Canada Olympic swim team in London, largest since 2000 Sydney Games, eyeing three medals

Canada will be sending its largest swim team to a Summer Games since 2000 after qualifying 31 athletes over the six-day Olympic trials in Montreal, which wrapped up Sunday night.

The team will include 14 swimmers who have Olympic experience after competing in Beijing and some serious medal threats. Head coach Randy Bennett said in an interview during the Sportsnet broadcast he is eyeing three medals.

The first medal of the Games may be won by Victoria's Ryan Cochrane. He won bronze in Beijing in the 1,500-metre freestyle and is a strong medal hope in both the 400-metre and 1,500-metre events. His bronze was the only swimming medal in 2008. Despite not being fully tapered and even sporting some facial hair, he cruised to victories in both events at the trials.

The men's 400 freestyle will be the first swimming final on July 28 and Cochrane may give Canada an early tick on the medal tally. He is also hoping for gold in the 1,500. If he succeeds, it would be Canada's first Olympic gold in swimming since Mark Tewksbury won the 100 backstroke in 1992. Four years ago, Cochrane was talking about just stepping on the podium, now he is talking about climbing to the top.

"Four years ago, it was a young team and we talked about it being a building year," Cochrane told a reporter with the Canadian Press. "There was way less expectations on us as a national team. This time around it's still a young team, but I think you can expect great things."

Veteran Brent Hayden of Mission, B.C. is also heading to London with eyes on a medal. He cruised to victory in the 50 and 100-metre freestyle events and won a silver medal at last year's world championship in the 100. He told CP last year he was focusing more on training and less on racing, but going into London, he'll be focusing more on racing.

Joe Bartoch of London, Ont. is the eldest member of the team at 29 and said he would call it quits if someone stepped up and took the 100-metre butterfly title away from him.

"Just being an old guy, I put it out there. If somebody beats me, I will retire," he said in a CTV article. "But nobody said, 'I want to do what Joe's doing' and now they're kind of paying the price."

On the women's side, Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont. leads a contingent of 18 women that includes a lot of young talent. Wilkinson, 24, is returning to the Olympics after finishing seventh in the 200-metre individual medley in Beijing. At these trials, she won the 100 backstroke, 200 I.M. and 100 freestyle. In addition to competing in those events in London, Wilkinson will be a key part to the 4X100 freestyle relay.

Relays only qualify if four swimmers combine to go under a certain time. After the race, it takes a few seconds for a judge to calculate the times as the swimmers hang on to the lane ropes hoping with hearts beating. When the judge held up four fingers it was one of the more exciting parts of the week.

Three medals would be a lot for a team that won zero in Athens, the first time in 40 years that Canadian swimmers came up dry in the medal department at the Olympics. Swim Canada, with some prodding from former swimmers and the media, realized that major changes needed to be made to a once-proud program that had become dysfunctional.

While there was a lot of success at the Olympic pool in Montreal this past week, there was also a lot of heartbreak. Edmonton native Annamay Pierse, who is the current world record holder in the 200-metre breaststroke, failed to qualify after finishing fifth in the event.

There is also the story of Perth, Ont. native Mike Brown who missed a bronze medal in Beijing by 0.09 of a second. He took some time off after the 2008 Games and came out of retirement hoping to make the team again, but failed to qualify in his event, the 200-breaststroke. Scott Dickens, who is more of a 100 breaststroker, won the 200, but seemed disappointed because Brown didn't qualify.

Canadian Olympic swim roster

Men
Joe Bartoch, London, Ont. (100 butterfly)
Ryan Cochrane, Victoria (400 freestyle, 1,500 freestyle)
Scott Dickens, Burlington, Ont. (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke)
Andrew Ford, Guelph, Ont. (200 individual medley)
Charles Francis, Cowansville, Que. (100 backstroke)
Thomas Gossland, Vancouver (4x100 freestyle relay)
Brent Hayden, Vancouver (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 4x100 freestyle relay)
Richard Hortness, Medicine Hat, Alta. (4x100 freestyle relay)
Tobias Oriwol, Toronto (200 backstroke)
Alec Page, Victoria (400 individual medley)
Colin Russell, Burlington, Ont. (4x100 freestyle relay)
David Sharpe, Halifax (200 buttefly)
Blake Worsley, Victoria (200 freestyle).

Women
Hilary Caldwell, London, Ont. (200 backstroke)
Samantha Cheverton, Pointe-Claire, Que. (200 freestyle, 4x200 freestyle relay, 4x100 freestyle relay)
Stephanie Horner, Beaconsfield, Que. (400 individual medley)
Barbara Jardin, Montreal (200 freestyle, 4x200 freestyle relay)
Savannah King, Vancouver (400 freestyle, 800 freestyle)
Alexa Komarnycky, Toronto (800 freestyle)
Audrey Lacroix, Montreal (200 butterfly)
Brittany MacLean, Toronto (400 freestyle, 4x200 freestyle relay)
Heather MacLean, Toronto (4x100 freestyle relay)
Martha McCabe, Toronto (200 breaststroke)
Victoria Poon, Montreal (50 freestyle, 4x100 freestyle relay)
Erica Morningstar, Calgary (200 individual medley)
Amanda Reason, Windsor, Ont. (4x200 freestyle relay)
Katerine Savard, Quebec City (100 butterfly)
Sinead Russell, Burlington, Ont., (200 backstroke,
100 backstroke); Jillian Tyler, Calgary (100 breaststroke)
Tera Van Beilen, Oakville, Ont. (100 breaststroke)
Julia Wilkinson, Stratford, Ont. (100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 4x100 freestyle relay, 200 individual medley)