Re: "Veteran Hayden shows his mettle," Aug. 2 and "Gold, silver and bronze," Aug. 5.
sa国际传媒 and sa国际传媒 should be very proud of these two sa国际传媒 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 sa国际传媒'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 sa国际传媒'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 sa国际传媒.
In my opinion, sa国际传媒 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 sa国际传媒, the coaching staff and especially Brent's and Ryan's performances last week made me proud.
Elaine Tanner
1968 Olympics triple medal winner Vancouver
