HAYDEN Brent

General
RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK
After winning his first Olympic medal, a bronze, at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he decided to retire from competitive swimming. He announced his decision at a medal ceremony at Canada House, saying he had not planned on retiring at that moment but realised it was the right decision. "I was going to give myself two months to see if there was a moment when it felt right. And if that moment didn't come, then I would have just kept swimming." In October 2019, inspired by running a swim camp for children in Beirut, Lebanon, he announced that he was making a comeback to try and compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Putting myself through our drills made me realise that my body felt amazing in the water. My technique was on-point. It felt crisp, it felt good. I felt stronger. I didn't have the cardio then, but if my technique felt that good and I felt that much stronger, could I be even faster than before with the right kind of training? I've never been this excited making an Olympic team. As long as my body and my heart stay in it, I'm just going to keep going. The ultimate cut-off is the Paris 2024 Olympics, but we'll see. It's to be determined. I don't feel 37. I feel like I'm ageing backwards. It's weird. At 27 in London, I felt really old. Part of it was that my body felt like it was falling apart. But I was also the oldest one in that final by five years and I was thinking that my best years of swimming were behind me. Now, I'm constantly achieving bests in training, whether that's in the weight room or short sprints." (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 24 Jun 2021; cbc.ca, 16 Oct 2020; swimswam.com, 01 Apr 2020; ca.sports.yahoo.com, 06 Aug 2012; theprovince.com, 09 Jul 2021)

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL PAIN
His 2012 retirement came about after a period where he was affected by mental health and a period of injuries, despite him winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. "It was the worst year of my life. Our team psychologist was on speed dial for me. Emergency meetings at my home. I was spiralling towards depression. I was really beginning to loathe swimming. It was painful. There were few times I was happy being at the pool. Lots of long phone calls in the parking lot after practice where I couldn't even drive because I was screaming on the phone. A lot of tears. Apart from my wife and coach and my team it was very lonely. My back was so bad I remember grabbing the bed sheets to pull myself off the floor. I've been through some tough times and I can usually see the light at the end of the tunnel. There was no light at the end of the tunnel this time. I don't think I would have been able to handle another failure at a Games. As males, we're taught to bottle things up and 'man it up'. That can be very detrimental for your mental health. In a lot of cases, that can actually kill you." (cbc.ca, 16 Oct 2020; theprovince.com, 09 Jul 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He is the co-founder of 'Swimming Secrets', an online learn-to-swim tool and has ran an activewear company, 'Astra Athletica' with his wife Nadina. He founded the 'Brent Hayden Swim Camps' and has also served as a board member on the International Swimmers' Alliance [ISA]. (Facebook profile, 07 Jul 2021; olympic.ca, 24 Jun 2021; thestar.com, 08 Jun 2021)

DEAD HEAT
He and defending champion Filippo Magnini of Italy tied for first place in the 100m freestyle final at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Both swimmers were awarded a gold medal after recording the time of 48.43s. The win was Canada's first swimming title in the pool at a world championships since Victor Davis won the 100m breaststroke in 1986. (swimming.ca, 23 Apr 2007)