Swimming Canada is mourning the death of former president, Dean Crawford, who passed away last week.

Crawford was an Olympic rowing champion and member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame who gave back to sport with decades of volunteering, including eight years on the Swimming Canada Board of Directors.

“Swimming Canada is deeply saddened by the news of Dean Crawford’s passing. I had the personal pleasure of working closely with Dean, and seeing the immense impact he had on the board and organization. He served as vice-president and president during his eight years on the board, leveraging both his sport system knowledge and business expertise. My thoughts, and those of my board colleagues, are with Dean’s family during this very difficult time,” said Swimming Canada President Mary C. Lyne.

Crawford was a member of the Canadian eights rowing crew that edged out the home-crowd favourite Americans for gold at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. Crawford was inducted, along with the rest of his 1984 gold medal-winning crew, into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2003 and Canadian Rowing Hall of Fame in 2019.

“My high performance sport background comes from a totally different water sport, where the goal is not to get wet,” Crawford said when he assumed the role of president. “I don’t talk about the gold medal a lot, it’s not the first thing I talk about.”

A seasoned IT professional and certified Project Management Professional, Crawford joined the board in 2013. He was vice-president for six years, chair of the Policy and Governance Committee for seven years and served as president in 2021. Previously he served on the board of Swim BC from 2005-2013, including as president from 2007. Prior to that he was the first president of Pacific Coast Swimming, beginning in 2002.

Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi, who remains on personal leave of absence, also shared his condolences.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of our past President Dean Crawford. Whatever time he needed to devote he did, with pride and diligence. A gold medallist Olympian, he understood the value of giving back. Dean gave decades of his life to organizations like Swimming Canada, in his local community and British Columbia. He would always help and mentor and never ignored dealing with the uncomfortable situations,” El-Awadi said.

“Volunteering in sport is not easy. Governing in sport is even more difficult, but Dean led with passion. He was a dear friend and I will miss him. Our sincerest condolences to his family, but also our deepest thanks to you for loaning him to us.”

Crawford got involved in the sport by volunteering as a timer when his daughter Nicole, now 32, was 12 years old. From there he became a Level 5 official, then got involved in club policy and governance as Nicole aged out of the sport.

Crawford graduated from the University of Victoria with degrees in computer science and economics, and was named the 1985 Male Athlete of the Year. Crawford married his wife Belinda Macey in 2000. Their daughter Céline is 22, and Crawford also had a son, Dillon, 29, from his previous marriage.