Began her rowing career at UBC first winning gold at '87 Pan Am Games. Won gold in eights and pairs at World Championships '91, '94 and '95 which were firsts for Canada. As Olympian in '92 and '96 won three golds and one bronze. UBC's most medaled Olympic athlete and with Marnie McBean among the most Olympic golds of any Canadian.
"So smooth, so graceful, so powerful," described Kathleen Heddle following her gold medal triumph in the rowing Pairs at the 1992 Olympics. In fact it was two golds for Heddle at these Olympic games as she was also an integral part of the victorious Canadian Eights. Four years later she would come out of retirement to again capture Olympic gold in the Pairs - the now famous duo of Heddle and Marnie McBean - along with a bronze medal in the Fours. She is, with three golds and a bronze, UBC's most medaled Olympic athlete and one of the "stars" of the '90s Canadian rowing scene.
Raised in Vancouver, BC, Kathleen began her rowing career at UBC but rowing was not her original intention. She wanted badly to play for the UBC Thunderbird volleyball team and for two years, 1983/84 and 84/85 honed her craft with UBC's Junior Varsity team, also serving as team manager. But after the two years she was crestfallen when informed she didn't quite have what it took to reach the Varsity volleyball level.
Doing her best to overcome this disappointment, Kathleen was in UBC's War Memorial Gym registering for classes for the '85/86 session when UBC rowing coach Drew Harrison spotted her, sizing her up as a possible candidate for the women's rowing crew. But unlike the story of Lana Turner's discovery, this was not a myth. Heddle agreed to this intriguing opportunity and as fate would have it quickly discovered she was much better suited to this, her new sport. Her disappointment at being cut from the volleyball team was rapidly disappearing.
Heddle rowed for UBC's "Novice Squad" in 85/86, then advanced to the Varsity team in 86/87, learning from coaches Harrison, Walter Martindale and Nancy Wiggins. At this point she was already considered one of the four best rowers at Varsity and was drawing the attention of Olympic coaches. The rowing team itself however was not "stellar" to quote Kathleen, but it was UBC rowing that "discovered" her and laid the foundation for one of Canada's most spectacular rowing careers.
It was also at UBC she learned to cope with the competitive juices and nervousness that rowing brought about. While rowing for UBC in big races against the likes of the University of Victoria and University of Washington she almost became ill with extreme anxiety and apprehension. She found that this overpowering sensation would continue into her Olympic years but now looking back saw that she was better able to handle the situation having gone through these trials and tribulations while with the UBC crews.
With UBC's Varsity crews in '87, Kathleen's second year of rowing, success was quickly becoming a reality as she won gold in the Pairs at the' 87 Pan American games. Then only four years later she would find herself winning gold at the World Championships- in fact unexpected golds in both the women's Eights and Pairs at this '91 world meet in Vienna. These victories, which Kathleen was part, proved to be a breakthrough and a first not only for Canada but for the Western rowing world.
The following year, rowing and Kathleen's affinity for it, had taken her not only to the Olympics but once again to number one in the world in both the Pairs and the Eights. It was the early '90s work of Heddle along with other select Canadian women including several UBC' ers that had brought for the first time International gold to Canadian women's' rowing.
In '96 following her third and fourth Olympic medals, Heddle was asked by UBC's Dave Thomson if she would be where she is today without the Blue & Gold of UBC. "Absolutely not," was her reply.
The 1990 Arts (Psychology) graduate, B. C. Athlete of the Year and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductee is quoted as saying "I don't picture myself as glamorous. I want (my) accomplishments to be foremost. I want that to say something good about women in sport... you don't need to be (brash, loud, forceful) to win at what you're doing."
Referred to as “The greatest summer Olympian in Canadian history,” Kathleen sadly passed away in January 2021.
A stalled volleyball career and a chance meeting with a UBC coach with an eye for talent set the stage for one who not only found her athletic niche but harvested gold and glory for her university.
This Inductee is also in the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
