The most decorated Canadian athlete in the history of the Pan-Am games is Hamilton’s Joanne Malar.
The McMaster University graduate captured 30 national titles and 70 international medals. She has won gold at the Pan-Am Games, the Pan-Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games and on the World Cup circuit. In the 1995 FINA Short Course World Championships Malar won two gold medals.
She represented Canada on the world swimming stage for 13 years and competed in three Olympics, 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney.
Malar was ranked as the number one swimmer in the world in 1995-1996 and 1999-2000.
She’s also a three-time winner of the Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year Award.