Eric Hedlin
 Eric Hedlin in Irvine, California, at the US Open in August, 2013. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Canada |
| Born |
April 18, 1993 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg; 12.7 st) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
| Club | Victoria Academy of Swimming |
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Eric Hedlin (born April 18, 1993) is a Canadian long-distance swimmer from Victoria, British Columbia. Hedlin won a silver medal in the men's open water 5 km swim at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships.[1]
Career
Hedlin began his notable international career competing in Randy Bennett's Victoria Swim Academy that also includes major Canadian World and Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane who is also a long distance swimmer. As a member of the Canadian swim team he won a bronze medal at the 2013 Summer Universiade in the men's 800 m freestyle.[2]
Hedlin qualified for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships by finishing 16th at the FINA World Cup event in Cancun Mexico in April of that year. This put him into the 5 km race where he was in a dogfight with former World Champion Thomas Lurz and Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli. Hedlin said of the race that " “I am really happy, because I didn’t expect [to beat Lurz]. It felt pretty good. I was trying to hold a top position and stay in everyone’s draft. In the final sprint, Oussama was so much quicker than me, and I couldn’t do anything to beat him.”[3] Hedlin was honored with Swimming Canada's 2013 People's Choice Race of the Year award for his performance in this race.[4]
Personal life
Although Hedlin was born in Calgary, Canada, he lived in San Diego, California from the age of a few months until he graduated from La Jolla High School. At that time he returned to Canada to train in swimming and to attend the University of Victoria.[5]
References
- ↑ "Canada's Eric Hedlin takes silver at 5K open water race at swim worlds". CBC Sports. July 20, 2013.
- ↑ Michael Belanger (July 15, 2013). "Hedlin swims to bronze at Summer Universiade Games". University of Victoria Vikes.
- ↑ Cleve Deenshaw (July 20, 2013). "Island's Hedlin shocks aquatics worlds with silver". Times Colonist.
- ↑ Mike Lewis (December 3, 2013). "Canada's Newest Open Water Star a People's Choice". SwimSwam.
- ↑ "Dinos star McIntosh underway in heptathlon at Summer Universiade". Calgary Herald. July 10, 2013.