Ernie Meissner
Inducted In
1980
Kitchener’s Ernie Meissner achieved national success in diving. Born in 1938, Ernie started out in track and field but switched to diving when he was eighteen. Meissner attended the University of Michigan, taking an engineering course and competing in diving.
Meissner’s best showing was in the 1962 British Empire Games in Perth, Australia, where he won a bronze medal. He had earlier placed fifth in the 1960 Olympics in Rome and the 1959 Pan-Am Games in Chicago.
His accomplishments include eleven Canadian championships in springboard and tower events as well as many Ontario titles for three-meter and one meter board diving. He also placed fifth in the US Junior National Championships and was an All-American on the high and low boards at the NCAA Championships in 1959.
Meissner retired from competitive diving following the 1960 Olympics. He made a successful comeback for the 1962 British Empire Games and retired again afterwards. His success in track and field brought him many Ontario High School Championships in the triple jump and took him to the 1956 Canadian Olympic trials where he placed second in the triple jump.