MONTREAL -- Notepads, T-shirts, swim caps and pens rained down on the Olympic Park Pool deck as children called for signed mementoes from newly-minted Olympians. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Sundays final day of trials topped up the Canadian Olympic swim team to 31 athletes -- 13 men and 18 women -- bound for London this summer. The swimmers will be led by Victorias Ryan Cochrane, a double medal threat in long-distance freestyle, elder statesman Brent Hayden of Mission, B.C., and the tireless Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont. The swim teams goal for London is three medals and getting swimmers in 13 to 15 finals, according to Swimming Canada chief executive officer and national team coach Pierre Lafontaine. "The Olympic Games are a different ball game than anything else, but I think its reasonable," Lafontaine said. Cochrane won Canadas lone swimming medal in 2008 with a bronze in the 1,500 metres. Hayden was a silver medallist in the 100 freestyle at last years world championship. Wilkinson, 24, leads a deep womens contingent with some promising young talent. She won three of her four races at trials to qualify in the 100 backstroke, 200-metre individual medley and 100 freestyle. Wilkinson will be a key piece of the womens relay teams. She swam a marathon of 11 races in Beijing and finished seventh in the 200-metre I.M. Canadian swimmers reached 10 finals in Beijing. "Four years ago, it was a young team and we talked about it being a building year," Cochrane said. "There was way less expectations on us as a national team. This time around its still a young team, but I think you can expect great things. "Its not go there and get the experience. A lot of these kids have raced internationally many times, so I think that will really help them when they get to the Games." High-performance swimming in Canada hit its nadir at the 2004 Summer Games, as the swim team produced zero medals and swam in just three finals in Athens. That was the first time since 1964 Canada got shut out in the pool. Its been a slow climb back to Olympic respectability, but Lafontaine has even bigger plans for the countrys swimmers. "By 2020, we want to be consistently among the G8 nations," Lafontaine said. "That means we need to be five or six medals and 18 to 22 finals consistently. Were setting that stage." Its been 20 years since Mark Tewksbury, the 2012 chef de mission, won Canadas Olympic swimming gold, taking the 100-metre backstroke at the Barcelona Games. The Olympic swim competition runs from July 28 to Aug. 4. Cochrane is a possibility for Canadas first medal of the Games as he swims the 400-metre freestyle on the first day of competition. "Now that Im a leader on the team, I can really carry that on my shoulders a bit," Cochrane said. "Im just happy everyones expectations matched my own." Hayden won the mens 50-metre freestyle Sunday, but the 100 is his bread-and-butter event. "My stroke is feeling really on," Hayden said. "Last season was a real focus on training and not so much racing. "This next time until the Olympics is going to be focused more on racing. Im definitely going to be more race-ready by the end of the season." A maximum of two swimmers per event at trials could qualify and that was if both met an Olympic qualifying time. Just one swimmer earned a berth in each mens event with the exception of the 100-freestyle. Competition for spots was much tighter among the women. Among the surprises at trials, 18-year-old Tera Van Beilen of Oakville, Ont., qualified in two breaststroke events. She beat world record holder Annamay Pierse and world bronze medallist Martha McCabe in the 200 metres. Yet another fast womens final Sunday produced a Canadian record by backstroker Sinead Russell of Burlington, Ont., and brought Hilary Caldwell of London, Ont., on board the team. Russell, 18, lowered her own Canadian record in the 200 backstroke by over half a second to two minutes 8.04 seconds. Caldwell was quick enough as runner-up to book a ticket to London. "I knew I was ready for a best time," Russell said. "I didnt know exactly what I wanted to do. I was hoping for a little faster, but Ill take it for now." Andrew Ford of Guelph, Ont., was also among the final additions to the swim team Sunday. He qualified by winning the mens 200 I.M. Cochrane cruised to a win in the mens 1,500 more than seven seconds faster than the runner-up. "We came into this meet thinking of the 400 and really wanted to post a time that brought me encouragement in my swimming at this point in time of the season," Cochrane said. "The 1,500 was more of a working event. Without a full taper, its much harder to swim fast. I knew that coming in." The six days of trials were designed to mirror an Olympic environment. The sheer intensity of that environment makes favourites crumble and the unheralded become heroes. Pierse and two-time Olympic breaststroker Mike Brown, who missed a medal in Beijing by .09 seconds, were shattered they didnt make the cut for London. Both swimmers were in tears following their events. Even Cochrane felt the strain. "The emotional toll of the whole week, coming to this point six days later is just astronomical," Cochrane said. "As much as I thought I prepared for it, it really is a drain. The ups and downs can really get you. Ill be prepared for that more at the Olympics." The Paralympic swim team trials were held in conjunction with trials. That team will be finalized and announced at a later date. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Yes, Im writing to defend a player that is on pace for a 59-goal season, when the second-best goal-scorer in the NHL this season, Torontos Phil Kessel, is on pace for 43. Naturally, I didnt think that Ovechkin would be a player that needed much defending, but hes taken some hits lately. Im going to largely ignore his contributions on the power play because its not in any dispute that Ovechkin is great with the man advantage and can make a difference even when he doesnt score. Cheap MLB Jerseys . -- After having his worst game in a Detroit Pistons uniform earlier in the week, free agent Josh Smith erased that memory with his best game Friday night. SOCHI, Russia -- IOC President Thomas Bach accused world leaders Tuesday of using the Sochi Olympics as a political platform "on the backs of the athletes," and of snubbing the games without even being invited. Three days before the opening of Russias first Winter Games, Bach used a hard-hitting speech to call out politicians for using the Olympics to make an "ostentatious gesture" serving their own agendas. Without naming any individuals, Bachs comments appeared directed at President Barack Obama and European politicians who have taken stands against Russias law banning gay "propaganda" among minors. The Olympics, Bach said, should not be "used as a stage for political dissent or for trying to score points in internal or external political contests." "Have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful direct political dialogue and not on the backs of the athletes," he said at a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "People have a very good understanding of what it really means to single out the Olympic Games to make an ostentatious gesture which allegedly costs nothing but produces international headlines. "In the extreme, we had to see a few politicians whose contributions to the fight for a good cause consisted of publicly declining invitations they had not even received." The buildup to the Olympics has been overshadowed by Western criticism of the anti-gay law and Russias record on human rights and other issues, making Sochi among the most politically charged games in years. Obama and key European leaders are shunning the Olympics. Obama, in a clear message against the anti-gay laws, has sent a delegation to Sochi made up of three openly gay athletes -- tennis great Billie Jean King, 2006 Olympic hockey medallist Caitlin Cahow and figure skater Brian Boitano. For the first time since 2000, the U.S. delegation to an Olympics will not include a president, vice-president or first lady. Former Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano leads the delegation. German President Joachim GGauck and French President Francois Hollande are also not coming to Sochi. Cheap NFL Jerseys China. Neither is British Prime Minister David Cameron. Bach reiterated again that Putin had given the IOC assurances that the Olympic Charter would be upheld during the games and that homosexuals would not be discriminated against. Bach said Olympic values stand against any form of discrimination, including on grounds of sexual orientation. But he stressed the IOC must be "politically neutral without being apolitical" and that athletes must not use the Olympic Village and venues for "political demonstrations." The IOC has come under criticism for not doing more to fight the anti-gay law, but Bach said the committee was a sports organization with limited responsibilities. "We are not a supra-national government," he said. "We are not a superior world-parliament. We do not have a mandate to impose measures on sovereign states." Bachs speech was delivered at a ceremony marking the opening of the IOCs three-day session, or general assembly, ahead of the games. The Germans sharp comments marked a strong contrast with the relatively anodyne, diplomatic speeches of his predecessor, Jacques Rogge. Bach, winner of a fencing gold medal at the 1972 Olympics, was elected in September to succeed Rogge, who served for 12 years. Bach acknowledged there had been "a lot of skepticism in and outside the IOC" when Sochi was awarded the Olympics in 2007. "Now, seven years later, we can see that Sochi, that Russia has delivered," he said. Putin lauded the IOCs decision to bring the games to the Black Sea resort. "We realize what a difficult decision this was to hold the games in a city that barely had 10 to 15 per cent of the necessary infrastructure," he said. "You believed in us, you believed in the Russian character which can overcome all difficulties." "In the space of five years," Putin added, "we built world-class sports venues and city infrastructure that normally takes decades to build." wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '
