Canada Swim Team has Goal to Win One Medal

Pierre Lafontaine, the new CEO and head coach of Swimming Canada, is cautious about the Canadian Swim team and their chances for medals in Beijing.

“We have simple goals for our team,” Lafontaine said yesterday after Canada‚s first training session at the National Aquatics Centre. “Our goal is to qualify all six relays into the finals. We have the ability to do it.

“It would disappoint me if we were not in the top five of any event and not knocking on doors.”

That said, Lafontaine knows the shakeup at Swimming Canada, which began in 2005, has too much water to make up for these Games. The team’s stated goal is to win one medal here and three at the 2012 Games in London.

“I can’t control the Aussies, I can’t control the USA,” said Lafontaine, who took over the senior position at Swimming Canada after a successful run at the helm of the Australian program. “But you know what? Bring it on.

“I want my swimmers to stand on the blocks and feel like they belong there.”

As for Brent Hayden, the reigning world champion in the men’s 100-metre freestyle, Lafontaine is equally cautious.

“The world of swimming has changed over the last six months,” he said. “The 100 metres is an interesting event ... our strategy is to have a strong team and Brent Hayden is part of that team.”