As Swimming Canada continues to roll out their nominees for their annual ‘Big Splash” awards, to be held on November 26th in Toronto. The names will sound familiar, as they’re the same swimmers who populated the lists for Swimmer of the Year, though pared down to just the very-best performances.
Our votes, though, will have to go to the two clean-shave Canucks Benoit Huot and Brent Hayden. Huot broke a World Record in the SM10 200 IM after a big deficit in his opening butterfly leg in London.
Hayden, despite continued speculation that the former World Champion might be too old to compete, took a bronze medal in the 100 free at the Olympics: the first ever by a Canadian male in that event. Everyone loves a sprinter, so expect him to get a lot of traction in the voting.
Click here to vote for your favorite.
The list of nominees, and photos, below are all courtesy of Swimming Canada.
2012 Swimming Canada Race of the Year Nominees
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Benoit Huot’s WR and Gold Medal in the 200 IM at the Paralympics Huot blows away the field in the men’s 200 IM in world record time and a Paralympic Gold, this after he overcomes a 1.9 second deficit after the butterfly leg. |
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Brent Hayden’s Bronze Medal 100 freestyle at the Olympic Games In a thrilling finish, Brent Hayden becomes first Canadian male to win an Olympic medal in the mens 100 metre Freestyle and adds the Bronze medal to complete his career in style. |
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Richard Weinberger’s Bronze Medal in the 10K Open Water Marathon In a ridiculously close finish after 10 kilometers of racing, Richard Weinberger brings home a hard fought bronze medal to earn the third of Swimming Canada’s London Olympic medals. |
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Ryan Cochrane’s Silver Medal 1500 freestyle at the Olympic Games It was a Canadian Record and Olympic Silver Medal for Ryan Cochrane in a blazing time of 14:39.63 to add to his bronze medal in the same event from 2008. |
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Summer Mortimer’s WR and Gold Medal in the 100 Backstroke at the Paralympic Games Mortimer storms back to take the lead from her New Zealand rival in the final 25 meters of the race and wins Paralympic Gold in world record time. |
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Valerie Grand’Maison’s WR and Gold Medal in the 200 IM at the Paralympic Games Grand’Maison puts in a spectacular breaststroke leg of the IM, to take the lead and eventually win the race by more than 5 meters in world record time. |
