By Emily Sadler, CTVOlympics.ca Staff
“If I don’t do it, they will.”
That is Canadian swimmer Mike Brown’s mantra as he prepares for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Brown sees those words — accompanied by photos of his key competitors in the pool — every day as he leaves his Calgary home and heads out for a day of training.
Almost four years ago at Beijing 2008, Brown missed the Olympic podium by 0.09 seconds; less than the blink of an eye. Now he is ready to try again.
Before that happens, Brown must first earn his spot in London by qualifying at the Canadian Olympic Trials that run from Mar. 27 to Apr. 1 in Montreal. While there, he must place in the top two and achieve the Olympic qualifying time in the finals to book a ticket to London and represent Canada for the third time in the Olympic pool.
Programming alert: Tune into Sportsnet all week for coverage of the Canadian Olympic Trials from Montreal. Check your schedule for listings. | TV schedule
While he is certainly determined now, Brown did not always have his sights set on London.
After announcing his retirement from the sport in May 2009, the Perth, Ontario native was ready for a new challenge: to break into the commercial real estate industry.
“I was done swimming,” Brown said at the recent Canadian Olympic Committee Media Summit in Toronto. “I was done mentally, at that level. I was pretty drained.”
But as Brown would soon learn: once an Olympian, always an Olympian. In August 2010, after being inspired by Canada’s incredible results during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, he announced his return to competitive swimming.
“(Vancouver 2010) reignited my Olympic flame and my drive to get back to the Olympics, knowing that I only have a certain window of opportunity where my body can still do this at this level,” he said. “There’s no way I’d turn that opportunity down.”
His comeback has required an intense workout regimen to get back to Olympian form.
“We’re focusing this year on a lot more endurance-based stuff,” explained Brown, who didn’t so much as touch the water throughout his 18-month retirement. “I’ve built a lot of power and a lot of muscle over the years and now we’re focusing really on endurance.”
The new regimen seems to be working. Reports from early March stated that Brown is feeling even better than he did prior to his first two Olympic qualifications.
“Nobody trains like him,” said Joanne Malar, CTVOlympics swimming analyst. Malar competed for Canada in three consecutive Olympic Games.
“Nobody can handle the workouts that Mike Brown does in breaststroke. Just the pace times and the distances he’s able to handle.”
Brown finished in ninth place at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai last July and, while he was out of medal contention, Malar sees this as a positive position for the Canadian swimmer.
“It’s an unknown what he’s going to do in (London 2012),” she said. “I think it’s a good position to be in. Once he makes the team and posts the time he’s really proud of, then he can go to the Olympics and just sort of be the underdog, the comeback kid.”
To Malar, it’s all about the mental game.
“His mindset is just going to be a huge advantage for him, going into this Olympic trials and the Olympic Games.”
Brown agrees.
“I’m a completely different athlete than I was before, I think, in terms of what I know and having the experience that I have,” he said.
Brown is not the only elite swimmer to attempt a comeback; the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games has seen many big names in swimming jump back into the pool after retirement.
Most notable is Australia’s Ian Thorpe. The freestyle specialist and five-time Olympic gold medallist recently tried — and failed — to make his way back into Olympic competition nearly six years after he went into retirement.
Thorpe’s one-time teammate, three-time Olympic champion Libby Trickett, was successful in her bid to get back to the pool, as was French backstroke specialist Laure Manaudou.
Even athletes who are not ready to leave the sport permanently often opt to take time off after major competitions to pursue other interests or to simply rediscover the love of their sport.
During his retirement, Brown tried to completely separate himself from the competitive world of swimming.
“I look at the sport now in a whole new light and I have a whole new appreciation for everything that comes with the sport — both the good and the bad,” he said.
Now, as he prepares to complete his comeback, he is embracing life back in the pool.
“I’m just enjoying every single moment of it until it’s over again,” he said, “whenever that may be.”
