Tuesday, July 31, 2012 2:44 PM ET
Hayden Will Swim for Gold in London
Brent Hayden
of Mission, B.C., qualified for his first individual Olympic final on
Tuesday, posting the sixth-fastest time of the men's 100-metre freestyle
semi-final heats.
The 28-year-old grinned and pumped his fist when he received the news.
"It was just a huge weight off my chest," he said with a smile.
Four years earlier at Beijing 2008, Hayden suffered the biggest disappointment of his career when he finished 14th in the semis. Toted as a medal favourite headed into those Games, he failed to even make the final.
"I've been fighting that monkey ever since Beijing, so he's finally gone,"Hayden said on Tuesday. "In Beijing I think I just went in with a little too much confidence thinking I was good enough to save the energy and still make the final."
Swimming in the second of two heats, Hayden started slow surged ahead in the final 50 metres to touch the wall in 48.21 seconds. He finished fourth in his heat.
London marks Hayden's third Olympic Games, and he says he has struggled of late to bring up his heart rate ahead of big meets. At the 2011 World Championships he grew concerned by how calm he felt.
"I never really got that anxiety that I usually get before my races," he said. "Usually, my body goes through these phases when I'm getting ready to race: My feet and fingers go all tingly, my heart is pounding, my mouth goes dry... that's what my body does when it's preparing to race. And I wasn't having any of that."
On Tuesday, Hayden said he suffered a similar phenomenon ahead of his semi-final.
"I would still like to feel a little bit more intensity before the race," he said. "It was kind of like worlds last year where I didn't feel it at all. It was a little bit better tonight."
Hayden's race was not perfect -- he said he could have judged his finish a little better to the wall.
"I took an extra stroke," he explained. "My goggles had fallen down a little bit so my vision was a little skewed.
"I've got a little room on the technical aspect, so I can put on more speed just by digging down deeper and finding something I've never tapped into before."
Reigning world champion James Magnussen overcame his disappointment from Sunday's fourth-place finish in the men's 4x100m relay to post the fastest time of the 100m semis on Tuesday.
"[Failing to earn a medal in the relay] is kind of motivating, but it's more that I'm trying to put it out of my memory," Magnussen said. "It's one of my first failures since I broke onto the international scene."
Magnussen finished his 100m sprint in 47.63 -- 0.53 seconds off his qualifying time for the Games. The Aussie swam a time of 47.10 seconds in March; it remains the world's fastest this year.
Brazil's Cesar Cielo, the Olympic bronze medallist from 2008, and France's Yannick Agnel also advanced to the final. After five days of competition at London 2012, Agnel has already earned two gold medals and a silver.
Watch the men's 100-metre freestyle final: Wednesday at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt on CTVOlympics.ca
The 28-year-old grinned and pumped his fist when he received the news.
"It was just a huge weight off my chest," he said with a smile.
Four years earlier at Beijing 2008, Hayden suffered the biggest disappointment of his career when he finished 14th in the semis. Toted as a medal favourite headed into those Games, he failed to even make the final.
"I've been fighting that monkey ever since Beijing, so he's finally gone,"Hayden said on Tuesday. "In Beijing I think I just went in with a little too much confidence thinking I was good enough to save the energy and still make the final."
Swimming in the second of two heats, Hayden started slow surged ahead in the final 50 metres to touch the wall in 48.21 seconds. He finished fourth in his heat.
London marks Hayden's third Olympic Games, and he says he has struggled of late to bring up his heart rate ahead of big meets. At the 2011 World Championships he grew concerned by how calm he felt.
"I never really got that anxiety that I usually get before my races," he said. "Usually, my body goes through these phases when I'm getting ready to race: My feet and fingers go all tingly, my heart is pounding, my mouth goes dry... that's what my body does when it's preparing to race. And I wasn't having any of that."
On Tuesday, Hayden said he suffered a similar phenomenon ahead of his semi-final.
"I would still like to feel a little bit more intensity before the race," he said. "It was kind of like worlds last year where I didn't feel it at all. It was a little bit better tonight."
Hayden's race was not perfect -- he said he could have judged his finish a little better to the wall.
"I took an extra stroke," he explained. "My goggles had fallen down a little bit so my vision was a little skewed.
"I've got a little room on the technical aspect, so I can put on more speed just by digging down deeper and finding something I've never tapped into before."
Reigning world champion James Magnussen overcame his disappointment from Sunday's fourth-place finish in the men's 4x100m relay to post the fastest time of the 100m semis on Tuesday.
"[Failing to earn a medal in the relay] is kind of motivating, but it's more that I'm trying to put it out of my memory," Magnussen said. "It's one of my first failures since I broke onto the international scene."
Magnussen finished his 100m sprint in 47.63 -- 0.53 seconds off his qualifying time for the Games. The Aussie swam a time of 47.10 seconds in March; it remains the world's fastest this year.
Brazil's Cesar Cielo, the Olympic bronze medallist from 2008, and France's Yannick Agnel also advanced to the final. After five days of competition at London 2012, Agnel has already earned two gold medals and a silver.
Watch the men's 100-metre freestyle final: Wednesday at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt on CTVOlympics.ca
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