Hayden Gets Good News on the Back Front ...

World champion swimmer Brent Hayden got some encouraging news regarding his wonky back recently after getting it checked out by some specialists in Vancouver.

“It doesn’t seem like that disc is, in fact, bulging,” said his coach Tom Johnson. “It seems like it’s a soft tissue injury and a rib that was pinching and setting that nerve off. I mean it was real and everything, but it’s not as serious as we had thought originally. So it’s a good thing.”

Hayden was barely able to get to the start blocks at the Canadian Olympic trials in April and, after qualifying in the 100 metres where he’s co-reigning world champion, he had to pull out of the 200 metres.

But Johnson, who’s also head coach of the Olympic swim team, said things are slowly coming together for the Mission, B.C. native.

“The back thing seems pretty much under control,” Johnson said.. “He’s able to dive, he’s able to turn. The back is holding up. The rehab program has paid off.”

Hayden was encouraged by his performance two weeks ago at the Janet Evans Invitational in California, where he raced pain-free in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle and posted a time of 48.99 seconds in the 100-metre preliminary. He was a tenth slower in finishing third to American Jason Lezak in the final.

But Johnson attributed that to Hayden trying too hard after seeing that his co-world champion Filippo Magnini of Italy won in Rome earlier that day in 48.35, ahead of Australian Eamonn Sullivan and world record holder Alain Bernard of France, who tied for second in 48.41.

“He (Hayden) didn’t wear the suit to go 48.9 and the other guys were all dressed up,” said Johnson. “You can take some positives. We’ve still got work to do. But he’s in the picture, right, he’s in the hunt.”