When swimmer Andrea Cole headed off to the 2000 Paralympic Games, she thought the trek to Sydney, Australia would be the trip of a lifetime.
Little did she know she’d make history while she was there.
Cole, a member of Canada’s 4x100 freestyle relay team, captured gold, swimming the third leg. It was the first Parlympic gold medal won by a Northwestern Ontario female to date.
She also brought home silver, the followed up with bronze and silver medals four years later in Athens, wrapping up her Paralympic career in Beijing in 2008, where she was a finalist in the 400-metre freestyle.
On Sept. 28 Cole’s achievements will be honoured with induction into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. She’ll be one of three athletes, including hockey’s Katie Weatherston, a gold-medal winner as part of Canada’s 2006 women’s team, and former NHLer Tony Hrkac, who captured a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Builders Brian Mallon and Brian McLean, along with the 1991 Canadian Open Lightning Class championship sailing crew of Jim Cameron, Janice Cameron and Charlie Spence, will also be inducted at the annual ceremony scheduled for the Valhalla Inn.
“I think the biggest thing is I’m part of sporting history,” Cole said on Thursday at the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, where the inductees were announced.
“Being female, and also being a Paralympian, this means a lot. To be a part of such a talented group of athletes and builders is such a huge honour and something that will stay with me and always make me remember the good old days.”
Cole said it’s good to see the Hall of Fame take all sports into consideration, regardless of physical ability.
“I think it goes to show that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s the effort that you put in and your ability to come through when it really matters and perform when you really need to,” she said.
Mallon said he had no idea he was even being considered for induction.
A long-time member of the Strathcona Men’s Golf Club and a former president of the Port Arthur Curling Club, Mallon said he never imagined it happening.
“I really enjoyed working over the years, helping people out and officiating and keeping the sport alive and keeping it going. It’s just the top of everything, something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life,” he said.
McLean, a champion bowler, was inducted into the Canadian 10-Pin Federation Hall of Fame six years ago and has been promoting the sport for more than 50 years.
Getting the call from the hall is the cherry on top of his career, McLean said.
“When I got that phone call, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “You know, you work to make it enjoyable for everybody, but you don’t think about your own honours that come along the way. This is a real honour.”
Tickets for the induction dinner are available by calling 622-2852 or at the Hall of Fame at 219 May Street South.
