OLYMPIAN, VETERAN...
JOHN W. LOARING
A symbol of excellence, resiliency and national pride.
WHO I AM?
Born in Winnipeg in 1915, John Loaring moved to Windsor, ON with his family when he was 11 years old. Just before starting high school, he contracted rheumatic fever – an inflammatory disease that affects the heart, joints, brain and skin. Doctors told his parents his ‘running days were over’. John hoped to prove them otherwise.
By the time he was 19 years old, Loaring was dominating the provincial and national high school track scene. In the summer of 1936, he became the Ontario 440yd hurdles champion. His time set a new Ontario Record that stood for 27 years.
His next competition was the 1936 Olympic Trials in Montreal. He won the 400m hurdles and 400m run – both in Canadian Record time. These wins meant his dream was now a reality – he’d earned his place on the Canadian Olympic Team and would be representing Canada at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.
The 1936 Olympic Games were the first Olympic Games to be televised, and the first to have a torch run. Loaring warmed-up alongside famous US athlete Jesse Owens, and competed under Adolph Hitler’s watch. It was here, at these Games, that he made Canadian history.
His first Olympic event was the 400m hurdles. Loaring can be seen in the photo above clearing the hurdle with arms outstretched. It was his 21st birthday. He was the youngest finalist, and least experienced athlete in the field. Despite these obstacles, Loaring hurdled his way to an Olympic silver medal in that 400m hurdles event, finishing 3/10ths of a second behind the World Record Holder and 1932 Olympic Gold Medallist, Glenn Hardin of USA.
While standing on the podium to receive his Olympic medal, Loaring recalled,
“It was my 21st birthday, and it was impossible to describe the intense feeling of overwhelming happiness, humility, awe, and pride I experienced standing by Hardin and in the presence of 120,000 people”.
A few days later, Loaring toed the line for the 400m run. He ran first round, second round, semi-final, and final races, eventually placing sixth in the Olympic 400m run. The following day, he anchored the 4x400m Canadian relay team to a 4th place finish.
Later he remarked,
“The inspiration of taking part in the greatest of all competitions, made it possible to excel beyond all hope, and to reach physical and mental peaks of stamina and determination”.
The German newspapers tagged John Loaring “the toughest competitor of 1936” for running a total of nine races (including qualifying rounds) in such a short time-span. Writers of the “Guinness Book of World Records”, said: “Loaring’s competitive record at the 1936 Olympics must just about represent the most severe test to which any Olympic athlete has ever been subjected.”
To this day, John Loaring is the only male athlete in history to final in all three 400m distance events (hurdles, flats, and relay) in any Olympic Games.
Days after his Olympic races, Loaring entered a steeplechase event while still in Europe. He ran the anchor leg of a relay, clinching gold, with a split that was best in the world that year. It was his one and only steeplechase experience.
In 1937, he unofficially broke the World Record for the 600 yd run – in practice.
In 1938, he joined the Canadian Team on a 6-week sea voyage to Sydney, Australia for the British Empire (now Commonwealth) Games.
At the British Empire Games, Loaring again dominated the field, winning the 440yd hurdles in Games Record Time and best time in the world that year, missing the World Record by 3/10ths of a second. He went on to win two more relay gold medals, also in Games Record time, and was 5th in the 440yd run.
John W. Loaring remains the only Canadian track and field athlete to win three gold medals in a single Commonwealth Games. He was awarded the J. W. Davies Trophy as Canada’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 1938, and finished his athletics career as one of the most decorated Canadian Track & Field athletes of all time.
Not long after, there was another hurdle yet to clear…World War II.
As Canada announced its involvement in the war, for Loaring, the decision was clear. Like many others, he rose to the challenge through voluntary military service.
Finishing his exams early at University of Western Ontario, Loaring was among the first group of ‘Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Radar Officers’ to be loaned to the British. He left Canada in April of 1940 at the age of 24. Loaring would soon learn that the skills he’d acquired through sport would transfer well to military service.
In September of 1940, he was on the destroyer HMS Hurricane when it was dispatched to rescue survivors from a British passenger ship. Among the passengers were 90 children that were being transported from England to safe haven in Canada. The children’s ship had been torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Loaring was assigned five tiny, lifeless bodies. He helped revive three of the five, and was later commended by The Royal Life Saving Society. (Sadly, only 13 of the 90 children survived the sinking.)
Lieutenant Loaring was then transferred to the H.M.S. Fiji, which was fitted with brand new RADAR of which he was in charge. In March of 1941, HMS Fiji embarked on patrol duties in the Denmark Straight, and was then dispatched to the Mediterranean. Anticipating that the Germans would attack the island of Crete, the HMS Fiji was ordered to patrol west of the island. On May 20th of 1941 Germany began to land paratroopers on Crete, heavily supported by Luftwaffe dive-bombers. Below is an exert written by Loaring about his experience at the historic “Battle of Crete”:
“High in the air, dive-bombers circled, waiting to attack. Others were already beginning their swift steep dive at the foot of which they let go heavy bombs directed at us – scores and scores had already missed us, for the attacks had begun just after dawn, and it was then only two hours till dark. But some had found their mark and we were listing heavily to port.
Above decks the anti-aircraft armament was fully manned and with the ship at an impossible angle the guns were all peppering away. Below decks, the engine-room crew were still steaming the ship, and continued to steam her until they were waist deep in water, and some of the valves had to be shut off under water.
The list gradually increased and I began to wonder if we could hold out till dark and finally get back to our base. Then the familiar scream of bombs descending stood out above the thunder of the guns; the whole ship seemed to leap, and fall back stricken – and I gave up all ideas of getting back without a swim.
I walked aft along the starboard side of the quarterdeck at a very steep angle, hanging on to the rails and then, jumping from foothold to foothold down the slope, reached the port rail, which was just awash. I sat and thought for a minute and figured that there was no getting out of it – I was in for a cold evening swim and so I woefully took off my shoes and chucked them into the drink. Then I saw a piece of a machine-gun platform and walked into the water, took the platform and made my way slowly clear of the ship.
As I was sizing up the situation two destroyers closed up, and the whole thing seemed ridiculously easy – just a ten-minute plunge and then I’d be on one of the destroyers! The same thought must have struck everyone, for they were singing and waving and calling out: “Ahoy Jim – a couple of weeks’ leave now, oh what!” But soon the destroyers (HMS Kingston and HMS Kandahar) made off and disappeared entirely. The singing abruptly stopped.
I had six chaps on my platform now. It was only large enough to support one man. Someone yelled: “Help me – I can’t go on!” We hauled him over to the supporting timber where we were all hanging on with one arm trying to conserve energy. No one knew when or if the destroyers would return – they might have had more important work to do.
Darkness was falling by then, and I began to think rescue would have to be soon else we wouldn’t be seen. I saw the light of a burning torch coming from below the surface of the water from the pocket of a poor chap who succumbed to the cold. I used that torch to keep in touch with other groups of men.
After what seemed a very long time a cheer went up – someone claimed to have seen the destroyers approaching. We couldn’t believe it at first but after a time they came close and drifted down wind toward us: I signalled our position with our torch. Other groups signalled too, and eventually we were all picked up. Believe me, the heat from the wardroom fire and the hot cocoa was given an enthusiastic welcome.”
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HMS Fiji had been attempting to rescue survivors of HMS Gloucester when she was sunk; 241 men died. Loaring was put ashore in Durban, South Africa, where he recovered from oil poisoning. The same strength and stamina that carried him to a place amongst the top hurdlers in the world surely saved his life in the waters of the Mediterranean.
After recovering from oil poisoning, Loaring made his way from Durban, South Africa to Portsmouth, England, where he was to serve as Senior Technical Instructor for Radar Officers.
John W. Loaring remains the only Canadian track and field athlete to win three gold medals in a single Commonwealth Games. He was awarded the J. W. Davies Trophy as Canada’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 1938, and finished his athletics career as one of the most decorated Canadian Track & Field athletes of all time.
Not long after, there was another hurdle yet to clear…World War II.
As Canada announced its involvement in the war, for Loaring, the decision was clear. Like many others, he rose to the challenge through voluntary military service.
Finishing his exams early at University of Western Ontario, Loaring was among the first group of ‘Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Radar Officers’ to be loaned to the British. He left Canada in April of 1940 at the age of 24. Loaring would soon learn that the skills he’d acquired through sport would transfer well to military service.
In September of 1940, he was on the destroyer HMS Hurricane when it was dispatched to rescue survivors from a British passenger ship. Among the passengers were 90 children that were being transported from England to safe haven in Canada. The children’s ship had been torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Loaring was assigned five tiny, lifeless bodies. He helped revive three of the five, and was later commended by The Royal Life Saving Society. (Sadly, only 13 of the 90 children survived the sinking.)
Lieutenant Loaring was then transferred to the H.M.S. Fiji, which was fitted with brand new RADAR of which he was in charge. In March of 1941, HMS Fiji embarked on patrol duties in the Denmark Straight, and was then dispatched to the Mediterranean. Anticipating that the Germans would attack the island of Crete, the HMS Fiji was ordered to patrol west of the island. On May 20th of 1941 Germany began to land paratroopers on Crete, heavily supported by Luftwaffe dive-bombers. Below is an exert written by Loaring about his experience at the historic “Battle of Crete”:
“During the long sea voyage, I kept myself in trim by jogging about the liner”, he said.
His wife, Ellen, was waiting on the British station platform when he arrived, and while in England, he started competing in occasional track meets, which were hosted to help boost morale.
At one war-time meet, he ran and won within 9/10ths of a second of the World Record. He loved pushing himself in competition, genuinely enjoyed the camaraderie of sport, and recognized the importance of maintaining his fitness.
In 1943, Loaring was transferred to Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, as Chief Radar Instructor of Canada’s Naval Training Centre until the end of WWII. There his rank climbed to Lieutenant-Commander. He returned to Windsor in 1947 and became Commanding Officer of H.M.C.S. Hunter.
John W. Loaring has been inducted into six Halls of Fame, including the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (the top sporting honour in Canada).
http://canadasports150.ca/en/
Once back in Windsor, Loaring remained involved and passionate about sport and physical fitness for the remainder of his life. He was an official at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, and held positions with the Canadian Olympic Association, the Commonwealth Games Association, and the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. Local track and field races and events are still named in his honour today.
My grandfather died of colon cancer in 1969, at the age of 54. Though I never met him, his ability to apply the skills he acquired in each aspect of his life has been an endless source of inspiration for me.
He was known for writing letters of encouragement to young athletes. One athlete later wrote:
“The walls of my high school were filled with photographs….and it was from these athletes that I got my inspiration, including John Loaring….his Canadian hurdle record stood from 1936 to 1947, when I broke his record at the Olympic Trials. I met and talked with John Loaring several times during my career and a more gracious and accommodating person I haven’t met since. He was my hero.” ~ Dr. William LaRochelle, 1948 Olympian from Windsor.
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