Michelle Calkins is a former Canadian synchronized swimmer, world champion, and coach.

Career

Calkins trained with the Calgary Aquabelles. In her first international competition, she won a silver medal in the team event at the

1973 World Aquatics Championships The 1st FINA World Championships in Aquatics were held in the Tašmajdan SRC in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, from 31 August to 9 September 1973. Medal table Results Diving ;Men ;Women Swimming ;Men ;Women Synchronised s ...

in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. She was also a member of the silver medal team at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

. Her most notable successes came with her partner

Helen Vanderburg Helen Vanderburg (born January 12, 1959) is a former Canadian synchronized swimmer and world champion. Career Vanderburg began synchronized swimming in 1969 at age eleven. From 1971 to 1973, she was a member of junior national championship team ...

. At the Pan Pacific Championships in Mexico City, the pair won gold for the first time. They won gold again at the Canadian Aquatic Championships in 1978 in Berlin and were the first Canadian duo to earn gold medals in that event. Calkins retired from competition in 1978.

Coaching

After she retired from her swimming career, Calkins began coaching with the Calgary Aquabelles winning gold with her first team at the Canada Winter Games in

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

. Michelle coached with the Aquabelle Club winning numerous Junior National team titles and Junior coach of the year 1984; continuing under the guidance of Olympic coach Debbie Muir, Michelle coached the Senior Aquabelle team to three National Championships over the span of her career. She began serving as a coach for the Canadian National Team in synchronized swimming in 1988, winning gold in solo, duet, and team at the Loano Cup in Italy in 1992, and Canada's last silver medal in team at the World Championships in Rome in 1994. Michelle was honoured nationally by the Coaching Association of Canada for her success at the World Championships. Calkins was the personal coach of five Canadian team Olympians: Reed, Fonteyne, Clark, Chan and Tatham. She has since retired from coaching.

Titles

*1973 Belgrade, Yugoslavia -

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

- silver in team *1975 Mexico City -

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

- silver in team *1976 Nagoya Japan - Pan Pacific Championships - silver in team *1977 Mexico City - Pan Pacific Championships - gold in duet, silver team *1978 Berlin Germany -

- gold in duet

Honours

Calkins and Vanderburg won the Elaine Tanner Award as the best young female athletes in Canada in 1977. They were inducted into the Canadian Swimming Hall of Fame in 1979. Calkins was inducted into the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum w ...

in 1980 and became a member of the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 2001.

References

External links