2024 Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Trials: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2024 CANADIAN OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC TRIALS

• May 13-19, 2024
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – Toronto, Ontario
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• How To Watch
• Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
• Psych Sheets (Updated 05/10)
• Live Results
• Prelims – Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap | Day 3 Recap
• Finals – Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap | Day 3 Recap

Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet

Steam courtesy of CBC

Day 4 Schedule

• Women’s Open 400 IM
• Men’s Open 100 Free
• Women’s 200 Back
• Women’s Para 100 Free
• Men’s Para 100 Free
• Men’s Open 800 (early heats)

If ever there was a morning to skive off work and watch some swimming trials, it’s this morning. The 4th and middle day of the 2024 Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Trials is nigh upon us.

This morning brings the star power. Leading the charge in the Women’s 400 IM is the World Record holder Summer McIntosh. She swam that time in this very same pool last year, hitting the wall in 4:25.87. While she may consider herself to be having an off-meet and not be happy with all of the performances, she has already posted to world-leading times in the 400 free and 200 free.

Both Mary-Sophie Harvey and Sydney Pickrem have withdrawn from the event, so focusing will be drawn to Ella Jansen and Julie Brousseau as front runners for a silver medal. Both are entered with times under the OQT of 4:38.53, so if both make the A-Final tonight, expect there to be fireworks.

The men’s 100 free will have fireworks this morning as Josh Liendo leads a fast field. The Florida Gator star swimmer set a new PB in the 200 yesterday morning by over two seconds, so expectations are high. Entered with a time of 47.86, he is the only swimmer under the OQT, but will be pushed in the last heat by fellow gator Edouard Fullum-Huot. Javier Acevedo and Yuri Kisil round out the top four but expect tough competition with those around them who have been having a great meet, like Patrick Hussey and Finlay Knox.

The Women’s 200 back has had a Canadian medalist at the last two Olympics, with Hilary Caldwell winning the bronze in 2016 and Kylie Masse winning a silver in Tokyo. Masse, your top seed had a sensational day yesterday: Her prelims swim was her fastest time since the Tokyo Games until as night she dipped under the rarefied 58 seconds barrier to punch her ticket to Paris with a time of 57.94.

Masse’s opportunity to defend that silver medal comes this morning as she leads the field in the prelims of the 200 back. Her entry time of 2:07.13 leads the field by over three seconds, so she may not need the speed employed yesterday morning to make the A-Final this evening. Like in the 100, Ingrid Wilm sits second in the seedings with her 2:10.19 seed time. A great sprinter, Wilm will need to be on point tonight as the OQT could slip away from her should she have an off race.

The women’s and men’s Para 100 free is chock full of national record holders as Tess Routliffe, Aurelie Rivard, Sebastian Massabie and Reid Maxwell all try to improve their standings and qualify for the Para team.

WOMEN’S 400 IM– Prelims

• World Record: 4:25.87 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Canadian Record: 4:25.87 – Summer McIntosh (2023)
• 2021 Champion: Sydney Pickrem – 4:37.03
• OLY Qualifying/Consideration Standards: 4:38.53/4:39.92

Top 10

1. Summer McIntosh (UNCAN) – 4:38.27 OQT
2. Mabel Zavaros (MAC) – 4:42.41
3. Bailey Andison (CAMO) – 4:43.86
4. Tessa Cieplucha (MAC) – 4:44.15
5. Ella Jansen (HPCON) – 4:45.63
6. Julie Brousseau (NKB) – 4:46.07
7. Sienna Angove (UNCAN) – 4:46.28
8. Kathryn Hazle (UNCAN) – 4:48.10
9. Kamila Blanchard (PCSC) – 4:52.49
10. Laila Oravsky (BTSC) – 4:53.78

Getting the morning session off to a hot start was 12-year-old Shima Taghavi. She won the first heat by nearly five seconds, hitting the wall in 5:04.66, slicing an impressive 3.6 seconds off her seed time. Taghavi broke a 38-year-old Age Group record in the 100 breast on Night 2 but will have a ways to go in this event as Summer McIntosh holds the 11-12 record in a time of 4:50.21.

Taghavi’s time held up til the 4th heat when it was overtaken by Rachel Wigginton, who swam a time of 4:59.61. While a little of her entry time of 4:59.32, it was the only time under 5:00 so far, so it likely put her into contention of making one of tonight’s three finals.

Mabel Zavaros put in a strong performance out of lane 5 in the first of two circles seeded heats. The Florida Gator took over the lead from Ella Jansen at the 150 wall and never looked back, using a strong freestyle leg to come home in 4:42.41. Bailey Andison used her signature backhalf speed to close on Jansen and made up a nearly two-second gap after the backstroke to place second in 4:43.86, with Jansen touching 3rd in 4:45.63.

Controlled would be the best word to describe Summer McIntosh‘s 400 IM prelims swim. The WR holder never looked pressed or in any difficulty as she cruised to a time of 4:38.27. At the 200, she was just a little over a second under Zavaros’s time but used a strong breaststroke leg to increase that lead to over six seconds. McIntosh obviously shut it down, as her last 100 split was 1:07.66 (including a 35.44 first 50).

Tessa Cieplucha and Julie Brousseau swapped 2nd place in the heat as Cieplucha’s breaststroke leg made up a more than a two-second deficit, with the veteran hitting the wall in 4:44.15 compared to Brousseau’s 4:46.07.

Men’s 100 Freestyle– Prelims

• World Record: 46.80 – Pan Zhanle, CHN (2024)
• Canadian Record: 47.27 – Brent Hayden (2009)
• 2021 Champion: Josh Liendo – 48.13
• OLY Qualifying/Consideration Standards: 48.34/48.58

Top 10

1. Josh Liendo (NYCA) – 47.60 OQT
2. Yuri Kisil (CASC) – 48.55
3. Finlay Knox (SCAR/HPCVN) – 49.11
4. Patrick Hussey (PCSC) – 49.14
5. Stephen Calkins (UCSC) – 49.15
6. Edouard Fullum-Huot (PCSC) – 49.31
7. Javier Acevedo (AJAX/HPCON) – 49.32
8. Filip Senc-Samardzic (TSC) – 49.35
9. Antoine Sauve (CAMO) – 49.47
10. Ali Sayed (CAMO) – 49.60
11. Ilya Kharun (UNCAN) – 49.75

ASU swimmer Ilya Kharun lit up the 4th heat of the men’s 100 free. The NCAA 200 fly champion posted a time of 49.75 to take over the top time and marks a massive drop from his personal best and seed time of 51.61. Kharun was out in 24.09 and only seemed to gain speed as he came into the finish. More known as a flier, Kharun may have used this swim to warm up for the 100 and 200 fly but could have put his name into consideration for the men’s 4×100 free relay.

The first of the circle seed heats was a battle of ages as Yuri Kisil took the win in 48.55; Kisil blazed out to the lead in 23.27 over his younger competitors, Patrick Hussey and Antoine Sauve. Sauve, 10 years Kisil’s junior, tried to take out with Kisil but faded over the last legs and finished in 49.47. Hussey, who placed 2nd in the 200 free last night, was 49.14.

Heat 7 of 8 saw a pair of swimmers already qualified for the team go tete-a-tete. Finlay Knox got the better of Javier Acevedo. Knox led by .37 at the 50, but Acevedo made up some ground to close the gap to .21. Knox’s final time of 49.11 currently sits 2nd with one heat remaining and Acevedo’s 49.32 ranks him 4th.

Josh Liendo picked up immediately where he left off from yesterday morning. Out in 23.22, the faster amongst the field, Liendo used a strong back half to surge to victory and overtake Kisil’s time. Liendo’s prelim time of 47.80 appears to be his fastest time since he swam his personal best of 47.55 at the 2022 World Champs. Liendo’s training partner in Florida, Edouard Fullum-Huot, placed 3rd in the heat in 49.31. Sandwiched between them was Stephen Caulkins, who takes the 5th seed into tonight with his 49.15. Liendo’s swim jumps him up the world rankings, surpassing Matt Richards’ and Egor Kornev’s 47.82, and with finals still to come, Liendo could make more moves.

Ilya Kharun placed 11th in the prelims, but Ali Sayed’s 49.60 won’t advance him to the A-final as he is a foreign athlete and cannot compete in the top final.

Women’s 200 Backstroke– Prelims

• World Record: 2:03.14 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2023)
• Canadian Record: 2:05.42 – Kylie Masse (2021)
• 2021 Champion: Kylie Masse – 2:06.67
• OLY Qualifying/Consideration Standards: 2:10.39/2:11.04

Top 10

1. Kylie Masse (TSC) – 2:11.08
2. Regan Rathwell (GO) – 2:12.49
3. Bridget Burton (UBCT/ISC) – 2:12.77
4. Madison Kryger (BROCK/HPCON) – 2:12.86
5. Shannon Meadway (USC) – 2:12.97
6. Reina Liu (UNCAN) – 2:14.19
7. Delia Lloyd (ESWIM/HPCON) – 2:14.39
8.  Ingrid Wilm (CASC) – 2:14.81
9. Jordan Greber (UCSC) – 2:15.58
10. Madelyn Gatrall (WAC) – 2:15.74

The first of the circle-seeded heats saw Bridget Burton drop over half a second off her seed time to post the fastest time of the morning at 2:12.77, with the #3 overall seed, Delia Lloyd, just behind at 2:14.39.

Punching her ticket to Paris by virtue of her 2nd place finish in the 100 back last night, Ingrid Wilm took things nice and steady this morning, opening up the race in 31.65 and hitting the 10 0wall in 1:06.30. Wilm increased her pace a little over the back half and hit the wall in 2:14.81. While just 3rd in heat, Wilm sits 5th overall and should comfortably make the A-final tonight. Winning the heat was Regan Rathwell, who came into the wall in 2:12.49, a little less than half a second off her seed. Reina Liu, who is just 14 placed 2nd in the heat in 2:14.19

Employing the same tactics as Wilm and conserving energy for this evening, Kylie Masse appeared to really shut it down over the last legs of the 200. She was out in 29.74, the only swimmer under 31, and flipped at the 100 in 1:03.27. She finished the race in 1:07.81 to hit the wall in 2:11.08, taking over the top seed for tonight. Madison Kryger, like Liu is another youngster looking to make their mark, finished 2nd behind Masses in a time of 2:12.86.

Women’s 100 Free Para – Prelims

• Canadian S3: 2:21.84 – Nikita Ens (2023)
• Canadian S5: 1:32.41 – Alisson Gobeil (2023)
• Canadian S6: 1:14.52 – Shelby Newkirk (2023)
• Canadian S7: 1:13.97– Tess Routliffe (2016)
• Canadian S9: 1:03.89 – Stephanie Dixon (2008)
• Canadian S10: 58.14 – Aurelie Rivard (2021)

Top 10

1. Aurelie Rivard S10 (CNQ) – 59.94 (1002 pts.)
2. Arianna Hunsicker S10 (UL) – 1:02.25/ Yang Tan S7 (OAK) – 1:12.82 (905 pts.)
4. Shelby Newkirk S6 (LASER) – 1:15.87 (859 pts.)
5. Tess Routliffe S7  (UL/CHPQI) – 1:14.59 (851 pts.)
6. Jaime Cosgriffe S10 (OAK) – 1:03.96 (841 pts.)
7. Sabrina Duchesne S7 (UL) – 1:15.59 (823 pts.)
8. Mary Jibb S9 (MUSAC) – 1:08.42 (799 pts.)
9. Katarina Roxon S9 (AASC) – 1:09.75 (759 pts.)
10. Alisson Gobeil S5 (CNJA) – 1:35.40 (609 pts.)
11. Jessica Tinney S5 (AJAX) – 1:43.34 (501 pts.)

Aurelie Rivard has continued to impress this week. Her 59.94 this morning is less than two seconds off her personal best and national record of 58.14, which she set at the Tokyo Paralympics. Her time equates to 1002 pts, which surpasses the standard of qualification. While separated by over ten seconds, Arianna Hunsicker and Yang Tan, who are in different classes, are tied, each achieving 905 points. Due to Tan being an international athlete, Jessica Tinney will get a shot to swim again tonight.

Men’s 100 Free Para – Prelims

• Canadian S4: 1:24.85 – Sebastian Massabie (2024)
• Canadian S7: 1:08.29 – Tony Alexander (1996)
• Canadian S8: 1:00.78 – Reid Maxwell (2024)
• Canadian S10: 52.86 – Nathan Stein (2014)

Top 10

1. Sebastian Massabie S4 (PSW) – 1:23.88 (946 pts.)
2. Reid Maxwell S8 (EKSC) – 1:01.15 (867 pts.)
3. Fernando Lu S10 (LOSC) – 57.05 (747 pts.)
4. Phillippe Vachon S8 (MEGO) – 1:05.01 (740 pts.)
5. Charle Giammichele S7 (GHAC) – 1:09.62 (731 pts.)
6. Alexander Elliot S10 (CNQ) – 57.72 (724 pts.)

Sebastian Massabie has been on fire this week. His time this morning, while achieving 946 points, stands as a new national record at 1:23.88. The previous record, his own, was set just last both in Madeira, Portugal and stood at 1:24.85. Reid Maxwell, another national record holder, was a little shy of his best of 1:00.78 but should be happy with his 1:01.15 and motivated to take another crack at breaking the record.