Josée Lake
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| Born | 1963 Montreal, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Josée Lake (born 1963 or 1964) is a Canadian paralympic gold medallist swimmer, and thalidomide survivor. She was president of the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada in 2019.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Lake was born in Montreal, in the Villeray neighbourhood,[2] in 1963. She has no right hand or foot, and her left foot has no arch and only three toes. After her swimming career she worked as a social worker in the area of suicide prevention. She has three children.[3]
Swimming career
[edit]Lake started to learn to swim at the age of five, having to travel long distances to find classes which would accept a child with a disability.[2]
At the 1980 Summer Paralympics she won gold in Women's 50 m Backstroke J, Women's 50 m Breaststroke J and Women's 50 m Freestyle J.[4]
At the 1984 Summer Paralympics she won gold in the Women's 100 m Freestyle A9, the Women's 50 m Backstroke A9, the Women's 50 m Breaststroke A9 and the Women's 150 m Individual Medley A9.[4]
She retired from swimming in 1986.[3]
In 2012 she was inducted into Swimming Canada's Circle of Excellence, an honour given to the "greatest Canadian swimmers of all time".[5]
Thalidomide
[edit]In 2019, Lake became president of the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada, a group for people suffering the effects of the drug thalidomide which was given to pregnant women and caused birth defects. She has said that she hopes "that TVAC will continue to use its voice to promote pharmacovigilance, so that the thalidomide tragedy will never be forgotten. I believe that by sharing our history, as Thalidomide survivors, TVAC can help make our world a much safer place for unborn children."[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Board of Directors: a Word from our President". Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada. 9 November 2017. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ a b Mathilde Lafrenière-Cotnoir (20 April 2012). "Josée Lake fait officiellement partie des grands". Journal Métro (in French). Journal Métro. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Josee Lake". Circle of Excellence. Swimming Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Josee Lake". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "Swimming Canada's Circle of Excellence". Swimming Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
External links
[edit]- "NDP Urges All-Party Support in Parliament for Thalidomide Survivors". Youtube. "November 25, 2014: Press Conference with Thalidomide survivors Mercedes Benegbi and Josee Lake, NDP MPs Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP Health Critic) and Djaouida Sellah (Saint-Bruno--Saint-Hubert)." video, 17 mins
- 1960s births
- Living people
- Swimmers from Montreal
- Canadian female medley swimmers
- Paralympic swimmers for Canada
- Canadian female freestyle swimmers
- Canadian female backstroke swimmers
- Canadian female breaststroke swimmers
- Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic gold medalists for Canada