Reema Abdo
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Reema Abdo | ||||||||||||
| National team |
 Canada | ||||||||||||
| Born |
May 19, 1963 Aden, Yemen | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | ||||||||||||
| Club | Trenton Dolphins | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Reema Abdo (born May 19, 1963) is a Canadian former backstroke swimmer and Olympic bronze medallist. Abdo was born in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and became a naturalized Canadian citizen.
Swimming career
Abdo began her swimming career in Kingston, Ontario, at age 12. In 1976 with her family moved to Trenton, Ontario, and joined Trenton Dolphin Swim Club, where coach George Sulk started to train her. This was the pivotal point in her swimming career. Under the professional patronage of a very experienced coach, Abdo began her impressive national and international backstroke career in 1981. Abdo attributes much of her success to their collaboration with George Sulk (Jurgis Šulkevičius).
Abdo garnered a total of 14 national championship medals: 7 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze - all in her specialty, the backstroke. In 1984 she was the Canadian record holder in the short course 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke.
Abdo represented Canada at the USSR-Germany-Canada Tri-meet, the Commonwealth Games, the World University Games, the Pan Pacific Championships and the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[1]
Olympics
Competed for Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There she won the bronze medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay, alongside Anne Ottenbrite, Michelle MacPherson and Pamela Rai.
Coaching
Abdo attended both Arizona State University and the University of Toronto and following her exceptional swimming career, she coached swimming for several years where she was a successful age-group and university coach. She continues an active lifestyle competing in triathlons and long distance running. Abdo is a member of the Ontario Provincial Police, out of Caledon.