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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.104 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Bill Crothers Interview |
Scope & Content |
Bill Crothers interview, 9 October 2008. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:22:42. 1 of 2; 00:55Talks about Phil Edwards, medalist 1932-36, was the team doctor for the 1964 Olympic team 02:38Is the 800m the center piece of running: feels the 100m and the 1500m are the centerpieces at the Olympics 03:36How did you start running: like to participate in sports as a child, first sport team he made was softball, played hockey; by grade 12 had grown in height and started to compete and win in track; in University played hockey, water polo, basketball and track, enjoyed track the most; "if you do something and start to do it well, the more you enjoy it and the more willing you are to work at it and the better it gets"; competed in the 1960 Olympic trials and missed the standard by 1/10th of a second; went to Tokyo in the 800 & 400m events 06:57How did you come to specialize: in track everyone starts as a sprinter and move up in the distances; trained one summer in high school with another runner, started in the 200 & 400m which became his best events; the first time he ever broke the 2 minute time was while he was in University, knew then he was going to be a half-miler 10:01Talks about his coach knowing he was going to be a half-miler more than the 440, the coach knew what he was capable of 11:13Started running under 2 minutes in competition, in 1962 at the Commonwealth Games in Perth had hurt himself although he did run the 2 events; ran the Sugar Bowl in 1962 and in 1963 won the American AAU Championship in the 800, set the two fastest times in the world that year; after that Championships foreigners were not allowed to compete in the AAAU 14:221964 Olympics: thought he had a chance but he was not sure he did, in his opinion there are 3 levels of competitors at the Olympics: the top level are the legitimate contenders, the lowest level are the athletes who are there to represent their country and the middle level are the athletes who if they compete at their best might make the final but have to be at their best, he put himself in the middle level, had nothing to lose, had a good Olympic experience with the Silver in the 800 and reaching the semi-finals in the 400 18:30"When I went into a race I was always hoping, trying to win, no matter what. There is a difference between hoping and expecting."; talks about the 1964 Olympic competition, the 4 medals that Canadians won, that the expectations of Canadian athletes winning was not particularly high 22:08On the Silver medal: good race, this race is a combination of speed and tactics, ran on a crushed brick track with plastic tape lines, the last time this type of track was used, ran on the shoulders of the leaders and when Peter Snell went around them he followed and finished second, Snell set a world record and he became the 2nd fastest man to run the 800m, best time he ever ran, most important thing to him was that he never re-ran the race and that it was the second fastest time in the world 24:50Tokyo team: small team yet did well, the track team had 17 members and 3 medals, talks about the increase in the number of events and the number of women's events since then, talks about the 1930's being a strong time for Canadian track athletes, talks about his record standing for a long time 27:35On wearing glasses in a race: had a plastic strap to hold them on; when you wear glasses your eyes are protected against the wind 29:10On winning the Lou Marsh award in 1963: can't remember if he was told or just read about it in the paper, quite an honour and a surprise, nice recognition; in those days Canadians were judged not on what they did in Canada but more on what they did internationally, he had won events in the US and was ranked Number One in the world, "we had an inferiority complex in those days, perhaps still do" 32:30On being ranked Number 1 in 1965: that year he did not lose any half-mile races; 1963-64-65 were very good years; talks about beating Peter Snell in a race in Toronto in '65 35:08How has winning not gone to your head: lucky all the way through because he decided to stay in Canada for school; could have gone to the US, knew he wanted to go into pharmacy, had won an entrance scholarship in Toronto; while at the University of Toronto they practised after supper, had to train on their own, learned to combine academic studies and athletics, neither one was more important than the other, that kind of experience keeps you on an even keel, proud of what he did on the track but only one part of his life 2 of 2; 00:01Talks about Bruce Kidd and his other team mates and competing in US meets, he and Bruce may have been the 'stars' of the team but they were only one person on the team, talks about being a team and camaraderie 01:44You live a balanced lifestyle; today's athletes consider competing their job; athletes reach the top of their profession by their late 20's, most professionals reach the top in their late '30's, athletes have a difficult adjustment to make when they go from the top to starting over again, he did not have that, because of running he was a known person and was accepted as a professional in pharmacy from day one, "that's the pay off" 04:17What are you most proud of: his 3 careers - athletics where he got to be one of the best, if not the best, in his event in the world; in his professional career as a pharmacist; on the school board as a trustee on the most innovative board in Ontario; "3 times I was able to do something in which I consider myself to be fairly successful. It is a combination of the 3 things that makes me most satisfied. I don't need the recognition of other people." 05:57How do you stay connected: did a little coaching; played other sports like hockey, tennis and golf; on board building a school for healthy, active living to change attitudes towards recreational sport and healthy active living 07:35Name of the school: Bill Crothers Secondary School in the York region 07:06Intro to Hall 09:07Reiterates purpose of school, feels his name helps say you can do both, be successful in sport and in academics, it is a level of recognition and achievement 13:41Why should a young person play sports: need to be active, just one of the way to be physically active; enjoyment of sport, if you enjoy something you do it, you need to do a number of things you enjoy because it is the only way your real avocation comes 14:20Life lesson: discipline, try to keep on an even keel, try to balance everything so that nothing becomes all important, lot of things in life are important, got to learn to balance so no giving up anything 14:50How did your participation in sports affect you: keeps you healthy, feel better when being active 15:49On being a winner: knowing what you are capable of doing and trying to work hard, to be a winner you have to learn how to be a loser, if you can't learn how to lose you'll never learn how to win 16:21Define success: If I feel I've done as well as I could about something then I feel I was a success, there are degrees of success and failure, success is not what other people feel about you, it's about how you think about yourself 16:59Most influential leader to you: coach Fred Foot and the Director of Education on the board he serves on 17:41Advice: when younger try as many things as you can, advice to everyone is that you can do something better than anyone else and the secret is finding out what that is, when you find it, do it and enjoy it |
Date |
2008/10/09 |
People |
Crothers, Bill Kidd, Bruce Snell, Peter Edwards, Phil |
Search Terms |
Bill Crothers Athletics Track Interview 1964 Olympic Games Tokyo 1966 Commonwealth Games |