The University of Toronto Varsity Blues’ swimming sensation Martyn Forde (St John, BRB) has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where he will represent his home country of Barbados. 

At this past weekend’s Santa Clara International Invitational in California, Forde recorded a ninth-place finish in the preliminary round of the 50m freestyle, with a time of 23.07.  This met the 50m free qualifying time (23.13) at a Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA, the international governing body of swimming) approved competition and secured his berth on the Bajan Olympic team.  Forde finished the event in eighth-place with a time of 23.15. 

“It’s just now sinking in”, said Forde. “It feels great and is a huge relief.  Now that I’m in I can really focus on my training and preparation.”

Forde’s Varsity Blues teammate and good friend Terrance Haynes also competed in Santa Clara this past weekend.  Haynes narrowly missed the 50.95 qualifying time in his strongest event, the 100m freestyle, with a 51.52 finish.

Forde and Haynes had an outstanding 2007-08 season with the Blues.  At the OUA championships, the duo took the top two spots in both the 50m and 100m free.  The pair also stood atop the podium at the CIS championship with Forde earning the gold and Haynes following up with the silver medal in the 50m free event. 

Both swimmers will compete in two final Olympic qualifying events before the July 15th deadline.  The 2008 Charlotte Ultraswim meet in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Quebec Cup/Bell Grand Prix in Montreal will be an excellent training opportunity for Forde and the last chance for Haynes to qualify for Beijing. 

The Canadian National Championships take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba from July 16– 20.  The championships adopt the Olympic sequencing of preliminaries and finals and will be the final preparation for Forde before he heads to China for his first taste of Olympic competition.