Havertown's Hansen ready for World Championships

By Jonathan Tannenwald
For The Inquirer

It's been almost a year since Havertown native Brendan Hansen made headlines by winning three medals at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Next week, he returns to the spotlight as a member of the U.S. team that is competing at the FINA World Championships in Montreal.

The open-water swimming, diving and water polo events have already started, while the pool-based events - in which Hansen, Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin, among others, are scheduled to participate - are next week.

Although many athletes treat the biennial event as simply a warm-up for the Summer Games, Hansen has put as much into preparing for his trip to Canada as he did for last year's trip to Greece.

"Going into this worlds, I was more motivated than most people," he said. "I value the World Championships just under the Olympics as far as the competition and the rivalries, and just the racing that's going on."

That motivation stems from Hansen's performance last year. Even though he brought a diverse medal collection back from Athens - gold for the world-record 400-meter medley relay, silver for the 100-meter breaststroke, and bronze for the 200-meter breaststroke - he expected more. The World Championships are his opportunity to make amends.

"Right after the Olympics, I went right back to the pool and started working hard again because I didn't want to get second or third ever again," he said.

It's the kind of work ethic that Philadelphia fans expect of their athletes - and Hansen doesn't mind carrying the mantle of his hometown into the pool.

"The respect that I get, and obviously the support that I get through cards and e-mails... it's really refreshing to know that your hometown is behind you," he said.

Hansen admits that he has been able to take advantage of the fame that comes with Olympic medals. "All of a sudden you go to a restaurant and someone says, 'Hey, you're that guy that swam on the relay and won a couple medals,' " Hansen said.

The bright lights have moved on from American swimming since last summer, though. The World Championships won't be televised in this country, and ticket sales in Montreal have been slower than expected. But that won't decrease the rest of the world's desire to knock the United States off the pedestal it has occupied in swimming for so long.

USA Swimming national team director Uchiyama Everett cited Australia and Japan as America's biggest rivals, as well as "the great European nations.

"The French have done very well, Britain is on the rise, and the Italians are always to be reckoned with," he said. "The challenge for us is to maintain our status as the No. 1 swimming team in the world."

Hansen, who will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke as well as the medley relay, agrees. "I've got a little rivalry going with some Japanese breaststrokers, and it would be nice to come out on top on those [races]," Hansen said.

If he does, the chances are fairly high that Hansen will set a world record. The depth of the pool in Montreal will also play a role. At three meters, the venue is considerably deeper than other venues that have hosted high-profile events recently, and deep water is conducive to fast times.

"We haven't swam in a pool deeper than two meters in almost three years," Hansen said. "There's definitely going to be some records broken."

Everett even went so far as to admit that he would be surprised if there wasn't a world record set at this competition.

If Hansen is the one who makes those predictions come true, it will be the fourth time in his career that the 23-year-old has set a world record in an international event.