Indo-Canadian among Delta Sports Hall of Fame 2015 inductees

An Olympic medal-winning swimmer of Indian origin is among the Delta Sports Hall of Fame inductees class of 2015, a media report said.

Pamela leila Rai will be recognised at the 11th Delta Sports Hall of Fame gala banquet to be held at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn on October 17, The Now newspaper reported on Friday.

launched in 2005, the "Delta Sports Hall of Fame" set as its goal "to celebrate Delta sport achievement, recognise excellence and honour past, present and future role models".

Rai is a recognised member of the British Columbia (BC) Sports Hall of Fame, the Swim BC Hall of Fame and the University of Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

She represented Canada from 1976 to 1987 and won an Olympic bronze medal in 4x100-metre medley relay in los Angeles in 1984.

With the win she became the first woman of Indian ancestry and first Indo-Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal, the report said.

Nicknamed Pam, she was born in New Westminster, British Columbia and has won awards in swimming, including University of Victoria Athlete of the Year, City of Victoria Athlete of the Year, Pan American Games silver, and Commonwealth Games gold medals.

Rai, who graduated with a degree in sociology, is a high school special education and social justice teacher and is also a certified yoga instructor.

She owns and operates Silent Motion Yoga Vedanta Centre on Vancouver Island.

Rai's father, Harinder Jit Singh Rai, was a member of the Canadian national field hockey team that qualified for the 1964 Olympic Games.