Mississauga’s Naughton, Oakville’s Crowne to represent Canada at Pan Am Games

Mississauga’s Hollie Naughton and Oakville’s George Crowne are heading to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Naughton and Crowne are among the six athletes named Wednesday (Aug. 30) to the Canadian squash team that will compete at the upcoming Pan American Games to be held in Santiago, Chile from Oct. 20 to Nov. 5.

The six athletes qualified for Team Canada based on their Professional Squash Association (PSA) Rankings, their recent head-to-head results, and/or their performances at previous Pan American Games and Championships.

Naughton, a history-maker and four-time national champion, leads the Canadian women’s side. The No. 19 ranked player in the world on the PSA rankings, the Mississauga native will be competing in her third Pan American Games.

The 28-year-old was part of the silver medal team at Toronto 2015 and was Canada’s first double medallist at Lima 2019 where she won bronze in both women’s singles and mixed doubles.

She made in history in 2022 as the first Canadian woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in squash when she claimed silver in women’s singles in Birmingham.

Naughton is joined on the women’s team by former world No. 18 and two-time national champion Danielle Letourneau (Calgary, Alta.), who captured silver in women’s doubles in her Pan American Games debut at Lima 2019. Rounding out the women’s team is world No. 45 Nicole Bunyan (Victoria, B.C.), who is competing at her first Pan Am Games

Crowne will make his men’s team debut at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

The men’s side will be led by top-ranked Canadian David Baillargeon (Montreal, Que.), who while competing in his first Pan Am Games has plenty of international experience.

A three-time national champion, Baillargeon has competed in the Pan American Junior and Senior Squash Championships, the 2022 World Games and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also has six PSA Tour titles to his name.

“I’m incredibly happy and proud to be representing Canada at the Pan Am Games in Santiago,” said Baillargeon. “It will be my first Pan Am Games but I’ve followed closely the last two editions and I saw how a great performance there could potentially be a career-defining moment.

“Representing Canada is always an honour and I’m ready to leave it all on the court for my country. I can’t wait to get started!”

Joining Crowne and Baillargeon on the men’s side is Graeme Schnell (Calgary, Alta.), Schnell won gold with the men’s team and silver in men’s doubles at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

“Our team is deep with experience and knows how to medal,” said Manager of Athlete Development Samantha Cornett. “Canada’s squash athletes will be looking to bring home golds in Santiago for Canada. Our top athletes will be well into the 2023-24 season and ready for the Games.”

Squash will take place Oct. 31 to Nov. 5 at the Estadio Nacional.

Team Canada’s squash team coaches for the Pan American Games are Yvon Provencal (Montreal, Que.) and Graeme Williams (Windsor).