The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports.
Lindsay John Casson Gaze is an Australian former basketball player and coach. He played for Australia in three Summer Olympics qualification tournaments, between 1960 and 1968, and was the head coach of the senior Australian basketball team at four Summer Olympics, between 1972 and 1984. Gaze also coached the Melbourne Tigers for 35 years, including 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), winning two league championships, in 1993 and 1997. He was the NBL Coach of the Year in 1989, 1997 and 1999, and is second all-time in the number of coaching wins in that league. Gaze is a member of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, as both a player and coach, and is an associate member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into both the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as a coach.
The Edmonton Grads were a Canadian women's basketball team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada active from 1912 – 1940. The team continues to hold the North American record for the women's sports team with the best winning percentage. The Grads won the first women's world title in basketball in 1924.
Ronald Brian Jacks was a Canadian Olympic and international swimmer in the 1960s and 1970s. He is currently a leading coach for Canadian swimmers such as Richard Weinberger through the Pacific Coast Swimming Club.
John Patrick Donohue, M.S.M. posthumous was an American-Canadian coach of the sport of basketball. Donohue was the head coach of the senior Canadian men's national basketball team for 16 years, and he led them to several international successes. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in 2013.
William Victor Mahony is a former breaststroke swimmer who represented Canada in multiple international championships from 1966 to 1974, including two Summer Olympics, the Pan American Games, and two Commonwealth Games.
There have been a wide variety of sports in Vancouver since the city was founded. Team sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, and Canadian football have extensive history in the area, while the city's relatively mild climate and geographical location facilitate a wide variety of other sports and recreational activities.
Hugh Fisher, is a New Zealand-born Canadian sprint kayaker who competed from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s. He participated in three Summer Olympics: in 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; in 1984 in Los Angeles; and in 1988 in Seoul, Korea. He was also named to the 1980 Olympic team for Canada, but did not compete due to the Canadian boycott of those Games. At the 1984 Games with his racing partner Alwyn Morris, he won two medals, a gold in the K-2 1000 m and a bronze in the K-2 500 m events.
Ilario Enrico "Eli" Pasquale was a Canadian basketball player. A 6-foot, 1-inch point guard, he led the Canadian national men's basketball team during two Olympic Games, three FIBA World Championships, and two Pan American Games.
Phil Tollestrup is a former Olympic basketball player as a member of the Canadian national men's basketball team during the 1970s.
Martin James Riley is a former Olympian as a member of the Canadian national basketball team. Riley currently resides in Winnipeg Manitoba where he teaches a sports psychology class to high school students. Also at the same school he teachers a sociology course and online law.
Robert Frederick "Bob" Town was a member of the Canadian men's national basketball team between 1972 and 1976. Canada finished fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Gerald Francis Kazanowski is a former professional and Canadian Olympic basketball player.
Eric Hinrichsen is a Canadian basketball player. He played for the Canadian national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Marion Beverly Lay, is a former competitive swimmer who represented Canada in the 1964 Summer Olympics and 1968 Summer Olympics. Swimming the anchor leg for Canada's third-place team in the women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, she won an Olympic bronze medal, together with teammates Angela Coughlan, Marilyn Corson and Elaine Tanner.
Timothy J. C. Frick is a Canadian wheelchair basketball coach who coached the Canadian women's team to three consecutive Summer Paralympic Games gold medals, in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and four consecutive World Wheelchair Basketball Championship titles, in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. He was inducted into the Wheelchair Basketball Canada Hall of Fame in 2012, the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2013, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and induction into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Markus Thormeyer is a Canadian competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke. Originally from Delta, Thormeyer moved in 2015 to Vancouver, British Columbia after graduating high school to train with the High Performance Centre-Vancouver. While he swims he is also pursuing an undergraduate degree in environmental science at the University of British Columbia.
Jerry D. Hemmings is a former American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He coached the Brandon University men's basketball team to four CIAU National Championships. Hemmings is a member of the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kathy Shields is a Canadian basketball coach. She coached the University of Victoria women’s basketball team and the 1984 Summer Olympics as an assistant coach. She is married to Ken Shields.
Robert George Hindmarch is a Canadian former professor and ice hockey coach. He was a multi-sport athlete at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a student, and returned as a professor and its director of physical education. He and Father David Bauer established a permanent Canada men's national ice hockey team based at UBC in preparation for ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Hindmarch later coached the UBC Thunderbirds men's ice hockey team for 214 wins in 12 seasons; they became one of the first Western Bloc sports teams to play a tour of games in China. He developed additional international sporting relationships for the Thunderbirds in South Korea and Japan, and served as vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association for 16 years. Hindmarch has been made a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia; and is inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
