• As a member of the Pandas swim team, Susan was the high-point female competitor at the 1972 and 1973 CIAU championships.
• Won national championships in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley in 1969.
• Won five national championship events in 1970: the 100m and 200m butterfly, the 200m and 400m individual medley, and the 800m freestyle relay.
• Competed in numerous international events including the British Commonwealth (1970) and Pan American (1971) Games and the Summer Olympics (1972).
• Served as head coach of the Royal Glenora and Olympian swim clubs in Edmonton.

Susan Halak (BEd 75) was born in Edmonton and attended Garneau School and Strathcona Composite High School. She studied at Montpellier University in France before enrolling at this university where she earned a BEd in secondary education. She is the third member of the famous Swimming Smiths to be added to the Wall of Fame, following her father, W.D. (Don) Smith, and sister, Rebecca. A member of the Edmonton South Side Swimming Club, she set her first national age-group swimming record as a 13-year old, and there were many more to follow as she emerged as one of Canada's premier female swimmers from 1965 to her retirement from active competition in the early 1970's. Bronze medals at the 1965 Nationals in Red Deer in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke marked the beginning of her step up from provincial to national and international prominence. She was a member of a Canadian team to London, England in 1966, and Canadian all-star teams that swam against best from the USA in Arlington, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Edmonton; and Tacoma, Washington and over the next several years. At the 1968 Olympic Trials, she won the 200-meter breaststroke first national championship. She added national championships in 1969 in the 100-meter butterfly, and 200-meter individual medley -setting a Canadian record in the latter event. Always a complete swimmer, Susan won both the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard fly in 1969 when the Canadian National team toured New Zealand, competing in one of the last international meets held before the change to metric distances.

She reached the pinnacle of her career at Nationals in 1970 when she gained championships in a total of five events: the 100 and 200-fly, the 200 and 400-individual medley, and as a member of the 800-freestyle relay. At the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh Scotland, that same year, within months of undergoing major surgery, she captured two silver medals, one in the 100-meter fly, the second as a member of the 400-medley relay, and a bronze in the 400-free relay. At the Pan-American Games in 1971 she won bronze in the 200-meter fly. Her international career ended in 1972 as a member of the Canadian national team to the New South Wales championships in Australia, and the Munich Olympics. In 1972 and 1973, as a member of the Pandas swim team, she was the high-point female at the CIAU championships.

Following retirement from active competition, Susan shared her extensive swimming knowledge during terms as head coach of the Royal Glenna, and the Olympian Swim Clubs in Edmonton. She served as the Alberta coach to the first Western Canada Games in 1975 in Regina. The same year, as a coach to the World Aquatic Championships in Cali, Columbia, she became the first woman ever named to a major games or world championship swimming coaching staff.

Her outstanding record in her sport has won her several city and national awards and in 1977 she was added to the Alberta (Provincial) Sports Hall of Fame. Susan now teaches elementary school in Edmonton.