TORONTO PAN AM SPORTS CENTRE – HIGH PERFORMANCE TIME TRIAL
- May 7-8, 2021
- Toronto Pan American Sports Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Long Course Meters (50 meters)
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Results also on Meet Mobile: “MAY TPASC HP Time Trial”
Nearly all of Canada’s top Olympic hopefuls got together for a weekend of racing at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center over the weekend. Following months of fairly few high-level racing opportunities, the group managed to produced some solid swims, giving us more of an idea of where the nation stands heading into the Olympic summer.
Finlay Knox was the headliner during day 2 as he became the first-ever Canadian man to swim under 1:59 in the 200 IM, lowering the national record to a 1:58.88. The previous record was one of the country’s oldest standing marks, held by Keith Beavers who swam a 1:59.19 at the 2008 Olympics. Beavers set the record in the heats and went on to place 7th in the final with a 1:59.43. Knox’s previous PB in the event was a 1:59.44 which he swam at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships where he took silver to Carson Foster. Knox’s breast leg is generally the weakest leg on his IM and interestingly, it was slower during his Canadian record-breaking swim (35.25) than it was back in 2019 (34.88).
Comparative Split, Finlay Knox 200 IM:
| 2019 World Juniors | 2021 TPASC Time Trial | |
| Butterfly | 25.55 | 24.77 |
| Backstroke | 30.71 | 30.52 |
| Breaststroke | 34.88 | 35.25 |
| Freestyle | 28.30 | 28.34 |
| Total | 1:59.44 | 1:58.88 |
Knox is one of the swimmers who has not yet officially qualified for Tokyo as Canada has only named Penny Oleksiak, Maggie MacNeil, Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem, Markus Thormeyer, and Taylor Ruck. Knox will likely race the event next month at Canadian Trials which are scheduled to take place from June 19-23.
Also hitting a FINA A standard was Olympic qualified Maggie MacNeil in the 100 butterfly, swimming a 57.55. While that’s a solid swim by most standards, MacNeil was a bit slower than her PB in the event which is a 55.83 which she used to win gold at the 2019 World Championships and set a new Canadian record. MacNeil will be looking to get back into the 55-second range this summer as she looks to pick up her first Olympic medal. The swim for MacNeil gives her a 6th place ranking in the world this season.
2020-2021 LCM Women 100 Fly
MacNeil
55.59
| 2 | Zhang Yufei | CHN | 55.62 | 09/29 |
| 3 | Torri Huske | USA | 55.66 | 06/14 |
| 4 | Emma McKeon | AUS | 55.72 | 07/25 |
| 5 | Marie Wattel | FRA | 56.16 | 07/24 |
| 6 | Sarah Sjostrom | SWE | 56.18 | 07/24 |
| 7 | Claire Curzan | USA | 56.20 | 04/10 |
| 8 | Louise Hansson | SWE | 56.22 | 07/25 |
While the 100 backstroke is her primary event, Kylie Masse will also be gunning for a medal in the 200 backstroke in Tokyo this summer. Masse posted a 2:07.60 in the event to make her the 6th fastest woman in the event worldwide this season.
2020-2021 LCM Women 200 Back
McKeown
2:04.28
| 2 | Kylie Masse | CAN | 2:05.42 | 07/31 |
| 3 | Margherita Panziera | ITA | 2:05.56 | 03/31 |
| 4 | Rhyan White | USA | 2:05.73 | 06/19 |
| 5 | Emily Seebohm | AUS | 2:06.17 | 07/31 |
World record holder Regan Smith and current world leader Kaylee McKeown will likely be the duo to beat and Masse will be one of many looking to make a move in the event. Her current PB in the event is a 2:05.94 which she swam at Canadian Trials back in 2019. Taylor Ruck, who boasts a PB in the event of 2:06.36 also raced the 200 back and hit a 2:0.78.
Sydney Pickrem has qualified to race the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 breaststroke in Tokyo and so decided to contest 2 events on day 2 of the time trials which she less frequently swims on the international stage. Pickrem raced the 100 breaststroke and the 200 freestyle, posting swims of 1:07.43 and 1:59.15, respectively.
She was the sole swimmer to race the 100 breast during the session and nearly beat her entry time of 1:07.20. The 1:07.43 was still a solid swim and got her within half a second of the FINA A standard which currently sits at a 1:07.07. Should she get under that mark in the coming months and qualify to swim the event in Tokyo, she could be looking at an impressive 4 individual event slate at the Games.
Pickrem’s 1:59.15 200 freestyle gave her the 5th fastest swim of the session, trailing Penny Oleksiak‘s leading 1:57.37, Rebecca Smith‘s 1:57.43, Summer McIntosh‘s 1:57.65, and Kayla Sanchez‘s 1:58.07. While Penny Oleksiak has already been named to the Olympic team for the 200 freestyle, a pretty solid race is shaping up behind her both for a spot to swim the event individually and for a spot on the 4×200 freestyle relay.
2 swimmers who will also likely be in contention but didn’t race the event at the time trial are Canadian record holder Taylor Ruck and Olympic medalist, Emily Overholt. Ruck’s PB in the event is a 1:54.44 from 2018 while Overholt holds a 1:57.97 which she swam in 2019.
OTHER DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS
- Josh Liendo swam the 100 freestyle, touching with a 52.54 which is just 0.58 seconds off the FINA A standard of 51.96. Should he miss out on the individual nod, Liendo could produce a solid fly leg on the men’s 4×100 medley relay.
- A solid race broke out in the men’s 50 freestyle with Josh Liendo taking first place with a 22.40, just out-touching Yuri Kisil‘s 22.46 and Ruslan Gaziev‘s 22.66. The three of them will likely be fighting for a spot behind Brent Hayden; the only man in Canada to crack the FINA A of 22.01 over the past 3 seasons.
- Paralympian Abi Tripp swam the women’s 50 freestyle and hit a 33.79, a little bit off her PB of 33.79.
- Tessa Cieplucha was a little bit slower than her best time in the 400 IM, hitting a 4:41.34 as the sole swimmer to race the event.
Congrats to Finlay. Maybe looking at at least a semi final swim this summer?
That is an amazing 14yr old result especially in ‘May’. And yes adds to the 4×2 depth in a big way. Now 4 to 5 girls/women after Penny and Taylor in the 156 split or 157 flat start range. If the 2 best can battle for 156 low or better, then Penny and Taylor both drop their best 154 splits, 🇨🇦 4×2 will be very competitive with AUS and US.
Maggie MacNeil was 57.55 not .05. Summer McIntosh smashed Taylor Ruck’s 14&U Canadian Age-Group Record (2:00.52), and also for you Americans was under the 13-14 NAG set in 1978 at 1:58.53. At 14 years old, Summer is looking like she could realistically qualify for the Olympics in 400, 800, 1500 individually and the 200 relay.
More informative would be data about her progress curves. Records, medals, places in junior competitions are useless when you are discussing the chances of 14 yo to be an Olympian.
So what is the Summer McIntosh’s strongest event. And, please, don’t tell me that this young prodigy doesn’t have preference between 200-400-800-1500. That she treats them all as a sprint of different duration. 😀
2pp fly?
2PP must be a new event 😃
It’s either Canadian fans ignore American oriented Swimswam.com or know same as little about this girl as anybody else in the world. Besides “Go, Summer, go” no more analytical information. 😀
You don’t need my knowledge, as all the information is in the Internet. Small hint, look at how she was progressing in 200 fly, 400 IM and 1500. She is still almost 4 months away from her next BD, so this weekend’s times are not her PBs for long, hopefully
For example:
https://www.swimrankings.net/index.php?page=athleteDetail&athleteId=4932346
Well since she got the Fina A standard in the 1500 will that suffice for her analytical Olympic potential?
Congratulations to Finlay!
Hella yes. Todd did good work with that kid.
1. One months before OT Canadian W200FR crowd looks more impressive than American one: three 1:57 results against just one of McLaughlin on American side.
The only hope is that Hegelian-Marx dialectic is accurate and the quantity will transfer into quality. That this huge group of 1:58-1:59 results will spread finally toward 1:57 zone to the end of this week in Indianapolis and Atlanta.
2. I think that Taylor Ruck has read my yesterday’s post and decided that there is no lesson in humiliation of not breaking 2 min in 200 being well behind 14 years old schoolgirl. Did she get the second shot of vaccine just recently?
McIntosh 1.57?!?!? Wow. That’s insane.
1.57.65 is faster than the winning time (1.57.96) at last Junior Worlds, where 16 and 17 year- old girls swam.
Impressive performances both in 200 free and 1500 free from 14 year-old McIntosh, we’ll see in the next meets (particularly at Canadian trials) her improvements in the 400 IM and 200 fly.
400IM or 1500? On same day at Canadian trials, that’s a huge double.
14 year old McIntosh with a 1:57 200 free. That smashes the US NAG, oh my goodness.
Also her NAG i the 1500FR – contested just the day before. An impressive feat for sure!
No one considered the 200 and 1500 best events either. What does 1:57 and 16:15 mean for a 400 Free? 4:05? Faster?
Have her other strokes improved this much. 400 IM could be scary fast. Excited to see what the summer has in store Summer.
She is topping her SCM times from late 2019. Maybe a 4:37 400 IM
I feel like this swim warrants an article in and of itself. It’s pretty newsworthy when a 14-year-old Canadian swims faster than the winning time from the last Junior Worlds and the U.S. NAG record from Sippy Woodhead which has stood now for 43 years.
I completely agree. A historic swim.