Q and A with Brent Hayden

Just in case you've been living in a cave, Brent Hayden is the World Champion in what some consider THE main event, the 100 free. He's also the Canadian National Champion and holds their national records in the 50m (22.19), 100m (48.43) and 200m (1:46.85) events. He earned a spot on their 2004 Athens team and it's pretty safe to assume he'll be in Beijing as well, this time as a favorite for the podium. Um, is there really much more I need to say than that? He also has a day named after him in his home town of Mission, BC and he has a black belt, so he's in a more than metaphorical kinda way.


Photo Credit: Rob Griffith / AP Photo

1. First question has to be the standard - How does it feel to be the first Canadian in 21 years and only the fourth Canadian EVER to win a gold medal at Worlds and be crowned a World Champion? Was it tempered by the presence of Filippo Magnini on the podium beside you or is victory just as sweet when it's shared?

Being the first Canadian in 21 years to win a gold medal, and only the 4th to do so, is a huge honour. But after doing so, I pray that it doesn't take another 21 years to happen again. Being on that podium with Fillipo Magnini didn't in any way dampen the victory for me. Being the first tied gold medal performance at the World Championships is something to be proud of, in an odd way.

2. You've only just recently been diagnosed with asthma after years of coughing attacks and what you thought was an adverse reaction to chlorine. How were you diagnosed, how are you treating it, and how has it affected your training, if at all?

I was doing some lung testing prior to my trip to Beijing. The point of the testing was to get some numbers, go to Beijing, do the test again and see how much the pollution affected me. After the first test, the doctors concluded that I did indeed have asthma. The only thing I'm doing to treat it is to take a couple puffs 15 minutes before each training session or race.

3. I keep seeing little snippets about you being beaten and arrested by the Greek police on the night of the opening ceremonies in Athens but haven't found the whole story. What happened?!

The beating in Athens occurred the night before the closing ceremonies. I was done competing a week earlier. Some other athletes and I were enjoying some night life in town, and just after we left a small club, we noticed that there were riot police everywhere. We didn't really know what was going on yet, so we just stopped and watched. The watching didn't really take long because less than 30 seconds after we got to that spot, some people around us starting moving dumpsters into the middle of the street and began throwing rocks and bottles at the police. As soon as that happened, we all ran back to the club we had just come from to get out of the way because we could hear rubber bullets being fired and didn't want to get hit...obviously. To make this long story short, I was grabbed from inside the club (I didn't make it in very far because that's where everyone seemed to be going for cover), dragged into the street, thrown face down, and beaten severely by what the other athletes said looked like at least 10 cops with sticks. Even while I was taking the beating, I used the arm that wasn't covering my head to flash them my Athlete Accreditation, but they ripped it off and tossed it aside. After, what I remember taking about 2 minutes, they cuffed me, took me down the street, and threw me head first into a corner where I would be kicked, hit, spat on, or threatened with pepper spray whenever I asked why I was targeted. After 30-45 minutes, I was released with the only explanation being "You were tall and wearing a dark shirt." One of the athletes handed me my Athlete Accreditation which he had picked up after I was taken away...guess that wasn't a long story made short now was it.

4. You have some really beautiful photographs on your facebook page. How long have you been interested in photography and is it something you are pursuing as a career or is it just a hobby for you? Let's photo geek out for just a moment....tell us about your equipment. ;)

I've always been into it. Ever since I was little, always using my parents camera, and yelling at them whenever they tried to get in front of my picture to smile. I did two years of photography classes in high school. Development, darkroom, theory, all that kind of stuff. But after high school, I didn't have access to a darkroom anymore, so I stopped doing it. Finally, I asked my parents for money towards a digital SLR camera for my birthday, and that rekindled everything. I've been getting back into it very seriously, and am now considering on taking more courses after the Beijing Olympics and getting into it professionally. I do mostly black and white landscapes, but am drifting into more b&w portraits. But I'm really just trying to dip into all forms of photography, learning the new techniques and such. Right now, I'm using a Canon Rebel XTi, Canon 18-55 mm lens and a Sigma 70-300 mm lens. Also have a lensbaby for selective focus photography. My newest addition, which I used my birthday money for this year was a Canon 580EX II flash.

5. North American swimmers cannot really complain of the same media scrutiny that Australian swimmers are under, but this is your year! What are you going to do to shame and embarrass your family and countrymen?

I don't really know how to answer the last question. I mean, I do a lot of things that embarrass the people around me, like, yelling in the movie theater, doing a crab scuttle across busy crosswalks downtown, taping blow up dolls to my best friend on his stag and riding around on scooters wearing tuxedo t-shirts at the same time...but that's not really the same thing as embarrasing my country. I think I'll just stick to embarrasing my friends for now :P

Photo Credit: Brent Hayden

And I thought Brendan had a bad Athens story! Unbelievable.

Many thanks to Brent for allowing me to publish one of his personal photos. He told me it's his favorite and he had to contort himself in some garbage to get the angle. Well worth it! (I get to see the real thing soon!). Read more about Brent on his Wikipedia page, or you can listen to this entertaining podcast where he talks about his favorite haunts in Vancouver. Brent will be joining other members of the Canadian National team in Holland this week for the Dutch Open I believe. Competition begins Thursday.