Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Brent Hayden of Mission, British Columbia has decided to come out of retirement. In an announcement made on Wednesday, what is remarkable about this announcement is that Hayden retired from competitive swimming seven years ago, after winning a bronze medal for Canada in the men’s 100 metre freestyle at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Now at the age of 36, Hayden has his eyes set on making the Canadian Olympic team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In addition to winning an Olympic bronze in the men’s 100 metre freestyle, Hayden won five medals at the World Aquatics Championships. His best result was a gold medal in the men’s 100 metre freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Hayden also won the silver medal in the men’s 100 metre freestyle at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China.
Hayden won three relay medals at the World Aquatics Championships. He won silver medals in the men’s 4×100 metre relay and 4×200 metre relay at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec and a bronze medal in the men’s 4×200 metre freestyle relay in Melbourne.
In recent years the Canadian women’s swimming program has come away with an influx of medals in international competitions, while the men’s team has struggled. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Canadian women won eight medals, while only one Canadian man reached a final. That was Markus Thormeyer of Newmarket, Ontario, who finished eighth in the men’s 200 metre backstroke.
