LONDON: He was not among the 44 athletes competing in the 100 meters breaststroke as London's Olympics got underway today but Norwegian world champion Alexander Dale Oen, who died in April, was firmly on swimmers' minds, reported Reuters.

Dale Oen (pic) won his country's first Olympics swimming medal in 2008 when he took silver in the 100 breaststroke in Beijing and he became a national hero after winning the same event at the world championships in 2011 - just days after Norway was hit by a massacre that killed 77 people.

He died of a heart attack at an altitude training camp in Arizona at the age of 26.

"It is strange to be in the pool without him. We always used to wish each other well for the race," said South African Cameron van der Burgh after the heats.

Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, the defending Olympics champion, said he felt "sorrow" at the absence of his friend and rival.

Dale Oen's compatriots have their own way of honoring him.

"By swimming fast, remembering everything he taught us and going for the goals we set together," Norway's Sara Nordenstam said after competing in the women's 400m individual medley.

Nordenstam failed to make it through today's heats but her main event will be the 200 breaststroke next week.

- mD