DES MOINES, Iowa – Brent Hayden, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist from Vancouver, continued his comeback from retirement this past weekend with a third place finish in the 50-m freestyle.

World champion Caeleb Dressel of the U.S. broke the circuit’s record clocking 21.51 seconds followed by 2016 American Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Adrian in second in 21.88. Hayden, 36, swam the fourth fastest time of his career placing third in 21.97.

Hayden, whose reaction time off the start was sixth best at 0.69, holds the Canadian record in the event at 21.73 set in 2009. He announced his comeback bid this past October after retiring following the 2012 London Games.

His clocking this weekend is under the Olympic A time of 22.01 that he’ll likely need to swim at the Olympic Trials March 30 to April 5 in Toronto to make the squad for Tokyo in the event.

Also this weekend, Olympic finalist Kierra Smith of Kelowna, B.C. was sixth in the 200-m breaststroke.

Full results: http://www.swmeets.com/Realtime/Pro Series/2020/DesMoines/