More Medals

Well, it looks as if we were justing waiting for somebody to break down the door and let the Canadians into the Olympics. After a week without a medal, we now have 7 in just two days.

The Men's Eight Rowing team took Canada's second Gold of the games. This team has been dominant all year and were the favourites heading into the competition. They had finished a disappointing 5th in Athens, so this was a bit of redemption for them (as they had 5 rowers returning from that team).

Also in rowing, both the Women's Double Sculls, and Men's Lightweight Fours, also won Bronze medals (making it 4 out of our 7 medals so far in rowing).

Ryan Cochrane, a 19-year old from Victoria, prevented a complete Canadian shutout at the pool by taking a Bronze in the Men's 1500m Freestyle.

The Canadian swim team was shutout in Athens, and has been building for the last 4 years. It has been disappointing for those with a memory of the "glory days" with Alex Baumann, Victor Davis, and Mark Tewksbury.

Note that the last link includes a reference to Newmarket's 17-year old Matthew Swanston, a Stingrays teammate of Lindsay Seemann.

Overall, though, the swimming competition has been one of the highlights of the Olympics for me. Michael Phelps completed his historic quest by winning his record 8th Gold Medal (7 in world record times). And there have been plenty other dramatic stories from the pool.