The entire country watched closely as Canada’s 4x100m women’s freestyle relay swimming team won bronze at the Olympics on Saturday. But nobody had a better view than Wayne Van Landeghem.
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The Winnipegger was sitting in the third row at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when Canada captured its first medal of the 2016 Games. He was there with his wife to see their daughter, Chantal Van Landeghem, race in the event.
“It’s emotional because you see all the good times and the bad times,” said Wayne.
“So many kids work so hard but never get that opportunity. They’re fortunate to be put in that position. It worked out really well for them.”
Canada was in third for most of the race, finishing in a time of 3:32.89. Chantal swam the second leg and completed her portion in 53.12 seconds. The bronze is Canada’s first medal in the event in 40 years.
“Knowing what they’ve done, I have an immense amount of pride for the whole team,” said Wayne. “A lot of them put their lives on hold. It was really cool to be there.”
RELATED: Rio 2016: Relay swimmers cap big day for Canadian women’s teams in Rio
The Van Landeghem’s have yet to meet up with Chantal following her podium performance. Wayne has texted with her but won’t have a chance to congratulate her in person until Monday.
Chantal will also swim in in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events later this week.
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