Liendo And Hayden: Canada’s Newest Olympic Sprinting Duo

2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

• June 19 – June 23, 2021
• Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto Pan Am Sport Centre
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Olympic Qualifying Event
• Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
• Meet Package
• Psych Sheets
• Live results

Day 3 of 5 has concluded at the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials and another NUMBER swimmers have joined the country’s roster for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer.

2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC ROSTER THROUGH DAY 3

Note: This is a presumptive list based on results from the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials and has not yet been made official by Swimming Canada

Canadian Olympic Swimming Roster 2021 (Pre-Trials):

• Kylie Masse – 100/200 backstroke
• Maggie MacNeil – 100 butterfly
• Penny Oleksiak – 200 freestyle
• Sydney Pickrem – 200/400 IM, 200 breaststroke
• Taylor Ruck – 100 freestyle/100 backstroke
• Markus Thormeyer – 100/200 backstroke
• Cole Pratt – 100 backstroke
• Katerine Savard – 100 butterfly
• Josh Liendo – 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly
• Summer McIntosh – 200/800 freestyle
• Kelsey Wog – 100 Breaststroke
• Brent Hayden – 50 freestyle
• Finlay Knox 200 IM
• Kayla Sanchez – 50 freestyle

In the men’s 50 freestyle, Josh Liendo and Brent Hayden went 1-2 and both got under the FINA A standard of 22.01. Hayden took first place with a 21.82 while Liendo followed in a 21.90.

This duo of sprinters is particularly notable when you look at the fact that Josh Liendo was only a month old when Brent Hayden won his first major international Olympic medal.

Hayden raced for Canada at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and wound up on the podium in the men’s 4×100 freestyle alongside Craig Hutchinson, Matthew Rose, and Rick Say. That race took place on July 30, 2002, and nearly 1 month later, Josh Liendo was born on August 20, 2002.

Fast forward 19 years and the 2 men have delivered a top 2 finish in the men’s 50 freestyle and will likely be nominated to the Canadian Olympic squad. This is Liendo’s second qualification so far adding to his 100 butterfly win. Hayden will be hoping to add the 100 freestyle to his program later this week.

In addition to Hayden, Finlay Knox added his name to the team during day 3 finals by winning the men’s 200 IM in a 1:58.07 for a new national record. That swim was under the FINA A cut of 1:59.67 meaning that Knox will race for Canada at the Tokyo Games.

Sydney Pickrem won the women’s 200 IM with a 2:09.24 to affirm her pre-selection in the event and Kelsey Wog took the silver medal with a 2:10.21 to add the event to her Olympic lineup. On day 2 of racing Wog swam to victory in the 100 breast to qualify for the team.

In the women’s 50 freestyle, Kayla Sanchez pulled out the win with a 24.66 to just out-swim the 24.77 FINA A standard and add her name to the roster. That swim was an improvement upon her best time in the event of 24.81 from just last month.

Finally, Summer McIntosh has added the 800 freestyle to her Olympic program by swimming an 8:29.48 for the gold medal. That’s well under her PB of 8:35.12 which she swam a few weeks ago and gets her under the 8:33.36 FINA A.