International Career
Acevedo made his debut for Canada aged 16 at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. In Nanjing, China Acevedo made the final in the 100 meter freestyle and finished ninth. He also swam the 200 and 50 freestyle finishing ninth and 12th respectively and the 100 meter backstroke where he finished 16th.
A year later Acevedo was back in the red and white of Canada at the World Junior Championships. He helped Canada to the gold medal in the mixed 400 meter freestyle relay and took the silver medal in the 50 meter backstroke. Acevedo also made the final in the 200 medley and 100 backstroke along with relays.
Rio 2016 Olympics
Acevedo qualified for his first Olympic Games in style at the Canadian Trials. He broke the Junior World Record by 0.33 seconds en route to winning gold in the 100 meter backstroke. He lowered his previous best time of an impressive 1.57 seconds to touch in 53.67.
In Rio, the 18 year old just missed out on a semi-final spot. He finished 17th in 54.11.
University of Georgia
After his Olympic debut, Acevedo moved to Athens to become a Bulldog.
He placed 11th in the 100 back at the 2017 NCAA Championships as a freshman. As a sophomore, he won an SEC title in the 100 back and added a runner-up finish in the 200 back. He made his first NCAA A-final at the end of his junior season, finishing eighth in the 100 back. He redshirted the 2019-20 season to prepare for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics before returning to reclaim the 2021 SEC title in the 100 back as a senior. He left Athens as the school record holder in the 200 back (1:39.06 at the 2018 NCAA Championships), 200 free relay, 400 free relay, and 400 medley relay.
Tokyo 2021 Olympics
Acevedo qualified for his second Olympic team with a fourth-place finish in the 100 free at the 2020 Canadian Trials. In Tokyo the following summer, he participated in the Olympic debut of the mixed medley relay, but his Canadian squad didn’t advance out of the morning heats. After the Olympics, he switched his focus to the International Swimming League (ISL) season, becoming one fo the league’s top medley swimmers.
Breakthroughs in 2022
At 24 years old, Acevedo picked up his first individual medals at the senior international level in a series of major breakthroughs. By the time 2022 was over, his name was all over the Canadian record books as the owner of eight national standards.
His serious racing calendar started at the 2022 World Championships in June, when he set a national record as part of the mixed 400 free relay that took silver in Budapest. Later that summer at the Commonwealth Games, Acevedo earned bronze in the back with a national-record 24.97 along with three more relay medals. He then competed at all three stops of the World Cup Series in Berlin, Toronto, and Indianapolis, setting more national records in the SCM 100 back (49.71) and 200 back (1:49.74) in November.
Acevedo capped off his busy year at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, where he captured a silver medal in the 100 IM with a national-record 51.05. He added hardware as a member of the mixed 200 medley relay team that took bronze in another national-record 1:36.93.
2023
Acevedo qualified for the 2023 World Championships after winning national titles in the 50 back, 100 back, and 200 free at Canadian Trials in late March. In the process, he lowered his own national record in the 50 back to 24.90,, shaving .07 seconds off his time from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
2024 Canadian Olympic Trials (Toronto, Canada)
In the 100 back, after turning second in 26.14, Acevedo held on to that position and qualified to be nominated to his third Olympics. He stopped the clock at 53.55–his first personal best in this event since 2017. Since that year’s Trials, Acevedo’s best had stood at 53.64 but he broke through with a .09 second drop in this race.
Acevedo added a 2nd nomination in the 100 free, earning a relay spot with his 48.58 effort for 4th.
