Anne Polinario

Anne Cecile Polinario (born 5 August 1979) is an S10 classified Canadian para swimmer. Born to parents on the Cuban national swimming team, she caught on and competed for Canada in the same sport. Polinario has competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[1]

Polinario was born on 5 August 1979 in Havana, Cuba and now resides in Montreal, Quebec. She had foot drop in her left foot at birth. She started swimming at a young age and later moved to Canada as a teenager. She made it into the Canadian national swimming team, while her mother and father were in the Cuban national swimming team.^[1]

Polinario first competed at the Summer Paralympic Games in 2000, where she won three bronze medals in the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, and 50m freestyle races. At 2004 Athens, she won three gold and two silver medals. "I was pretty happy. I had a bit of tears in my eyes. It was pretty emotional for sure,"^[2] she said after she won her first Paralympic gold medal. In her final Paralympics appearance, at 2008 Beijing, she competed in three races but only won one medal, a gold. "I was disappointed with my first two races so I'm glad to finish with a victory, It was a very good race for me. But I'll need to work harder to get that world record," she said after her victory.^[3][4]