An Olympic wrap-up: U of T in Athens

For nineteen days in August, fans were treated to a great show by the heroes of the track, field and pool at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The University of Toronto community at large was cheering four of these competitors on.

Four U of T athletes and former athletes were in Athens to compete respectively in the swimming and rowing events. Elizabeth Warden, Fiona Milne and Mara Jones all represented Canada while Terrence Haynes represented the Barbados at the games.

Elizabeth Warden, a six-time Swim Canada national champion in the 400 & 200m Individual medley (IM) and 200m backstroke, a commonwealth games medallist, several times winner of the World Cup swimming championship and the U of T female athlete of the year, was at Athens to do it again for Canada. Going into the games, Warden was in great form after swimming to gold at the New York City swimming world cup in February and to a gold and silver at the Charlotte Ultra games in June.
The fresh U of T English graduate made the Canadian team, unlike four years ago, but could not get a medal to cap her runs in the Women’s swimming 200m IM, 400m IM and 200m. Warden’s best result at Athens was in the 200m IM where she came 8th in the semifinal, clocking 2:16.32 – a fraction of a second less than her June performance. She could not make it through the preliminary heats in the 400m IM and 200m backstrokes either. It is likely that she will still be competing in four years, when the Turin Olympics come to pass.

Terrence Haynes of Barbados, a young achiever in his favorite sport and an engineering undergraduate at U of T, was also at Athens to lock horns with the best in the men’s 50m freestyle swimming contest. Qualifying for the Athens games with a national record of 23.58 secs. at the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship (CISC), Haynes was a bright hope for Barbados at the Olympics.

Haynes began competitive swimming at the age of seven and since then has been in various international swimming competitions, including the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona in 2003 and Commonwealth Games at Manchester in 2002.

Despite finishing fourth in his heat, Haynes could not qualify for the finals. His finish time, although less than a second behind that of first-place Hall Gary of the United States, left Haynes in fifty-sixth position. At age nineteen, however, there’s still more to be expected from this swimming youngster.

The rowing duo of Fiona Milne and Mara Jones, both U of T students, also flew the flags of Canada at Athens. Jones, a medical student, joined Milne, the veteran of the two and a physiotherapy graduate student, just twelve months before the Olympic games. They still went on to win a silver and gold at the Munich and Lucerne World Cup events in May and June respectively. At Lucerne, they edged out the favoured Germans, but could not get into the podium race at Athens. They finished eighth overall after coming second in the Final B of the Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls.
Jones will most likely have to settle for a new teammate as Milne expressed her intention to pursue her physiotherapy career full time after the games because her “body is ready for a break,” according to a July interview.

U of T might have a missed an opportunity to be proud of an Olympic medal at this year’s games, but will always be proud of and thankful to all the athletes who have glorified it’s name. The Olympics is not just a competition among athletes but also that among the best of the best in the world.