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Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012 25 Swimmer's dream comes true -- sort of Years of training helped Tera Van Beilen qualify for the Olympics, but there was no way of preparing for the emotion of the moment By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF era Van Beilen took her last stroke and touched the wall first. Years of hard work had finally paid off. All the early morning practices and hours in the pool were finally being rewarded. She was an Olympian. The Oakville Aquatics Club member climbed confidently out of the pool like the world-class swimmer she is, strode across the pool deck and was greeted by a reporter. She easily answered the questions she had anticipated, even cracked a couple of jokes and then....woke up, with her heart racing. It may not have played out exactly as the recurring dream that kept waking Van Beilen in the middle of the night in the weeks leading up to the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials. But how it happened didn't matter so much as the fact that it did. And come July, Van Beilen will be walking into the Olympic Stadium in London with the rest of the Canadian team. The King's Christian Collegiate grad will compete in the 100-metre and 200m breaststroke after an impressive performance in Montreal. She secured her spot on the Olympic team a day before her 19th birthday with a second-place finish in the 100m. After having the moment played out in her mind so many times, Van Beilen is slightly embar"My brain didn't know rassed watching replays of what to think. I was her reaction following the shocked, happy, excited. race. I just tried to sound "I kind of wish I wasn't somewhat intelligent." so emotional," she said Monday after completing Tera Van Beilen, reflecting on her Olympic orientation. "I her post-race interview after couldn't hold in the tears. qualifying for the Olympics Then I started hyperventilating. I had to be told to take deep breaths." As for that poolside interview minutes after the race? "My brain didn't know what to think. I was shocked, happy, excited. I just tried to sound somewhat intelligent. I'd thought of what I would say if I made the team, then you get to that moment and you can't even really think. You just have to go with whatever part of your brain is left." While her lack of post-race composure may cause Van Beilen to blush a little, it is that kind of genuine emotion that captures the hearts of people and for 17 days this summer will have them glued to their televisions. It's what got Van Beilen hooked. "I remember watching the Olympics growing up and being really inspired," she said. "I watched and wanted to be like them. Now that I am one of them, it hasn't really sunk in." T STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR butterfly event Thursday at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in Montreal. The 19-year-old Oakville Aquatic Club member also qualified in the 200m butterfly two days later. It was the 100m breaststroke that landed Van Beilen on the Olympic team, but it was her performance in the 200m Saturday that really turned heads. In a field that included world record-holder Annamay Pierse and world championship bronze medalist Martha McCabe, it was Van Beilen who stole the spotlight. She posted the second-fastest time in the world this year (two minutes, 24.03 seconds) to win the race, a mark bettered only by current Olympic champion Rebecca Soni of the U.S. (2:22.73). McCabe, Van Beilen's University of British Columbia teammate, posted the world's third-fastest time this year, 2:24.81. "Half of the girls in the 100 and 200 (final), I train with them every day. I know how hard they train," Van Beilen said. "I knew I had to leave it all in the pool. Those girls push me and I'm happy we have such a strong field because it makes everyone go faster." Despite the time, Van Beilen said she put herself behind when she crossed her hands on her dive into the pool. "Oh no, I'm off to a bad start," she thought to herself. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?: Tera Van Beilen reacts after qualifying for the Olympics with a second-place finish in the 100-metre Still trailing by more than half a second at the 150m mark, Van Beilen summoned all her strength. "I know Martha's a strong finisher," she said. "I don't know what happened or where it came from but I had the power (to catch her)." It was the opposite of the 100m where Van Beilen held the lead at the midway point but was just hanging on down the stretch as she pushed to earn an Olympic spot. "The last 25 metres, I really started to struggle," she said. "I couldn't hold my stroke and I thought, `I'm losing it.'" Jillian Tyler outtouched her at the wall but Van Beilen easily eclipsed the qualifying time and her second-place finish helped her realize her dream. That brought on a flood of emotion that even the strength of an Olympian couldn't hold back. -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter at @Herbgarbutt