Re: "Veteran Hayden shows his mettle," Aug. 2 and "Gold, silver and bronze," Aug. 5.
B.C. and Canada should be very proud of these two B.C. boys, Ryan Cochrane and Brent Hayden, as a swimming medal is a tough medal to win, due to the sheer numbers of participants worldwide.
Having said that, I am troubled with Canada's overall medal performance in swimming this year compared to years and decades past. It seems other countries' swimming progress and medal hauls are rapidly pulling ahead of Canada's.
Our swimming program seems to be stalled, compared to other countries' growth and progress. I think it must be the lack of participants in this country wanting to join swim clubs or lack of funding support for grassroots programs. Swimming infrastructure seems to be stalled or even cancelled in this country, especially in Ontario, the most populated province. In some cases, municipalities are closing pools.
Not only is this contributing to the lack of development of potential future Olympians but it is affecting water safety in general. Watching other countries beating us to the podium tells us they are going in the right direction. I am not sure that is the same for Canada.
In my opinion, Canada should review its entire swimming program and infrastruture if it wants to avoid sinking further in world competition.
Regardless, all the swimmers who swam their hearts out for Canada, the coaching staff and especially Brent's and Ryan's performances last week made me proud.
Elaine Tanner
1968 Olympics triple medal winner Vancouver
