Brent Hayden, Swimming
2012 Olympic Bronze Medallist
1998 BC Summer Games
2001 Canada Summer Games
Mission BC’s Brent Hayden was involved in many sports as a child but swimming was always an important part of his life. In Grade 3, each student in Brent’s class was asked to stand up and state what they wanted to be when they grew up. Brent actually stood up and said “I want to swim in the Olympics!” After a trip to the 1998 BC Summer Games in Ridge Meadows, Brent made the commitment to swimming switching from the summer swim program to train year round with the Chilliwack Spartans.
A 10 year veteran of the National Swim Team, Brent had success on the world stage starting with the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He was co-World Champion in the 100m in 2007 and throughout his career earned five World Championship medals. Brent competed at three Olympic Games with the pinnacle coming at the London 2012 Olympic Games where he won a bronze medal for Canada.
"The BC Summer Games was the point in my career when I realized that I had the potential to go further. It wasn't till soon after that that I decided to switch from being a summer swimmer to training all year round. It is clear that I wouldn't have noticed my own potential without the BC Summer Games.”
See Brent's message in this BC Games video.