The Games of love
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
SANTO DOMINGO -- Postcard from Joanne Malar to hubby Mike Morreale, who arrives in Edmonton today with the Toronto Argos:
"Dear Mike:
"Hi from the hot tub. Swimming pool is a bath. Keep thinking I should have brought soap. Because of conditions can't say 'wish you were here.' But I can say thank you for seeing in me that I still had the wish to be here, for inspiring me to make this comeback to complete my career. If it wasn't for you believing in me, I wouldn't be doing this. If it wasn't for you being my No. 1 supporter and being so proud of me, I wouldn't be here.
"Love, Joanne.''
What we're dealing with here is more than a comeback story. It's a love story.
Joanne Malar, Canada's most decorated Pan-Am Games female athlete of all time, is here making her return to international swimming. Competing at her fourth successive Pan-Am Games, the 29-year-old who has won 15 Pan-Am medals came out of two and a half years of retirement to make the Pan-Am team.
"Mike and I were on vacation when I picked up a copy of USA Today and read a story on American swimmer Jenny Thompson and her comeback. I started talking about it and Mike said 'If you want to do it, do it.'
"I didn't mention it again but he kept bringing it up and bringing it up. Mike is a proud Canadian. He has the Maple Leaf on his arm. He obviously could see in me something I didn't really see, or at least admit to myself.
"When I retired after Sydney, I couldn't wait to get married, finish kinesiology, get out and get working on TV broadcasts and everything.
"Mike told me I'd be crazy not to do it if it was still in me,'' said Malar who will swim in the 400 metre individual medley and the 4 x 200 IM here Monday. "The commitment scared me. The whole thing was very scary. Still is.''
MOVING TO CALGARY
It didn't just mean jumping in a pool. It meant moving to Calgary and rejoining coach Jan Bidrman.
"It meant total dedication for the next 16 months. I was just scared. But my husband kept pointing things out. I could be the first Canadian swimmer, male or female, to go to four Olympics. Three weeks later, I was in Calgary.''
Canadian national swim coach Dave Johnson remembers when his phone rang.
"It was April and there was a message on my answering machine from Joanne. 'Call me.' I thought she was calling to say 'Hi.' There was another message on the machine from Jan Bidrman. It said 'Call Joanne.'
"When I called Joanne I asked her all the right questions and she gave all the right answers and asked all the right questions herself. She asked me if it was a good idea. It was obvious to me that she had come to grips with what happened in Sydney. She didn't do what she wanted to do at the Olympics. She didn't disgrace herself, to be sure. But she had to come to grips with it and I was convinced she had.''
She's taken stock of her career.
"I'm a 29-time Canadian champion with 79 international medals and four records. I was fourth at the Atlanta Olympics and Michelle Smith of Ireland was ahead of me and she was cheating at the time. I should have won a bronze. I know people in the sport are still cheating. I've dealt with all that.''
The Canadian poster girl going into Sydney, when Malar finished fourth and fifth, she became the poster girl for the disappointments of the entire Canadian team and took a lot of shots in the media.
"The media was looking for medals. Now I just tell myself, if I was the fourth or fifth-best player in the NHL ...''
Johnson is amazed with her progress.
"She's swimming very strong. I'm surprised with her progress and the way she looks. You can see her competitive spirit is still alive. I don't know if she has enough work behind her to win here. But she has a healthy approach.''
Johnson said he doesn't think she'd be here if her husband wasn't an athlete himself.
'IT TAKES AN ATHLETE TO KNOW'
"It takes an athlete to know.''
Malar isn't placing huge expectations on herself here at what's essentially a 'B' meet.
"Just being here is huge for me,'' she says. "I made this team after eight weeks. I was just thrilled. I realize it'll be another six months before I'm 100%. But I think I can get to the podium. I don't have to, but I want to.''
Malar was training in Calgary when Morrealle and the Argos visited. She'll head home from here and stay until the Argos' Labour Day game against her home-town Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Other than a weekend here and there, Christmas and maybe one other short break, Malar will live and train in Calgary until she makes or breaks it in her attempt to get to Athens. It takes a heck of a husband to handle that.
P.S. to that postcard, says Joanne.
" 'Go Argos, Go.' ''
