Beverly Boys

Biography

Canadian diver Beverly Boys dominated diving in her era competing in three consecutive Olympic Games. In her debut at Mexico City 1968, Boys was sitting in 19th place going into the platform final and with the dive of her life – the one-and-a-half somersault with a triple twist – she moved all the way up to fourth place earning the highest mark ever by a Canadian diver to date (97.97 points). It was her all-time top Olympic performance. At Munich 1972, Boys finished fifth in the springboard and did not qualify for the platform final. At her home Olympic Games at Montréal 1976, Boys just missed making the springboard final, and finished ninth overall (but she was chosen to meet the Queen).

Boys was just 15 years old when she first competed at the Commonwealth Games. Over the course of four Commonwealth Games from 1966 through to 1978, Boys won a total of seven medals – three gold (1970 3m springboard and platform; 1974 platform), three silver and one bronze. She won three Pan American Games medals in 1967 (platform silver) and in 1971 (platform silver, 3m springboard bronze). Over the course of her 10 year career, Boys won 34 national titles.

Growing up on a farm in Pickering, Ontario Boys started swimming in the backyard pool and soon she was taking diving lessons. Coached by Don Webb, she would travel by train to Montréal to the nearest available Olympic diving tower and then moved to Winnipeg to train at the Pan American Games pool. In order to raise funds for travel and training camps, Boys started an office cleaning business.

Once retired from competing in 1977, Boys first initially operated a swim shop in the Vancouver area. She became a sports administrator, founded the White Rock Divers club, and judged at national and international competitions including numerous Olympic Games. She married and had two daughters.

Twice Boys was awarded the Bobbie Rosenfeld Trophy as Canada’s top female athlete (1968, 1969) and was voted Canadian athlete of the decade for the 1960s. She was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987, Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015.