October is women’s history month, and I can’t think of anyone more inspirational than Ivy Granstrom: Queen of the Polar Bears
Ivy Granstrom, 92 gets a city police escort to the water at the 84th annual Polar Bear Swim at English Bay. Steve Bosch photo, Vancouver Sun, January 2, 2004
This story is from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Meet Ivy Granstrom:
Ivy Granstrom participated in 76 consecutive polar bear swims. She began in 1928, as a 16-year-old, which, incidentally, was the year of the chilliest swim on record with a water temperature of just 2 degrees.
Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Ivy was one of 14 children.
Legally blind since she was three weeks old, Ivy became a remarkable athlete, and was an unstoppable force even after a car accident left her with a severe back injury at age 60. To rehabilitate, she walked, jogged and ran into the record books of Masters track competitions.
Athlete of the year:
In 1980, the 68-year-old was running 30 kilometres a week with Paul Hoeberigs. Hoeberigs guided her by voice and by holding the other end of a cloth band. When she wasn’t running or swimming she curled, did woodwork, gardened or skied.
Ivy was named Sport BC Athlete of the Year in 1982, appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1988 and inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2001.
In 1994, Ivy broke five records, two at the Pan Am Masters championships and three at the World Masters Games in Australia.
She died in April 2004, four months after completing her last Polar Bear Swim.
Fun Fact: Ivy’s grandson is TV director Richard Martin, whose credits include The New Addams Family, Highlander and Ninja Turtles. In 1979, he directed Poison Ivy, a documentary about his grandmother for the National Film Board of Canada. Richard’s father is Dick Martin of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. (Source: IMDB.Com)
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What a fabulous story! Thanks for all the work you do Eve Lazarus!
Wow, I didn’t know that Ivy had such a rich athletic history. I resided in the Dunbar area of Vancouver and would cycle a lap around UBC and Spanish Banks each morning, I was always amazed when I would often see Paul leading Ivy as they jogged through Imperial Avenue.
All news to me! She did not get enough PRESS!
BRAVO IVY!
What an Incredible Woman Ivy was ! Thank you for her story .
The swim just did not start till she was at the waters edge. Always that smile.
Great van history.
What an incredible and uplifting story. I wasn’t aware of this remarkable woman and all achievements and connections.
The photo of Ivy running is taken onthe Eric Hamber track looking West to Oak St with VanDusen Gardens across onthe West side of Oak St in the background. Sadly, that beautiful track and fields have been recently been demolished.
what an incredible and uplifting story. Thanks for all the work you do Eve Lazarus!