SUSAN SWIFT, A LIFE WELL LIVED.
On March 13th, 2021, the squash community lost a great member of our community. Susan Swift was a wife, a mother, a Granny, a sister, a friend, a physiotherapist, an animal lover and an athlete. We lost that Susan a while ago to Alzheimer’s. On March 13, we lost the rest of Sue to cancer.
Sue’s celebration of life will be held at the Toronto Cricket Club on the 23rd of April, 2022 at 4pm.
Please contact Tony Swift for more information regarding the event - tonyswift@rogers.com
One of her great loves was, of course, squash. As a player, Sue won the Over 40 Canadian softball singles title in 1978 as well as winning the over 55 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championships in 1995 with her husband, Tony. Sue was a teaching professional at Bridlewood Squash Club. She was also instrumental in creating and organizing the inaugural Ontario Mixed Doubles Championships.
In 2005, the Ontario Squash Hall of Fame was created with two eligibility categories - Builder and Player. Sue was nominated for and inducted into the Hall in its first induction ceremony as a Builder and all subsequent nominations in that category are measured against her outstanding contributions to squash in Ontario and in Canada which were many and varied and were made over several decades.
She was instrumental in bringing the three fractious factions of squash in Ontario (men’s hardball, men’s softball and women’s squash) together to create Squash Ontario in 1976. She had been involved as a volunteer since 1971 and was President of the Ontario Ladies Squash Racquets Association during these formative years. The OLSRA was the only group to have its act together in those days, and under Sue’s leadership, had already laid the groundwork for several significant initiatives which enhanced not only women’s squash but squash in general.
Sue went to England to confer with the Women’s Squash Rackets Association there to help her develop programs for use in Ontario for both coaching and officiating. These were ultimately adopted by nearly all the squash associations in Canada. Sue was on the first crucial Board of Directors of Squash Ontario that was responsible for establishing the office, hiring an Executive Director and “calming the still choppy waters of amalgamation".
Not satisfied with the work done on the provincial level, Sue used her considerable skills to full advantage on many committees at the national level culminating in her election as President of the Canadian Squash Racquets Association, the predecessor of Squash Canada, in 1981 and the first woman to hold this position.
In 1981, Sue chaired the organizing committee of the Women’s World Championships that were being held in North America for the first time. The event was a tremendous success and established Canada as a serious international host of major world events.
In 1986, Sue was awarded the prestigious Special Achievement Award by the Province of Ontario for her outstanding contribution to her sport (83 nominations province-wide were received that year and only 3 chosen).