My Story
Country: Canada
Sport: Swimming
Height: 6'5" / 1.95 m
Weight: 190 lbs / 86 kg
Born: 10/21/1983
Hometown: Mission, BC
Nickname: Soup
Brent Hayden is a former international swimmer from Canada. Hayden was a bronze medal winner in the 100m freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was co-World Champion in the same event in 2007 with Filippo Magnini of Italy. By winning the 100m, Hayden became the first Canadian in 21 years to win a gold medal at the World Aquatic Championships. He was also the first Canadian to appear in the 100m final at the Olympics since Dick Pound at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the 100m. Hayden adds a further 3 silver and 1 bronze medal to his World Championship totals. He is the current reigning Commonwealth Games champion in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events. In addition, Hayden is currently the Canadian record holder in the 200m, 100m and 50m freestyle in both the short-course and long-course. He is also a former World Record Holder in the 4×100m medley relay, and the 4×200m freestyle relay.
Early Life
Brent Matthew Hayden was born October 21, 1983 in Maple Ridge to Chuck and Marilyn Hayden and is the youngest child of two. Hayden did not show early promise in the pool as he failed swimming lessons twice. First, because he was too scared of the water, and second because he wouldn’t pay attention. With private lessons, Brent fell in love with the water. He joined the Mission Marlins Swim Club at the age of 5 and began swimming competitively.
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!” In Grade 4, Brent joined his school’s “Running Club”: a lunchtime running group set up by his grade 4 teacher, Mrs. Metcalfe. At lunch hour, the group of kids, with Mrs. Metcalfe, would run a 3km loop (known as the “cherry loop” due to the cherry field they run past). At the end of the school year, Brent was awarded for running the most kilometers (some of which he had to run while away on family vacations to stay on track). In Grade 6, Brent joined Isshin Ryu Karate under Sensei Tom McDonaugh – a fundamental building block for his successful swimming career. Some days, after swim practice, instead of changing into his regular clothes, Brent would put his gi (karate uniform) on, walk out the back door of the Mission Leisure Centre and go straight to his dojo across the parking lot for his karate class.
Some sports came and went in Brent’s life, including baseball and soccer, but swimming stuck with him. After winning his first provincial medal at the BCSSA (British Columbia Summer Swimming Association) Provincials in 1999, Brent decided to make the move from summer swimming to training year round and signed up with the Chilliwack Spartans. For his grade 11 and grade 12 years, Brent would wake up at 3:30am every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, to make the 45km drive with his parents to the pool in Chilliwack in time for the 5:00am start. After practice, he would drive equal distance back to school in Mission, followed by making the drive again after school for the day’s second workout.
After high school graduation from Hatzic Secondary in 2001, Brent moved to Vancouver to train at the Vancouver National Swim Centre at UBC with his new coach Tom Johnson. And thus began his international swimming career.
Career
Brent began his ten year international career with Team Canada qualifying for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchestor and Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama that same summer. Brent added two bronze medals at each of the competitions in the same events - the 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relays. He also set his first Canadian Record in the 100m freestyle with a fourth place finish at the Pan Pacific Championships. Brent also went to the 2003 World Aquatic Championships in Barcelona and quickly learned how difficult the international swimming scene was, after he botched his flip turn and swam a disappointing time.
Athens was the location of Hayden's first Olympics when he took part in the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the Canadian swimming team. It was a disappointing first Olympic appearance for Brent as inexperience took it's toll on the 20 year old. It was further worsened the night before the Closing Ceremonies, a week after his competition ended, when Brent was mistaken for a protester and beaten up and arrested by the riot police because he was "tall and wearing a dark shirt" as quoted by one of the officers according to Hayden's account of the event. The injuries sustained left him unable to compete at the World Short Course Championships which were being held a month later. He finished Athens 13th in the 200m freestyle and 5th place in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Brent nearly walked away from the sport that left him so emotionally scarred in Athens, but drew on the support of the positive people around him, including his sport psychologist, and got back into the water with more resolve to leave a positive mark on the world of Canadian swimming. He went to the 2005 World Aquatic Championships held on Canadian soil in Montreal and helped his relay teams (4x100m freestyle & 4x200m freestyle) to two silver medals. He was also outtouched for a bronze in the 200m free, and competed in his first 100m freestyle World Championship final. Brent would not fail to make a World Championship final in the 100m freestyle event for the rest of his career.
In Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Hayden won his first major medal for a non-relay event when he won a silver medal in the 50m freestyle, an event he had not even intended on racing. He also added three bronze medals at the same championships, two from the relays and one in the 200m freestyle final.
Before flying to Australia for the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Hayden got a call from his parents at night to come to the Maple Ridge Hospital to see his grandfather. Brent knew it would be the last time he would ever see him again. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Brent was able to get his grandfather's attention for enough time to say "I'm going to win you a medal at the World Championships". After a practice at staging camp in Maroochydore on the Australian Sunshine Coast, Brent's coach told him the grave news that his grandfather had passed away. His resolve to keep his promise was evident as he, from Lane 7, managed to tie for the gold medal with defending World Champion Italian swimmer Fillipo Magnini in the 100m freestyle. This was the first World Championship for the Canadians since Victor Davis in 1986. In the process of winning the gold, Hayden had also shaved down his own national record in the event down to 48.43 and he also added a bronze from the World's in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. As a result of his victory, the mayor of Mission declared May 26, 2007 as "Brent Hayden Day". As well, the Mission Marlins Swim Club renamed their swim meet to the "Brent Hayden Invitational" and a large mural, painted on the wall of the Mission Leisure Center, by artist Pascal A. Pelletier was unveiled.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he was a member of the Canadian team that finished sixth in the 4×100m freestyle event and fifth in the 4×200m event. Although he qualified third fastest out of sixteen swimmers, one place ahead of Michael Phelps, he did not compete in the semi-finals of the 200 m freestyle. Instead, he and his coach decided to rest for the 4×100m freestyle, which was held that same day (Hayden set a Canadian record in the opening leg with a time of 47.56). He finished out of the finals in the 100m freestyle, again suffering disappointment at the Olympics. He was promoted as the best Canadian swimmer at these games, but only fellow long-distance freestyler Ryan Cochrane managed to medal for the nation in the pool.
Hayden attended at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships. He failed to defend his world title, placing fourth with a new Canadian record time of 47.27 seconds and missing the podium by 0.02 seconds. César Cielo Filho was the world champion, and set a new world mark of 46.91 seconds. But, Hayden was the only swimmer in the final to choose not to wear one of the newest "super suits". He chose to wear the Speedo LZR which was the suit worn by most swimmers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, whereas every other swimmer in that final was wearing either the new Arena X-Glide or Jaked (both of these suits are completely covered in polyurethane).
At the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, Brent set a new Pan Pacific Record in the semi-finals, breaking his old record he set when he won the event back in 2006. However, the record only lastest a few minutes until American Nathan Adrian broke it in the semi-final heat after him. They went head to head in the final and both passed World Record holder Cesar Cielo on the backend despite his early lead. In a tough fight to the finish, Nathan came up victorious. However, it was still a very good performance and result for Hayden. Hayden followed up his performance with a strong showing in the 50m freestyle winning a bronze medal behind Nathan Adrian and Cesar Cielo, despite a poor start.
Hayden showed strong character in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, clocking the fastest times in his respective events (50m, and 100m freestyle); setting a Games record in the 100m freestyle during day one, in the 4x100m freestyle relay final. And then breaking his Games record again, in the individual final with an outstanding time of forty-seven seconds, 98 hundredths—0.56 seconds ahead of silver medallist, Simon Burnett. Hayden held the number one ranking in the world at the time in this event (also being ahead of 22-time Olympic medallist, Michael Phelps). In the 50m freestyle, he won gold with a Games record time of 22.01 seconds. He finished the season with the #1 world ranking in the 100m freestyle.
At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, his years of experience shined through. Brent says he wasn't nervous before his heats or his semi-finals, something that is very uncharacteristic for him. The nerves that one feels before a race is what Brent says his body does when it's preparing itself to perform, and not having those nerves, actually made him scared. Brent says that not freaking out and sticking to his normal race preparation routines could only have happened from years of experience. He performed well enough to get a lane for the final, but knew that routine's alone wasn't going to get him onto the podium. Needless to say, the nerves never came while Brent was preparing for the race, and he got scared. But while waiting in the "ready room" watching a TV showing the live feed, he saw the camera zoom on to his fiancee Nadina holding her neice Nessa, both wearing their "Go Brent Go!" shirts, and that's when he got nervous which was exactly what he needed. Four years after his World Championship gold medal, Brent was back on the podium after swimming a nearly perfect swim. He was only beaten by the new phenom James Magnussen of Australia. On the podium, the medal presenter said to Brent "Welcome back". As the swimmers were stepping off to be lead around the deck for the photographers and fans, Brent broke away from the group and ran in the opposite direction, to jump up into the stands and kiss his fiancee. The stadium erupted in cheers.
At the age of 28, Hayden was seemingly suddenly one of the oldest men competing in the 100m freestyle. It very quickly became a young man’s event, and with the 2012 London Olympic Games coming quickly, Hayden had to do something about it. In a race where 100ths of a second matter, he had to find something fast. His coach arranged for one of his main competitors and good friend, South Africa’s Roland Schoeman, to come to Vancouver and help Brent with his start. He also went to Estonia following a World Cup tour to work with renowned bio-mechanist Rein Haljand. While at staging camp in Olbio, Italy, Brent suffered a severe back spasm that left him out of the water for four days. His only workout during those days was walking up and down the hotel hallway trying to get mobility back. Brent credits his entire support staff, his fiancé, and his coach, particularly a verbal argument between the two on the pool deck, for helping him get back in the water and quickly getting back on track. However, in the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle in London, it appeared that the hard work on his start didn’t pay off as his first 25m was among the slowest. But Brent fought back hard and placed 7th for the final. When asked by a reporter what being in the Olympic final meant to him, Brent broke down in tears and said, “It means everything.”
The next day, Brent woke up with a pain in his back and saw his chiropractor three times that day to try to fix it. It never went away, but Brent says he knew that nobody was ever going to care about the pain in his back; the only thing they would care about is the result on the scoreboard at the end of the race. From the moment the gun went off, Brent put together the most perfect race he had ever put together, nailing the start and turning at the 50m wall in 2nd place only 0.01 seconds behind World Record Holder Cesar Cielo. He charged back on pure emotion and when he touched the wall, Brent won a bronze medal becoming the first and only Canadian to win a medal in the Olympic Games’ premier swimming event. Gold and silver went to USA's Nathan Adrian and world champion James Magnussen ofAustralia, while Hayden beat out Cesar Cielo and Yannick Agnel for third. Fittingly, WADA President Dick Pound, who was Canada’s last finalist in the event more than 50 years before Brent swam in the London final, presented the medals. Though only a bronze, the medal was redemption for Hayden who was visibly ecstatic at winning an Olympic medal at long last. With his Olympic medal finally in his possession he said that “There are so many times when you can dream of something but a million out of a million and one times it won’t come true. This was one of the things that I was very fortunate as a human being to have happen to me." Hayden announced his retirement from the sport shortly after the competition at his medal presentation event held at the Canada House in London. After the closing ceremonies, he flew Lebanon to marry his wife.
Post Career
Brent continues to live in Vancouver with his wife Nadina Zarifeh helping her pursue her music career. She signed with Nettwerk Records and released her debut album “In The Now” in 2012. Together, they have launched “Brent Hayden Swim Camps” and continue to coach privately together. Brent has also come off of two successful solo art exhibitions for his photography, the first titled “Nothing Witty” at the Mission Arts Centre in his hometown, and the second at the Cassera – Foot Of Main Gallery in Vancouver.
Sport: Swimming
Height: 6'5" / 1.95 m
Weight: 190 lbs / 86 kg
Born: 10/21/1983
Hometown: Mission, BC
Nickname: Soup
Brent Hayden is a former international swimmer from Canada. Hayden was a bronze medal winner in the 100m freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was co-World Champion in the same event in 2007 with Filippo Magnini of Italy. By winning the 100m, Hayden became the first Canadian in 21 years to win a gold medal at the World Aquatic Championships. He was also the first Canadian to appear in the 100m final at the Olympics since Dick Pound at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the 100m. Hayden adds a further 3 silver and 1 bronze medal to his World Championship totals. He is the current reigning Commonwealth Games champion in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events. In addition, Hayden is currently the Canadian record holder in the 200m, 100m and 50m freestyle in both the short-course and long-course. He is also a former World Record Holder in the 4×100m medley relay, and the 4×200m freestyle relay.
Early Life
Brent Matthew Hayden was born October 21, 1983 in Maple Ridge to Chuck and Marilyn Hayden and is the youngest child of two. Hayden did not show early promise in the pool as he failed swimming lessons twice. First, because he was too scared of the water, and second because he wouldn’t pay attention. With private lessons, Brent fell in love with the water. He joined the Mission Marlins Swim Club at the age of 5 and began swimming competitively.
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!” In Grade 4, Brent joined his school’s “Running Club”: a lunchtime running group set up by his grade 4 teacher, Mrs. Metcalfe. At lunch hour, the group of kids, with Mrs. Metcalfe, would run a 3km loop (known as the “cherry loop” due to the cherry field they run past). At the end of the school year, Brent was awarded for running the most kilometers (some of which he had to run while away on family vacations to stay on track). In Grade 6, Brent joined Isshin Ryu Karate under Sensei Tom McDonaugh – a fundamental building block for his successful swimming career. Some days, after swim practice, instead of changing into his regular clothes, Brent would put his gi (karate uniform) on, walk out the back door of the Mission Leisure Centre and go straight to his dojo across the parking lot for his karate class.
Some sports came and went in Brent’s life, including baseball and soccer, but swimming stuck with him. After winning his first provincial medal at the BCSSA (British Columbia Summer Swimming Association) Provincials in 1999, Brent decided to make the move from summer swimming to training year round and signed up with the Chilliwack Spartans. For his grade 11 and grade 12 years, Brent would wake up at 3:30am every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, to make the 45km drive with his parents to the pool in Chilliwack in time for the 5:00am start. After practice, he would drive equal distance back to school in Mission, followed by making the drive again after school for the day’s second workout.
After high school graduation from Hatzic Secondary in 2001, Brent moved to Vancouver to train at the Vancouver National Swim Centre at UBC with his new coach Tom Johnson. And thus began his international swimming career.
Career
Brent began his ten year international career with Team Canada qualifying for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchestor and Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama that same summer. Brent added two bronze medals at each of the competitions in the same events - the 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relays. He also set his first Canadian Record in the 100m freestyle with a fourth place finish at the Pan Pacific Championships. Brent also went to the 2003 World Aquatic Championships in Barcelona and quickly learned how difficult the international swimming scene was, after he botched his flip turn and swam a disappointing time.
Athens was the location of Hayden's first Olympics when he took part in the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the Canadian swimming team. It was a disappointing first Olympic appearance for Brent as inexperience took it's toll on the 20 year old. It was further worsened the night before the Closing Ceremonies, a week after his competition ended, when Brent was mistaken for a protester and beaten up and arrested by the riot police because he was "tall and wearing a dark shirt" as quoted by one of the officers according to Hayden's account of the event. The injuries sustained left him unable to compete at the World Short Course Championships which were being held a month later. He finished Athens 13th in the 200m freestyle and 5th place in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Brent nearly walked away from the sport that left him so emotionally scarred in Athens, but drew on the support of the positive people around him, including his sport psychologist, and got back into the water with more resolve to leave a positive mark on the world of Canadian swimming. He went to the 2005 World Aquatic Championships held on Canadian soil in Montreal and helped his relay teams (4x100m freestyle & 4x200m freestyle) to two silver medals. He was also outtouched for a bronze in the 200m free, and competed in his first 100m freestyle World Championship final. Brent would not fail to make a World Championship final in the 100m freestyle event for the rest of his career.
In Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Hayden won his first major medal for a non-relay event when he won a silver medal in the 50m freestyle, an event he had not even intended on racing. He also added three bronze medals at the same championships, two from the relays and one in the 200m freestyle final.
Before flying to Australia for the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Hayden got a call from his parents at night to come to the Maple Ridge Hospital to see his grandfather. Brent knew it would be the last time he would ever see him again. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Brent was able to get his grandfather's attention for enough time to say "I'm going to win you a medal at the World Championships". After a practice at staging camp in Maroochydore on the Australian Sunshine Coast, Brent's coach told him the grave news that his grandfather had passed away. His resolve to keep his promise was evident as he, from Lane 7, managed to tie for the gold medal with defending World Champion Italian swimmer Fillipo Magnini in the 100m freestyle. This was the first World Championship for the Canadians since Victor Davis in 1986. In the process of winning the gold, Hayden had also shaved down his own national record in the event down to 48.43 and he also added a bronze from the World's in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. As a result of his victory, the mayor of Mission declared May 26, 2007 as "Brent Hayden Day". As well, the Mission Marlins Swim Club renamed their swim meet to the "Brent Hayden Invitational" and a large mural, painted on the wall of the Mission Leisure Center, by artist Pascal A. Pelletier was unveiled.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he was a member of the Canadian team that finished sixth in the 4×100m freestyle event and fifth in the 4×200m event. Although he qualified third fastest out of sixteen swimmers, one place ahead of Michael Phelps, he did not compete in the semi-finals of the 200 m freestyle. Instead, he and his coach decided to rest for the 4×100m freestyle, which was held that same day (Hayden set a Canadian record in the opening leg with a time of 47.56). He finished out of the finals in the 100m freestyle, again suffering disappointment at the Olympics. He was promoted as the best Canadian swimmer at these games, but only fellow long-distance freestyler Ryan Cochrane managed to medal for the nation in the pool.
Hayden attended at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships. He failed to defend his world title, placing fourth with a new Canadian record time of 47.27 seconds and missing the podium by 0.02 seconds. César Cielo Filho was the world champion, and set a new world mark of 46.91 seconds. But, Hayden was the only swimmer in the final to choose not to wear one of the newest "super suits". He chose to wear the Speedo LZR which was the suit worn by most swimmers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, whereas every other swimmer in that final was wearing either the new Arena X-Glide or Jaked (both of these suits are completely covered in polyurethane).
At the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, Brent set a new Pan Pacific Record in the semi-finals, breaking his old record he set when he won the event back in 2006. However, the record only lastest a few minutes until American Nathan Adrian broke it in the semi-final heat after him. They went head to head in the final and both passed World Record holder Cesar Cielo on the backend despite his early lead. In a tough fight to the finish, Nathan came up victorious. However, it was still a very good performance and result for Hayden. Hayden followed up his performance with a strong showing in the 50m freestyle winning a bronze medal behind Nathan Adrian and Cesar Cielo, despite a poor start.
Hayden showed strong character in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, clocking the fastest times in his respective events (50m, and 100m freestyle); setting a Games record in the 100m freestyle during day one, in the 4x100m freestyle relay final. And then breaking his Games record again, in the individual final with an outstanding time of forty-seven seconds, 98 hundredths—0.56 seconds ahead of silver medallist, Simon Burnett. Hayden held the number one ranking in the world at the time in this event (also being ahead of 22-time Olympic medallist, Michael Phelps). In the 50m freestyle, he won gold with a Games record time of 22.01 seconds. He finished the season with the #1 world ranking in the 100m freestyle.
At the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, his years of experience shined through. Brent says he wasn't nervous before his heats or his semi-finals, something that is very uncharacteristic for him. The nerves that one feels before a race is what Brent says his body does when it's preparing itself to perform, and not having those nerves, actually made him scared. Brent says that not freaking out and sticking to his normal race preparation routines could only have happened from years of experience. He performed well enough to get a lane for the final, but knew that routine's alone wasn't going to get him onto the podium. Needless to say, the nerves never came while Brent was preparing for the race, and he got scared. But while waiting in the "ready room" watching a TV showing the live feed, he saw the camera zoom on to his fiancee Nadina holding her neice Nessa, both wearing their "Go Brent Go!" shirts, and that's when he got nervous which was exactly what he needed. Four years after his World Championship gold medal, Brent was back on the podium after swimming a nearly perfect swim. He was only beaten by the new phenom James Magnussen of Australia. On the podium, the medal presenter said to Brent "Welcome back". As the swimmers were stepping off to be lead around the deck for the photographers and fans, Brent broke away from the group and ran in the opposite direction, to jump up into the stands and kiss his fiancee. The stadium erupted in cheers.
At the age of 28, Hayden was seemingly suddenly one of the oldest men competing in the 100m freestyle. It very quickly became a young man’s event, and with the 2012 London Olympic Games coming quickly, Hayden had to do something about it. In a race where 100ths of a second matter, he had to find something fast. His coach arranged for one of his main competitors and good friend, South Africa’s Roland Schoeman, to come to Vancouver and help Brent with his start. He also went to Estonia following a World Cup tour to work with renowned bio-mechanist Rein Haljand. While at staging camp in Olbio, Italy, Brent suffered a severe back spasm that left him out of the water for four days. His only workout during those days was walking up and down the hotel hallway trying to get mobility back. Brent credits his entire support staff, his fiancé, and his coach, particularly a verbal argument between the two on the pool deck, for helping him get back in the water and quickly getting back on track. However, in the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle in London, it appeared that the hard work on his start didn’t pay off as his first 25m was among the slowest. But Brent fought back hard and placed 7th for the final. When asked by a reporter what being in the Olympic final meant to him, Brent broke down in tears and said, “It means everything.”
The next day, Brent woke up with a pain in his back and saw his chiropractor three times that day to try to fix it. It never went away, but Brent says he knew that nobody was ever going to care about the pain in his back; the only thing they would care about is the result on the scoreboard at the end of the race. From the moment the gun went off, Brent put together the most perfect race he had ever put together, nailing the start and turning at the 50m wall in 2nd place only 0.01 seconds behind World Record Holder Cesar Cielo. He charged back on pure emotion and when he touched the wall, Brent won a bronze medal becoming the first and only Canadian to win a medal in the Olympic Games’ premier swimming event. Gold and silver went to USA's Nathan Adrian and world champion James Magnussen ofAustralia, while Hayden beat out Cesar Cielo and Yannick Agnel for third. Fittingly, WADA President Dick Pound, who was Canada’s last finalist in the event more than 50 years before Brent swam in the London final, presented the medals. Though only a bronze, the medal was redemption for Hayden who was visibly ecstatic at winning an Olympic medal at long last. With his Olympic medal finally in his possession he said that “There are so many times when you can dream of something but a million out of a million and one times it won’t come true. This was one of the things that I was very fortunate as a human being to have happen to me." Hayden announced his retirement from the sport shortly after the competition at his medal presentation event held at the Canada House in London. After the closing ceremonies, he flew Lebanon to marry his wife.
Post Career
Brent continues to live in Vancouver with his wife Nadina Zarifeh helping her pursue her music career. She signed with Nettwerk Records and released her debut album “In The Now” in 2012. Together, they have launched “Brent Hayden Swim Camps” and continue to coach privately together. Brent has also come off of two successful solo art exhibitions for his photography, the first titled “Nothing Witty” at the Mission Arts Centre in his hometown, and the second at the Cassera – Foot Of Main Gallery in Vancouver.
