PROFILE

Regent has gone through life with a very famous nick name, ‘Johnny”. Johnny Weismuller was Regent’s mother’s movie idol. TARZAN was in his prime and Regent’s pregnant mother would go from theatre to theatre, to see the same Tarzan movie, over and over again. When her son was born she gave him the name of another movie personage, a prince named REGENT. At home and throughout his school and swimming years, Regent was known by everyone as “JOHNNY”. No other member of his large family ‘took’ to water in the same way as Johnny.

Regent was the only member of his family born with a passion for water and by the age of five, he had taught himself to swim. Regent was living in Ottawa and whenever he could ‘escape’ his mother’s watchful eye, he would head to the Ottawa River to ‘swim’ and jump logs. A childhood friend drowned in the Ottawa River. Realizing the danger, his father took his little ‘Johnny Weismuller’ to the local pool, where he was turned away because of his young age. The minimum age requirement was eight years old or 3’8” in height. While in first grade, his school showed a TARZAN movie and Regent quickly picked up the breathing technique of the ‘crawl stroke’ from watching Weismuller swim on the movie screen.

In his youth and in his area, swim clubs as we know them today were non-existent. Regent swam whenever and wherever he could. With his family’s move back to Montreal, Regent quickly found the closest city pool and start working out, mostly charting his own workouts.

As an amateur swimmer, Regent won over 300 medals. By the age of eighteen, he held twelve national records and was selected to Canada’s National team to swim at the Commonwealth Games of 1954. That night at the dinner table, Regent announced to his family that he was on his way to the Commonwealth Games. His mother reacted with the comment ‘Congratulations my son, you must be very good!’ Even with 300 medals in his drawer, his parents had never seen him race !.

At age 19, Regent swam his first long distance marathon swim, placing 5th in the grueling 26-mile ocean swim around Absecon Island, Atlantic City. He continued his long distance swimming career through to 1975. During his career he won many long distance swimming world championship events around the world.

In 1959, Regent entered a long distance championship event, the 42 km swim in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. He wrote a letter to his idol “Johnny Weismuller’ inviting him to be his swim coach in Mexico. Weismuller received the letter from his studio one year after the race. Weismuller was so touched by Regent’s story that he called Regent and a long friendship began. Weismuller was looking to have the story of his life done on the big screen and asked Regent if he would portray the young Weismuller. Regent met his swimming idol for the first time in 1965 at the opening ceremonies of the INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They met annually at the Hall of Fame and on two occasions Regent had his good friend, Weismuller, come to Canada as a special guest at the 15 mile Hamilton, Lake Ontario Swim and the Lake St. John, 24 mile swim.

In 1958, Regent started giving private swimming lessons to young children because swimming lessons for children under the age of eight were still not available. In 1963, his daughter Lynn was born and Regent used his own child to perfect a teaching method for babies. In 1966 Regent Jr. was born and a revolutionary baby teaching method became a reality. (Reggie jr. became one of Canada’s fastest freestyle sprinters, swimming for Canada at the World Championships in Spain in 1986, the World Cup Series, the World University Games and bringing home a silver medal from the Pan American Games in Cuba.)

Regent was so driven by his need to ‘teach swimming and survival to the babies of the world, he invested his life’s savings, sold his possessions, his life insurance policies and financed his own swimming school because no bank would approve a loan for a swim school. In 1970 he opened the “Regent LaCoursiere Swim School” on Jarry Street, in Ville d’Anjou. To date almost 2,500,000 swimming lessons have been given, and still counting. Regent has no intention of slowing down. His pupils come to him from around the World !

AUTHOR

Regent has authored three books on swimming – La Natation de Compétition – J’Apprends à Nager and DROWNPROOFING.

INVENTION

In 1998 Regent was granted PATENT PROTECTION for his invention the DIAPER SWIM VEST. At the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Show held in Dallas, Texas, October, 1999, the DIAPER SWIM VEST was voted one of the top ten new products of the Millennium by CBS consumer Reporter, Mr. Herb Weisbaum.

FLOTATION SWIMMING AIDS

Regent is a fervent believer that children and adults should learn to swim with the use of a swim teaching flotation aid. Among the products that he developed and that are now in use around the world are the:

• floating swim collar
• diaper swim vest (award winning)
• flotation swim suit with 6” Styrofoam insert
• back float – the original King of swimming aids
• back float FLUBBLE
• 6 cube swim belt
• adult swim belt
• and a complete selection of swim caps and quality UV protection swim goggles for young children through to adults

REGENT ‘JOHNNY’ LACOURSIERE

Born on april 19, 1935 - Montreal

• began swimming at the age of five
• began swim training at the age of eleven
• Canada’s Junior Champion at the age of sixteen
• 1951 – Waterpolo, Junior Champion
• 1951 - 100 yd. Breast stroke
• 1952 – 200 yd. Freestyle – 2:12.5
• 1952 - 200 yd Freestyle - 2:05.5
• 1954 - 200 yd. Individual Medlay – 3:16.4
• 1954 - 100 yd. Freestyle - 1:03.0
• 1954 - 1650 yd. Freestyle – 20.11.3
• 1954 - 1650 yd. Freestyle – 19.26.2
• 1955 - 440 yd. Freestyle – 5:04.02
• 1954 National Team to the Commonwealth Games, Vancouver, Canada
• 1955 1st long distance race -26 mi. Atlantic City Around the Island Swim 11:14.19
• 1959 World Record – Guayamas, Sonora, Mexico – 22 miles – 8:22.12
• 1960 1st place – Lake St. Jean, Qc – 24 miles – 9:30.12
• 1958 – 1972 – FIFTEEN CONSECUTIVE crossings of Lake St. Jean
• 1958 – 59 – 60 & 64 – 1st place, Three Rivers, Qc – 10 miles
• 1965 – 66 – 67 -1st place, 24-hours of Latque, Qc
• 1963 – 1st place - Northumbeland Straits – 10 miles – 7:09:10
• 1965 – 1st place – Lake Ontario, Hamilton – 10 miles – 5:10.06
• 1966 – 1st place – Mar Del Plata, Argentina, 32 miles – 17:28.15
• 1966 – 2nd place – Rhode Island – 14 miles – 7:36.30
• 1966 - 24 miles – Capri to Napoli, Italy
• 1978 – HONOREE – INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME, FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
• 1965 – City of Pointe Claire – First Swimming Director
• 1967 – City of Bouchervlle, - Swimming Director
• 1970 - founded the ECOLE DE NATATION REGENT LACOURSIERE, Montreal, Canada – OVER 2,500,000 SWIMMING LESSONS….and counting….

INNOVATOR OF TEACHING NEW BORN BABIES THE ‘SURVIVAL’ METHOD.