Debbie Muir

Deborah Muir ( Humphrey; born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian former synchronized swimmer and coach. She began her career with the Calgary Aquabelles club in 1965 and won silver medals in the synchronized swimming team competitions at both the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1973 World Aquatics Championships. At age 20, Muir retired from competition and began a career in coaching. She coached swimmers of the Calgary Aquabelles to 22 national titles over a decade. She also helped athletes clinch medals in the World Aquatics Championships, the FINA Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games and the Summer Olympic Games. Muir has won various awards for her coaching career, and is an inductee of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Personal background On June 12, 1953, Deborah Muir was born in Calgary, Alberta. She is a graduate of Viscount Bennett High School, and worked for a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Calgary.

Career She joined the Calgary Aquabelles synchronized swimming club to begin her career in the sport in 1965 at age 11. Two years later, Muir won the bronze medal in the junior solo category at the Canadian Championships. claiming the silver medal in the synchronized swimming team competition as a member of Canada's seven-athlete squad for the event. She was named to the Canadian delegation for the 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Yugoslavia, winning the silver medal in the synchronised swimming discipline as a member of the Canadian team. Following the Championships, Muir decided to retire from competition at age 20, saying that she realized she would have not been able to attain the success she desired even after practising hard. Muir's first international victory as a coach came at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships in Berlin when Vanderberg claimed the gold medal in the solo competition and Vanderburg and Calkins paired up to win the duet discipline. In 1979, swimmers coached by Muir won medals at that year's FINA Cup in the solo and duet events and at the Pan-American Games. and at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships in Guayaquil when Sharon Hambrook and Kelly Kryczka won the gold medal in the duet routine. She stopped coaching the Canadian national team in 1991. She commuted twice a year to Melbourne to train the team and also had them based in Calgary twice each year. She was a mentor coach for the Canadian Olympic Committee at the 2008 and 2010 Olympics. Muir was a high performance advisor for the sports of cycling, diving, gymnastics, rowing, swimming, trampoline, and triathlon. She mentored speed skating, synchronized swimming and water polo coaches and completed performances debriefs and evaluation that she led for Athletics Canada, Swimming Canada and Triathlon Canada. Muir is a member on the board of directors of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and is a graduate of the Royal Roads University's Executive Coaching program. Muir runs the Performance Training and Development corporate and executive training company, providing senior managers with the required skills to assist their employees get more efficient. In 1989, she was named the Alberta Female Amateur Coach of the Decade for the 1980s for her "success and outstanding commitment to coaching". She was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in April 1994, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in April 1998, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2007.