Brent Hayden: How Being Assaulted by Police at 2004 Olympics Jumpstarted Career

On SwimSwam Podcast, we’re giving you an in-depth listen at all things swimming. Host Coleman Hodges welcomes guests and guest co-hosts alike to get perspective on our ever-changing swimming universe and break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.

We sat down with Olympic medalist and world champ Brent Hayden. Brent discussed that while he is commonly perceived as intimidating, that typically dissipates when he opens his mouth. Brent is, in a word, a sweetheart. He’s incredibly intelligent and finds solace in photography, of which he’s had numerous shows (you can see his work here).

What you may not know about Brent is that at his first Olympics in 2004, after already performing poorly by his standards, he was mistaken for a rioter in the streets of Athens and assaulted by numerous policemen, resulting in an elbow injury which kept him out of the short course world championships the following autumn. However, this entire Olympic experience did give Hayden the motivation he needed to really commit, and push himself to new heights in the pool, including his world championship title in 2007.

Hayden (who has been making a comeback since 2019, something you can listen to more of here), is now putting his efforts in SwimmingSecrets.com, his own freestyle master course, taught by him. During these classes, Hayden teaches you all of the tricks to having a world-class freestyle.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

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Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

One of my favorite Olympic memories was the 100 free final in London when Brent embraced Nathan Adrian after they went 3rd-1st. Two great guys, who rose to the moment. True sportsmen in the very best sense of the word. Of course, the shattered look of Magnussen hanging from the blocks after the finish was pretty satisfying too.

Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

…started off so positive and went a that place. Fair enough. We all have our favs, and I do love sports drama…. But I like Maggie too…especially after running into him randomly at ACL in a crowd of 300,000 people. I picked him out of the crowd at a distance. I’m like “That’s James Magnussen.” Coleman said “no, you’re dreaming, not even close.” And COLEMAN, you were wrong! I should work for the CIA–re: facial recognition like a quantum computer.

DLswim
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
4 years ago

Mel, your artificial intelligence algorithm must be pretty good!

Brent Hayden
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Thanks dude. It was pretty natural thing for me to do. Win or lose, I just enjoy racing against people I can call my friends. Getting the chance to stand on the podium with them in any position is always a great memory to cherish. I don’t think it’s fair though to judge how someone feels when they miss the gold medal by 0.01 sec. I myself only won my bronze by 0.02…I also missed the podium at the 2009 World Champs by 0.02 and I was pretty devastated. James is a super good guy and great competitor and it was an honour to race (and lose) to him.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
4 years ago

Brent , we have 2 passions in common : Swimming & Photography . Great Podcast , keep them coming guys . Enjoyed them all . Good luck Brent for next year Olympics .

Brent Hayden
Reply to  ERVINFORTHEWIN
4 years ago

That’s awesome! Shoot me a message on instagram. Always up for some photography chat. My photography page is @brenthaydenphotography

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Brent Hayden
4 years ago

thanks , appreciated too . I will have a look at it pretty soon

USAUSAUSA
4 years ago

Bet this headline generated some clicks

Donald P. Spellman
4 years ago

Excellent interview / discussion!
I always enjoyed watching Mr. Hayden race at Grand Prix / Pro Series events in the past. He is a class act on the pool deck as far as sportsmanship and dealing with fans (including some of the athletes on my team who looked up to him). One of the best freestyle technicians in the sport. Keep up the good work, guy!

Brent Hayden
Reply to  Donald P. Spellman
4 years ago

Thank you Donald. That means a lot!

Former Big10
Reply to  Brent Hayden
4 years ago

Post more to Reddit, Brent, please! Your video, going 24.2, from a push, was great to watch. Clean stroke.

Brent Hayden
Reply to  Former Big10
4 years ago

Thank you! I’ll try to post more often again! Maybe even do an AMA. Will see!

Reply to  Donald P. Spellman
4 years ago

Donald…as you probably know, Brent’s got a big heart. I hope that came through…..

Brent Hayden
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
4 years ago

Thank you as always Mel for your amazing support. It’s always a pleasure to know you. That commercial shoot was a lot of fun too! Some of the parents from my old summer club still talk to me about it 🙂

RUN-DMC
4 years ago

Remember when police tried to stop rioters?

Mr Piano
Reply to  RUN-DMC
4 years ago

Remember when they tried to stop criminals on Wall Street? Me neither.

Justin Thompson
Reply to  Mr Piano
4 years ago

Now that’s a bit harsh don’t you think? The “Occupy Wall Street” bunch weren’t the most ambitious group, but doesn’t mean they were criminals.

Yabo
Reply to  Justin Thompson
4 years ago

Lol this comment is so tone deaf

Hmmmmm
Reply to  Mr Piano
4 years ago

ah yes Mr. Piano, because working at a bank is evil but beating up old women and stealing from their stores is great!

You seem to hate when other people are successful…

Free agent
Reply to  RUN-DMC
4 years ago

I thought this was clever.

SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

Nothing about this guy is impressive other than his 50 free time lol. He has been spoon fed through a broken Canadian system that doesn’t support up and coming athletes. He has been open on canadian news networks that he doesn’t even want to swim next year becaue of his back issues. Maybe Canada should focus on developing athletes that have 10+ years of sport left instead of people that just want make a few extra bucks cause they can. Next story

Kevin
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

Not sure why you always going to assume the worst of athletes and make baseless claims that they’re only in it “for the money.” Maybe consider for a second that Hayden came back because of a passion for the sport? So that he could end off without saying “what if?”

B1G Daddy
Reply to  Kevin
4 years ago

Can you imagine the work involved to swim an Olympic A time two weeks after coming back from seven years out of the sport? Here’s the thing: SSS wants to be the judge of what is an appropriate reason to participate in the sport. The ego involved is outrageous. Here’s the deal: If someone thinks Canada should invest in younger swimmers, those swimmers should beat this old man who was out for seven years and still struggles with injuries.

B1G Daddy
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so I’m not going to give you a hard time for having an absolutely terrible one here.

Gooba
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

“Canada should focus on athletes that have 10+ years of sport left” who can’t even beat a 36 year old man?? lmaoooo

B1G Daddy
Reply to  Gooba
4 years ago

Gooba gets it.

Bub
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

Is a 47.2 100 free not impressive?

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

I’m guessing you’re one of the guys he crushed in the 50 free this year. Gotta suck for you that he came out of retirement.

John H
Reply to  SwimSwamSWUM
4 years ago

Perhaps you need to change your tag line to SwimSwamSUNK.

I see that that the broken Canadian system you refer to produced Kylie Masse who set the world record in 100 Back, Penny Oleksiak, who was a 4 time Olympic medalist at 16, sharing an Olympic Record with Simone Manuel, and more recently Maggie MacNeil who is the 100 Fly world champion after beating the reigning champ Sarah Sojostrom.

As my Father use to say, if you don’t have something nice or positive to say, then don’t say anything.

Way to go Brent, we are all behind you in your return to the sport.

Swimmmman466
4 years ago

He’s not black doesn’t fit the narrative, move along

He Said What?
Reply to  Swimmmman466
4 years ago

This was ATHENS, GREECE……Sixteen years ago…….in ATHENS, GREECE, not Athens, Georgia in 2020. Different country. Different time. Different everything. Read the article more carefully.

Olympian
Reply to  He Said What?
4 years ago

In fact the stories from the police behavior in Athens 2004 are crazy!! I have teammates who also got in similar situations after a night out.

SWIMGUY12345
Reply to  Swimmmman466
4 years ago

What is Brent Hayden’s ethnicity?

Brent Hayden
Reply to  SWIMGUY12345
4 years ago

Northern Swedish (mothers side) and a mix of English, Irish and Scottish (father’s side).

Not Brent Hayden
Reply to  Brent Hayden
4 years ago

So, white.

Anonymoose
Reply to  Brent Hayden
4 years ago

How would *you* know? You’re just a random person in the internet.. /s

Brent Hayden
Reply to  Anonymoose
4 years ago

Because I am Brent. I did an ancestry DNA test earlier this year. Also to the “Not Brent Hayden” person, obviously…just look at my picture. My children will not be white though as my wife is mostly Lebanese, with some Syrian, and Armenian.

Eugene
4 years ago

#BaldLivesMatter

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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