers break over 300 national records as well as swimmers break 11 world records. Some of Firby’s most well known pupils included Mary Stewart, Helen Stewart Hunt, Bill Slater, Margaret Iwasaki, and Jane Hughes. He also guided Elaine “Mighty Mouse” Tanner to three Olympic medals in 1968 along with Ralph Hutton who won a silver at the same games.
Firby was the Head Coach at both the 1964 Olympics and the 1966 Commonwealth Games. He left the Dolphins in 1967 to take a head coaching job in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in 1970 became the technical advisor and director of the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association.
Firby was a founding member of the Canadian Swim Coaches Association.