• Pandas Swimmer (1988-1993)
• Four-time Canada West Team Champion (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993) 
• 24-time Canada West Medalist
• 22-time CIAU Medalist
• 12-time CIAU National Gold Medalist
• 1993 Bakewell Trophy Co-Winner
• 1991 Pandas Swim Team MVP
• Three-time Academic All-Canadian (1991, 1992, 1993)

When discussing the greatest swimmers ever to don a Golden Bears or Pandas cap, it doesn't get far into the conversation before Pandas great Debbie Younger (nee Gaudin), ‘93 BComm, ‘ 98 BEd, is brought up.

Competing primarily in butterfly and freestyle events, Younger put together a remarkable five-year career with the Pandas from 1988-1993. She was a driving force in leading the Pandas to four Canada West team titles in that five-year span, capturing 24 Canada West and 22 CIAU  individual and relay medals, including being a 12-time national gold medalist. 

Not only was Younger a terrific athlete, she was also an outstanding student and leader. 

Younger was a three-time Academic All-Canadian from 1991-93 in the Faculty of Business, completing her after degree in Education in 1998. 

Dr. John Hogg, who coached the UofA Swim program from 1979-90, a 2017 Sports Wall of Fame Inductee himself, referenced Younger as “An inspiring team leader; always unselfishly supportive, and a positive role model both for her teammates as well as for all those women and men who followed in her wake in subsequent years.”

Recruited out of the Keyano Swim Club in Edmonton, Younger made an immediate impact in the pool as a rookie during the 1988/89 season. She earned three relay silver medals at the 1989 conference championship, as the Pandas captured their fifth CW banner in program history. 

She was sensational at the 1989 CIAU Championship, capturing six medals, including gold in the 100 metre butterfly, 200 metre freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay. 

Younger continued to tally conference and national medals over the next two seasons, setting a pair of CIAU National records in 1990 -  in the 100m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay - as well as earning the Pandas Swim Team MVP award in 1991, after winning a pair of national gold medals. 

Perhaps her most remarkable season as a Panda came as a senior in 1993, when Younger captured five Canada West medals, four of which were gold, and five CIAU medals, including winning being a national champion in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m medley relay. 

Her outstanding 1992/93 season was capped off by being named the Co-Recipient of the Bakewell Trophy as the top female student-athlete at the University of Alberta, a recognition she shared with Heather Jones from the Pandas Field Hockey team.

Following her graduation, Younger began a successful career as both an educator, and masters swimming champion. 

She began swimming with the Edmonton Masters Swim Club in 2002, competing in several national-level competitions, setting numerous Canadian Masters records in various age categories, some of which still stand as of her induction into the Sports Wall of Fame. She competed at the 2005 World Masters Games in Edmonton, winning gold in the 50m, 100m, 200m butterfly events, and the 800m freestyle. Younger also competed for a Japanese Masters Swim Team while living in Japan with her family in the mid-2000’s. 

Younger has spent over 20 years as an educator and high school teacher in Edmonton, teaching various subjects, primarily in mathematics, while also teaching in the areas of business education and computer science, in Edmonton. Younger has also volunteered as a high school water polo, swimming, and cross-country coach. 

Debbie Younger is the eighth former Pandas Swimmer inducted into the University of Alberta’s Sports Wall of Fame.