London Olympian swims to eighth-place

London Community News

London, Ont. resident Joe Bartoch and the Canadian men’s 4x100 metre Medley Relay were able to anchor the swimming events at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in eighth spot in the final pool race of the London Games on Saturday (Aug. 4). The Canadian men’s team finished with a time of 3:34:19 in the final heat, seven-spots behind the dominant American swim team of Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, Matt Grevers and Brendan Hansen winning gold at 3:29:35. Bartoch, swimming in his second Olympics, competed in the butterfly leg against Phelps in the third part of the relay. The win for Phelps closes out the swimming part of the Summer Games giving a total of 18 gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the American's Olympic career. The final showdown also most likely puts an end to the Olympic swimming careers of Bartoch, 29, Scott Dickens, 27, and Brent Hayden, 28. Charles Francis, 23, is the fourth member of the Canadian 4x100 Medley team. The Canadian swim team qualified as the eighth and final spot in the last heat, just 0.06 seconds ahead of the ninth-place team from New Zealand after two heats.