At the London 2012 Olympics, British Columbian athletes captured silver and bronze medals today, prompting provincial Sport Minister Ida Chong to comment that it was a "glorious day for Canadian athletes in London.”
Victoria native Malcolm Howard and Gabe Bergen of 100 Mile House are the British Columbians of the men’s eight rowing team to bring home a silver medal today. Brent Hayden of Mission, BC wins bronze today in 100m freestyle. This is Canada’s first medal won in the pool during London 2012.
Canadian rowers showed a strong performance and made British Columbians proud by capturing the silver medal today. The Canadian Olympic rowing team did not have a quick start but got their second wind to claim second place behind Germany.
In the men's 100m freestyle, Hayden swam well and pushed to snag bronze finishing at 47.80 seconds. Hayden was very close behind Nathan Adrian of the U.S. and James Magnussen of Australia. His final push allowed him to surpass French swim Yannick Agnel for the bronze.
The Canadian rowers also call their BC training grounds home as they practice at Elk Lake in Saanich. In 2008, the Canadian rowing team claimed gold at the Beijing games however only three members of that win make up the current team.