Plush monkey inspires Olympic swimmer to write children's book
Before we can appreciate the important role a plush toy named Monkey Guy has played in Elaine Tanner’s life, we need go back to when people started calling her Mighty Mouse.
“‘Way to go Mighty Mouse!’” She recalls being cheered poolside. “Because I looked so small, but I was mighty!”
Mighty good at swimming, since she was a child.
“I was driven though,” Elaine says. “I was really, really driven.”
Drive and talent turned her teenage self into a trailblazer. At 15, Elaine was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy for being Canada’s top athlete, after becoming the first person to win seven medals in a single Commonwealth Games. Then at 16, she wowed the crowd at the Pan Am games, winning five medals.
Archival footage shows the spectators rising to their feet in applause while the broadcaster exclaims: “A new world record for the Mighty Mouse!”
“All of a sudden, you’re on the world stage,” Elaine recalls with a smile. “And you went, 'Wow! I got here!'”
Looking back on pictures from her past, Elaine fondly remembers being praised by prime ministers (including Pierre Trudeau) and hockey stars (including Gordie Howe), before being honoured as an officer of the Order of Canada.
What she can’t recall is becoming the first Canadian woman to earn a place on the Olympic podium for swimming.
“I was actually in post-trauma at that time and didn’t know it,” she says, pointing to a picture of her beaming with medals around her neck. “I don’t remember anything.”
Although Elaine took home a bronze and two silvers, the most medals of any Canadian that year, the 17-year-old was devastated by headlines that read “Tanner Loses Gold.”
“It was really scary,” Elaine says.
She felt like a failure who let her country down.
“I came back [to Canada] as the same person outside, but on the inside I’d crumbled.”
After a lifetime of being defined by her accomplishments, Elaine says she lost her sense of self and “fell into a black hole.” The following decades featured divorce, homelessness, and life-threatening mental health issues.
“You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I need help. I am not ok,’” Elaine says of her rock bottom. “That’s your first step.”
Which brings us back to Monkey Guy.
Elaine says she slowly started turning her life around alongside her now-husband John Watt — who gave her the plush toy. It’s become reminder of how the darkest moments of your life can provide the greatest gifts.
“Don’t give up,” Elaine says. “There’s a purpose for everything in your life, even if you don’t realize it at the time.”
It’s a perspective Elaine has shared with the public on her website https://elainetanner.ca/ and with her grandchildren, through a book she spent two years writing for them, called “Monkey Guy and The Cosmic Fairy.” https://www.banyen.com/item/zjwz7dZclml0hDv3gHZk0Q
“Whatever you’re pursuing is only a chapter in your life. You are more than that,” Elaine says. “What we do in our life is not about acquiring things, it’s about giving.”
Which is why Elaine is now donating her book to children’s hospitals, community groups, and strangers she meets in coffee shops.
“My quest is far beyond gold,” Elaine smiles. “It’s not the gold medal that hangs around your neck, it’s the gold you learn from the lessons you have in your life.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.