We're Back In The Games

We've always been big on perspective. More specifically, at it pertains to television, those analysts who know how to bring that sort of thing in spades.
Four years ago in Athens, the Canadian swim team sank in a wave of underachievement and internal strife. CBC had Mark Tewksbury on board as a guest analyst for those Games and the 1992 Olympic gold medallist pulled no punches in wading through the carnage. He made for great television.
Tewksbury is back for Beijing 2008 and that's a good thing for the CBC and Olympic viewers. While Canada has yet to hit the podium in the Games pool, Tewksbury pointed out what is becoming a growing feeling — that this isn't close to Athens revisited. Heading into Day 3 of the Beijing competition, eight Canadians had set national marks and 13 of 19 had swum personal bests. There were also 10 top 16 finishes, as a CBC graphic showed viewers.
"I'm really happy to say we're a part of it," Tewksbury said of the performance level of its swimmers to date. "Canadians have been so competitive ... We've seen six second (semi-final) swims. That's more than the entire Athens Olympic Games. Canadians will see more action tonight than they saw in the entire Olympics four years ago."
Swim Canada has targeted one medal at these Games and it is clear it sees the biggest potential for it in the men's 4x200-metre freestyle relay. Tewksbury doesn't doubt it can happen, based on the individual 200 free heat results.
"There's a really serious chance of a medal coming up in the next couple of days in the 4x200 relay," he said.
More importantly, the mindset around the team has done a 180-degree turn since Athens.
"Instead of dread, (there's) an anticipation," Tewksbury said of the Canadians eagerly awaiting their turn to dive into these Games. "It's very hard to watch and wait when you're not doing well. It's a lot easier to (do it) when you are."