Like father, like son: Ashton Baumann seeks to write his own Olympic story
Born in Australia, swimmer seeking to be Canadian Olympic hero like his dad
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Ashton Baumann says it takes more than good genes to swim for Canada at the Summer Games.
When your father is an Olympic gold medallist, people tend to assume you've been touched by a genetic fairy wand.
Thirty-two years after Alex Baumann won a pair of individual medley gold for Canada and set two world records in Los Angeles, Ashton will race the 200-metre breaststroke Tuesday at Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio.
The son accepts that parallels will be drawn but he doesn't want people to overlook what it takes to wear the Maple Leaf.
"People are going to make the comparison," Ashton said. "There will always be that link given what my dad has accomplished.
'Pissing my pants'
"It's when sometimes people expect you to do that and they take away all the merit and hard work you've actually put into it and say 'You got that far because you're Alex Baumann's son and you're naturally talented.' They do take away some of the hard work that I've put into it."
Alex reminded Ashton of that workload as a means of calming him down at Canadian trials in Toronto in April. Ashton was a bundle of nerves "just pissing my pants essentially," he said at the time.
"I just told him he's done the work and 'Just go in there and do your best and not worry about anybody else,"' Alex recalled. "I said 'The nerves are good. You just have to make sure you focus them in the right direction."'
Personal best in Canadian trials
Ashton produced an inspired swim. The 23-year-old knocked almost three seconds off his personal-best time to win the trials final in two minutes 10.69 seconds.
Alex was boarding a plane in New Zealand, where he's the chief of high-performance sport, and watched a replay of the race later.
"It was a dominant effort," the father said. "It was quite emotional. You always wish the best for your kids and see them succeed. He put in a tremendous amount of hard work."
Ashton's goal in Rio is to swim the fastest 200 breaststroke of his life. Alex will press pause on his duties as New Zealand sport chief to watch his son race.
"That will be a priority even though I'm with another country," Alex said. "Blood comes first. To have your son competing is incredible."
Ashton first represented Canada internationally at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he finished seventh.
But a subsequent run of training injuries threatened his chances of competing in Rio.
A pair of cracked ribs and a stress fracture in his pubic bone followed by a torn cartilage in his elbow gave Ashton barely eight months of quality preparation for trials.
He blames those injuries on poor recovery from workouts and not enough attention to nutrition.
"I've learned a lot in the last year about eating better and managing my body," Ashton said.
Born down under
Ashton was born in Australia, where his father had various jobs in high-performance sport, and has spent over half his life there. The country may be a swimming mecca, but he didn't start competitive swimming until the family moved to Ottawa when he was 13.
He self-identifies as a Canadian swimmer despite his Aussie twang.
"I basically became a swimmer in Canada," he explained. "When you make a national team, it kind of cements you into that program, into the community."
Alex took a job overseeing Canadian high-performance summer sport in 2006, followed by a stint as head of Own The Podium from 2010 to 2011 before moving to Auckland. His wife Tracey is a former Aussie swimmer.
They didn't push swimming on Ashton or younger sister Tabitha. They just wanted their children involved in some kind of physical activity upon their arrival in Canada.
"I had a few friends at my school who were on the same swim team I ended up joining," Ashton recalled. "I went to a few sessions and was kind of hooked."
Tabitha, 21, swam for Canada in last year's Pan Am Games in Toronto where she finished eighth in the 800-metre freestyle.
"There's no doubt there's immense pressure on him and Tabitha from what I achieved," Alex said. "It's not easy. It shows some perseverance. They're great kids."
Ashton wants to carry on the family tradition of representing Canada well at the Summer Olympics. He knows who to ask on how to do that.
"Obviously the wealth of knowledge I can draw upon, I talk to him whenever I can," Ashton said. "He's a great role model. He's fantastic father."