From Olympian to PhD in Leadership Behaviour

Dr. Cari (Read) Din is an Olympic Silver Medallist in synchronized swimming. She also has a PhD in Leadership Behaviour and can link these two achievements to her involvement with the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary (CSIC). Cari believes that the CSIC impacted her synchro career, and now with her knowledge in Leadership Behaviour wants to share her experience to positively influence others.

Din's lifelong relationship with the CSIC began while using the high performance coaching and sports science services to their maximum benefit en route to her 1996 Olympic medal winning performance. She believes that she "took advantage of every service" and was inspired to stay involved in sport beyond her athletic career giving credit to her CSIC employed strength and conditioning coach. He was "the reason I made the [medal winning] team." Noting that she was "shaped by my coaches as much as my parents," this experience catalyzed her curiosity for medal-winning leadership that drove her PhD research.

Cari received the Petro Canada Olympic Torch Scholarship to complete her Master's degree in Motor Learning. Her PhD research focused on the coach and athlete leadership that preceded Canadian Olympic gold medal winning performances in 2010. She has been able to translate her evidence based research into innovative coach development and mentorship.

Wanting to use her experience and education to promote and create highly impactful relationships between coaches and athletes, Din has worked with CSIC staff and integrated support team members to enhance their behaviours and, ultimately, improve athletes' results. She has also spent time facilitating workshops that the CSIC has hosted over the past months, focusing on women's leadership and development with both athletes and staff alike

Like many high performance athletes, Dr. Din has the drive and determination to succeed both in and out of sport. Her evolution through the multi-faceted CSIC channels has allowed her to make significant impacts in high performance sport at every level. From developing athlete to Olympic Medallist, from undergraduate degree to doctorate, and from pupil to advisor, Cari has helped to improve the sport community. Staying involved with the CSIC has been a main goal, in order to give back to the organization that has helped her dreams come true, both athletically and professionally.

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Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @csicalgary

Written by Brittany Schussler: @bschussler

Photo by Dave Holland: @csicalgaryphoto