Canadian swimmer Anne Jardin made her first mark on the international scene at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, where won the 4x100 metre freestyle relay alongside Gail Amundrud, Becky Smith, and Judy Wright. The following year she took bronze in the event with Amundrud, Smith, and the non-Olympian Jill Quirk at the World Championships and silver, alongside Amundrud, Quirk, and the non-Olympian Janice Stenhouse, at the Pan American Games, in addition to bronze in the 200 metre freestyle. She was then selected to represent her country at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where she captured bronze in the 4x100 m freestyle (with Amundrud, Smith, Barbara Clark, and Debbie Clarke) and medley (alongside Clarke, Wendy Cook-Hogg, Robin Corsiglia, and Susan Sloan) relays. She was also eliminated in the opening round and the semifinals of the 200 and 100 metre freestyle events respectively.
Following the Games, Jardin entered the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship, where she became a three-time All-American. She continued to compete internationally for Canada, but missed the 1978 Commonwealth Games after breaking her wrists in a diving board accident. Later that year, however, at the Canadian Championships, she set a world record in the 50 metre freestyle with a time of 26.74, which stood for nearly two years until it was broken by American Sippy Woodhead. Her final major international success came at the 1979 Pan American Games, where she captured silver in the 4x100 m freestyle relay with Amundrud, Carol Klimpel, and Wendy Quirk. She was again chosen for the Olympics in 1980, but stayed home after Canada joined the boycott of those Games. She graduated from the University of Houston in 1982 and retired from active competition the following year. After spending several years working for Swimming Canada, she moved to Ottawa and, as of 2013, works as a gym teacher. In 2010 she helped carry the Olympic torch on its way to that year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver and is a member of the Quebec Sports and Quebec Swimming Halls of Fame.
Canada