Riley Janes (born June 30, 1980) is a Canadian former competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He is a single-time Olympian (2004), and is part of the bronze-medal Canadian medley relay team at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Raised in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Janes started swimming at the age of 6, when he competed for the Saskatoon Goldfins under his personal coach. He has held 14 club and 8 age-group state records in the 100-metre backstroke, before joining with the Canadian national team at age 15. He attended the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States, situated in East-Central Texas in the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin, ...

on an athletic scholarship, and swam for the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

swimming team, under head coach Mel Nash. While swimming for the Aggies, he received eleven

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors, and set a short-course Canadian record of 23.90 at the 2000 NCAA Swimming Championships. In 2002, Janes graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in marketing. In 2002, Janes made international headlines at the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in Manchester, England, where he earned bronze medals for Canada in the 4×100 m medley relay, along with Mike Brown, Mike Mintenko, and

Brent Hayden Brent Matthew Hayden (born October 21, 1983) is a Canadian retired competitive swimmer. Representing Canada for a decade, Hayden is regarded as the fastest swimmer in Canadian history. Hayden won a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 201 ...

(3:38.17 in Pan Pacific, and 3:38.91 in Commonwealth). At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, Janes competed only in two events as a relay swimmer. On the second day of the Games, Janes, along with Mintenko, Hayden, and Yannick Lupien, placed ninth in the 4×100 m freestyle relay with a time of 3:18.35. Six days later, in the 4×100 m medley relay, Janes reunited with Mintenko, Hayden, and Brown after winning their bronze medal for Canada from the Pan Pacific Championships two years earlier. Leading off the backstroke leg in heat one, Janes recorded a split of 56.17, but the Canadians missed the top 8 final by half a second (0.05), finishing in fourth place and tenth overall with a final time of 3:39.36.

References

External links

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Athlete Bio – Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janes, Riley 1980 births Living people Canadian male backstroke swimmers Canadian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Canada Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Canadian expatriate swimmers in the United States Texas A&M Aggies men's swimmers Swimmers from Edmonton 21st-century Canadian sportsmen

See also

References

External links