- Nominations
- Inductees
- Alexander, Lisa
- Attard, Larry
- Bailey, Angela
- Balding, Al
- Bard, Alex
- Biggar, Howard
- Borthwick, Gayle
- Boyd, Mabel
- Brenneman, John
- Brown, David
- Brown, Louise
- Brydson, Gordon
- Carver-Dias, Claire
- Chambers, Carlton
- Christie, Marc
- Clare, Lou
- Clark, Karen
- Coffey, Paul
- Distelmeyer, Wallace
- Doty, Fred
- Dudley, Rick
- Ealey, Chuck
- Edwards, Dwight
- Eisele, Sylvia
- Fee, Earl
- Finlay, Matt
- Forshaw, Sheila
- Gilbert, Greg
- Gray, Gerry
- Greenwood, Jill
- Gurowka, Joe
- Hamilton, Stu
- Harris, Susan
- Hattin, Heather
- Hawley, Sandy
- Henderson, Paul
- Hibbert, Curtis
- Hicken, Blair
- Hickox, Mac
- Hinds, Sterling
- Hollett, Frank W.
- Homer-Dixon, Marjorie
- Hughes, Gord
- Kelly, Bob
- Kern, Ben
- Kerr, Jane
- Laumann, Danielle
- Laumann, Silken
- Lay, Jeff
- Loek, Fred
- Love, Jerry
- Martin, Peter
- Marland, Robert
- McCallion, Hazel
- McClintock, Joel
- McClintock-Messer, Judy
- McFater, Al
- McKenzie, Merv
- McQuaker, Charles (Red)
- Morris, Ted
- Oldershaw, Bert
- Oldershaw, Dean
- Oldershaw, Reed
- Oughtred, Wally
- Owoc Chennette, Andrea
- Pallett, Howard
- Paterson, Charlie
- Patey, Larry
- Plaxton, Hugh
- Pogue, Jim
- Poulin, Dave
- Preston, Karen
- Primeau, Joe
- Reddon, Lesley
- Riddell, Sam
- Rider, Fran
- Roach-Leuszler, Winnie
- Ross, Bill
- Ryder, Gus
- Samuel, Ernest
- Serwetnyk, Carrie
- Sicinski, Bob
- Smylie, Doug
- Stanfield, Fred
- Stanfield, Gord
- Stewart-Pellett, Ellen
- Tanti, Tony
- Toth, Mike
- Umeh, Stella
- Van Kiekebelt, Debbie
- Volpe, Nick
- Waites, Al
- Wilson, Bruce
- Wirkowski, Nobby
- Wood, Art
- Wood, John
- Young, Mike
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Name:
CLARK, Karen
Sport:
Synchronized Swimming
Amateur Athlete of the Year - Female:
1996
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Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
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To stand on the podium and have an Olympic medal draped around one’s neck is a moment many of the world’s best athletes dare to dream about.A few ever realize it. Karen Clark did so. She became winner of a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta — and it’s an experience she will treasure forever. Clark was a key member of the team that won a silver medal in synchronized swimming for Canada. Undoubtedly this achievement ranks as a highlight in Karen’s competitive synchronized swimming career that had many remarkable highlights, including winning more than 30 medals (figures, solo, duet and team) in international competitions and more than 20 Canadian titles in various categories. Karen was ranked No. 2 in the world individually when a nagging back injury requiring four surgeries for herniated disc ultimately ended her swimming career. Karen was all of two weeks old when the Clark family moved to Mississauga from Montreal. She is a true “home grown” athlete who started her sports career in a humble way at six with the Mississauga Synchronized Swim Club in 1978. Little did anyone suspect that 19 years later she would bathe in Olympic glory. Sandwiched in between her first dip in the Huron Park Recreation Centre pool and the ’96 Summer Games were countless hours of training and an impressive competitive career. In 1983, three years after she joined the Olympium swim club in Etobicoke, Karen won her first individual provincial crown, becoming the 10 & Under Ontario champion in all events. Two years later she was national title junior champion in figures, the youngest synchronized swimmer to ever win a Canadian national title. During the 1988-’89 season she was chosen to the national team and in 1989 became triple silver medallist at the Junior World Championships (solo, duet and team). In 1990 she added a silver in duet at the International Goodwill Games, followed by a gold in 1991. In 1994 she helped Canada win silver medal in team events at the World Aquatic Championships. |
Karen is also a five-time World FINA Cup medallist (1989 team, 1993 team, 1995 team and 1997 solo and team). Karen and fellow Mississaugan Lisa Alexander provided the backbone for these Canadian triumphs. Alexander’s retirement following the Atlanta Olympics left Karen to carry Canada’s torch. She was a member of the Calgary Aquabelles Club (training with coaches Debbie Muir and Michelle Caulkins) when the nagging back injury forced her out of the water. While establishing herself as one of the premier competitors in Canadian synchronized swim history, Karen also managed to earn a place on the Dean’s Honour List while obtaining a Bachelor of Communications degree at the University of Calgary and rate a Dale Carnegie Achievement Award (1997) for excellence in public speaking.Since her retirement, Karen’s has been a familiar byline on the sports pages of the Calgary Herald. She also covered major amateur sports events for The Canadian Press and was colour commentator on CBC TV for synchronized swimming in the 1991 and 1993 World Aquatic Championships.In recognition of their Olympic silver medals in Atlanta, Karen and Lisa Alexander were chosen co-winners of Mississauga’s Female Athlete of the Year award for 1996. On June 3, 2004 Karen was inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame. |
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