Photo courtesy Swimming Canada/Scott Grant

Canada's breaststroke champion, Mike Brown, is retiring from competitive swimming.

Mike Brown, a member of Canada's national swim team at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, is retiring from competitive swimming at the age of 25.

Brown, who holds the Canadian record in the 200-m breaststroke, came in fourth place at the 2008 Games. He also won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Que., and a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Although he was expected to train for the 2012 Olympics in London, England, Brown has decided to focus on a career in commercial real estate in Calgary, Alta.

A native of Perth, Ont., Brown is well known to Canada's pool and spa industry, having served as spokesperson for Mursatt Chemicals Ltd., in Woodbridge, Ont. He was also a guest speaker at the Industry Awards Evening at the 2007 Canadian Pool & Spa Conference & Expo in Toronto, where he spoke about the value of hard work, discipline and perseverance.

"The values I learned training for the Olympics can also be used in business," Brown said in a 2007 interview with Pool & Spa Marketing magazine. "I learned you have to work extremely hard to achieve what you want in life."