After the first day of competition here in Toronto at the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials, two athletes have secured their spot on the Canadian Olympic team that will head to Rio this summer.
Both Brittany MacLean and Penny Oleksiak broke the Canadian record in their respective events in order to win gold and dip under the FINA ‘A’ qualifying time thus earning a nomination for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team under the priority one selection criteria.
MacLean was the first to do so, winning the 400m freestyle in start-to-finish fashion. The two time individual NCAA Champion took over a second off her Canadian record time of 4:05.06 that she set at the 2012 Olympic Games where she finished seventh in order to swim the second fastest time this season with a 4:03.84 performance.
The time ranks MacLean second in the world this season.
While it looked like MacLean’s performance would be the swim of the night, silence struck as 15-year-old Penny Oleksiak took to the blocks as the top seed in the 100m butterfly in one of the most anticipated races of the evening.
Oleksiak stunned the crowd in a come-from-behind win to break Katerine Savard’s Canadian record of 57.27 with a swift 56.99. That time makes Oleksiak the third fastest performer this season in the event, and qualifies her for her first Olympic team at just 15-years-old.
Oelksiak’s newly established Canadian record ranks her third in the world this season.
Finishing behind Oleksiak in the 100 fly was Noemie Thomas who also finished under Savard’s Canadian record. Thomas put up a 57.02 performance in order to finish second, but also finish well under the FINA ‘A” qualifying time.
Thomas’ swim punched in her ticket to swim in her first Olympic Games. Thomas emerged onto the global scene at the 2013 World Championships where she made finals, and has been a top contender globally in the 100 fly since then.
This best time marks a huge drop for Thomas, and ranks her fourth in the world this season behind Oleksiak.
Did penny get a junior world record aswell?
Canadian – no, believe it or not the World Junior Record was actually faster than the Canadian Record. Chen Xinyi was a 56.61 at the 2014 Asian Games.