THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Brent Hayden swims to third place at the Pro Swim Series in Iowa

After seven years of retirement, Brent Hayden swam an Olympic “A” time in the 50m freestyle to capture third place at the Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday night.

In just his third meet since returning to training, the 36-year-old stopped the clock at an incredible 21.97 seconds.

Ahead of him were American swimmers Caeleb Dressel (21.51s) and Nathan Adrian (21.88s), who finished first and second respectively.

Hayden currently holds the national record in the 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyles competitions. His time of 21.97s in Iowa last night is not only the fastest by a Canadian this year or last, but the fourth-fastest time of his career.

Despite swimming an Olympic qualifying time, this doesn’t secure Hayden’s spot in Tokyo 2020 just yet. In order to earn his spot on the Canadian Olympic Team, he’ll have to hit the Olympic standard time again and finish in the top two at the upcoming 2020 Canadian Olympic Trials on March 30 – April 5.

Hayden has previously represented Team Canada at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.