2016 Canadian Olympic Trials: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2016 CANADIAN OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC TRIALS

• April 5-10
• Prelims: 10 a.m EST
• Finals: 7 p.m EST
• Live Results
• Psych sheets
• Live stream
• Olympic Qualifying Times
• Selection Criteria 
• World Rankings

The third night of finals action is upon us at the Canadian Olympic Trials, with four more races presenting opportunities for athletes to qualify for the Olympic team. First up will be the women’s 200 free, where the top two qualifiers from this morning (Taylor Ruck and Brittany Maclean) both swam under the FINA-A standard. If they can do so again tonight they’ll both qualify in this event individually. The top four finishers tonight will qualify for the team in the 4×200 freestyle relay, which adds to the excitement of this race. In the men’s 400 free Ryan Cochrane and Jeremy Bagshaw both have a very good chance of qualifying for the team. Cochrane is almost a sure thing, boasting a best time of 3:43.46, whereas Bagshaw will be close. His best time of 3:49.76 is under the standard of 3:50.40, but he was off his best time in the 200. The women’s 100 breast also saw two women under the qualifying standard this morning, as Rachel Nicol and Kierra Smith both did so. 2012 Olympian Tera van Beilen will look to run one of them down and earn an Olympic berth once again. The men’s 200 breast will feature Jason Block and Richard Funk who both missed the qualifying standard in the 100, as well as top seed James Dergousoff. Funk is the only one with a best time (2:11.51) under the standard of 2:11.66.

Women’s 200m Freestyle

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 1:58.96
• Top Seed for Finals – Taylor Ruck, 1:58.27
• Canadian Record – Genevieve Saumur, 1:56.97 (2009)

1. Brittany Maclean, 1:56.94 OQ NR
2. Penny Oleksiak, 1:57.59 OQ
3. Katerine Savard, 1:58.17 * Relay Qualifier
4. Kennedy Goss, 1:58.26 * Relay Qualifier

In a very competitive final, NCAA champion Brittany Maclean picked up her second win and second national record of the meet, touching 1st in the 200 free in a time of 1:56.94. That time eclipses Genevieve Saumur‘s 2009 record of 1:56.97. Penny Oleksiak picked up her second individual event for the Olympics, finishing 2nd in 1:57.59, well under the qualifying standard of 1:58.96.

100m fly favorite Katerine Savard earned a spot on the Olympic team tonight in the relay after finishing 3rd in 1:58.17. She missed qualifying in her signature event on the opening night when she was 3rd in a very competitive race. You could see the emotion on her face after qualifying. Also qualifying for the relay was Indiana Hoosier Kennedy Goss, who closed in the final 50m to move into 4th touching in 1:58.26. All four swam personal bests tonight, and these four will represent Canada in the 4×200 free relay in Rio. This will be a very competitive team, as Brittany Maclean said in her post-race interview “we’re going to be medal contenders this summer”.

Kennedy Goss’ father Donald, AKA Sandy, was a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 4×100 medley relay at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

Top seed coming into tonight Taylor Ruck swam well through 150m, but faded the last 50 and allowed Goss to pass her in the closing metres. Ruck touched 5th in 1:58.67, slightly off her prelim time of 1:58.27. Ruck made it five women under the FINA-A cut in that race, highlighting the depth the Canadian women have in this event.

American Elizabeth Beisel won the B-final in 2:01.57.

Men’s 400m Freestyle

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 3:50.40
• Top Seed for Finals – Ryan Cochrane, 3:50.61
• Canadian Record – Ryan Cochrane, 3:43.46 (2014)

1. Ryan Cochrane, 3:48.54 OQ
2. Peter Brothers, 3:51.26
3. Jeremy Bagshaw, 3:51.29

Two-time Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane earned his first qualification for Rio tonight in the men’s 400 free, touching in 3:48.54. Although it might be a little slower than he would’ve liked, Cochrane is on his way to Rio as he was well under the qualifying standard of 3:50.40. He’ll look to win a medal this summer, and in order to do so he’ll need to get back down to his best time of 3:43.46.Peter Brothers surprisingly picked up 2nd place, touching in a big best time of 3:51.26. Brothers swam a personal best this morning, going 3:53, and now he’s all the way down to 3:51. He just missed the qualifying standard of 3:50.40. Jeremy Bagshaw had a disappointing race, finishing 3rd in 3:51.29. Bagshaw’s best time from last summer (3:49.76) was under the standard of 3:50.40.

Tristan Cote of Etobiocke was 4th in 3:55.35, and Keegan Zanatta of UBC was 5th in 3:56.43.

New Zealand’s Matthew Hutchins won the B-final in 3:50.12, just off his prelim swim of 3:49.84. Nonetheless he has qualified for the Olympics with two swims under the FINA-A cut of 3:50.40. His countryman Kevin Litherland just missed the standard, finishing 2nd in the consolation heat in 3:50.71. Connor Jaeger of the United States was well back for 6th in the B-final in 3:59.06.

Women’s 100m Breaststroke

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 1:07.85
• Top Seed for Finals – Rachel Nicol, 1:06.88
• Canadian Record – Annamay Pierse, 1:05.74 (2009)

1. Kierra Smith, 1:06.93 OQ
2. Rachel Nicol, 1:07.10 OQ
3. Tera Van Beilen, 1:07.89

Kierra Smith took over half a second off her morning swim to win in a blistering 1:06.93. She took almost a full second off her best time today, as coming in her best time was 1:07.88. Rachel Nicol was 1st this morning in 1:06.88, but fell to 2nd tonight in 1:07.10. Nonetheless, both of them qualify for the Olympic team as they were both well under the qualifying standard of 1:07.85.

2012 Olympian Tera van Beilen was 3rd in 1:07.89, and Kelsey Wog was 4th in 1:08.17.

Fiona Doyle from the University of Calgary won the B-final in 1:09.13.

Men’s 200m Breaststroke

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 2:11.66
• Top Seed for Finals – James Dergousoff, 2:13.26
• Canadian Record – Mike Brown, 2:08.84 (2008)

1. Ashton Baumann, 2:10.69 OQ
2. Jason Block, 2:13.21
3. Richard Funk, 2:13.46

Ashton Baumann came into tonight’s final and dominated from the start, touching in a huge personal best of 2:10.69 for the win. His best time coming in was 2:13.44. He was out from the start, going out in 1:02.37 at the 100 and managed to hold on coming home. His swim gets him under the FINA-A standard of 2:11.66 and punches his ticket to Rio. He was a member of the 2013 World Championship team in this event. Baumann is the son of double Olympic gold medalist in 1984 Alex Baumann, who won gold in both the 200 and 400 IM in Los Angeles. That makes two Olympic medalists from 1984 had their children make the Olympic team on the same night, with Kennedy Goss qualifying as well.

100m breaststroke winner Jason Block touched 2nd in 2:13.21, improving from his morning swim but not enough to qualify for the team. Pan Am silver medalist last summer in this event Richard Funk capped off his disappointing trials meet touching 3rd in 2:13.46, well off his best time of 2:11.51. Funk was the favorite to qualify in both breaststroke events this week, but things haven’t gone his way.

Ryan Telford of Markham moved up into 4th in 2:14.87, and top seed coming into tonight James Dergousoff fell all the way to 5th in 2:14.88.

American Josh Prenot won the B-final in 2:08.84, just off his morning swim of 2:08.58. The time from this morning put him 2nd in the world for 2015-16.