Regan Rathwell Punches Ticket to First Olympics After Injury Problems (Day 4 Qualifiers)

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 | Day 4 Recap
• Finals – Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap | Day 3 Recap

Day 4 Finals Live Recap

Reigning Olympic silver medalist Kylie Masse won the 200 backstroke in 2:06.24, with her fastest time since Tokyo (2:05.42). But the more surprising result was runner-up finisher Regan Rathwell qualifying for her first Olympics with a personal-best 2:09.38.

Rathwell, a rising junior at the University of Tennessee, dropped almost two tenths off her previous-best 2:09.54 from 2022. She hadn’t been under 2:12 since undergoing shoulder surgery for a torn labrum in October of 2022.

“It’s kind of been an up and down path the past couple years dealing with injury and health issues, but having a really great support system in place between teammates, coaches, and family makes all the difference,” Rathwell said.

Rathwell offered a hint at a big 200 back drop at Tennessee’s Last Chance Meet in early March, crushing her best SCY time by almost three seconds (1:52.96). She didn’t record any official results for over a year before swimming a few meets as a redshirt freshman this past season.

Summer McIntosh stole the show at the beginning of the session by lowering her own 400 IM world record by more than a second down to 4:24.38. Runner-up finisher Ella Jansen narrowly missed the Olympic ‘A’ cut (4:38.53) at 4:38.88, but she will likely punch her ticket to Paris by virtue of her personal-best 4:37.35 from last September.

Josh Liendo (47.55) and Yuri Kisil (48.19) booked their spots in the individual 100 free while Finlay Knox (48.29) and Javier Acevedo (48.58) are slated to join them on Canada’s 4×100 free relay courtesy of their top-4 efforts.

Nobody qualified in the men’s 800 free final at the end of the session.

Here’s a reminder of how selection to the 2024 Canadian Olympic team works:

CANADIAN OLYMPIC SELECTION PRIORITIES:

Note: For a full description of each priority category, click on the selection criteria link above. (Updated April 15, 2024)

• Priority One: The first and second placed swimmers in the ‘A’ final who earn the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT)
• Priority Two – Relay Nominations: The relay time add-up of the top four-placed swimmers in the 100 and 200 freestyles. For the medley relays, the relay add-up will be reached with the times of the top qualifiers from the 100 back, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 100 free. If a swimmer wins multiple 100s, then the times of second-place swimmer in those events will be considered.
• Priority Three: If no swimmer or only one swimmer at the 2024 Canadian Trials earns an OQT in an event, then a swimmer who’s achieved an OQT within the qualifying period and finished top two at Trials will be nominated.
• Priority Four: In an event that does not have any nominations through Priorities 1-3, then an event winner who has achieved on Olympic Consideration Time and swims within 1% of their fastest time in the qualification window at Trials will be provisionally nominated. World Aquatics sent out a memo that Olympic “B” cut swimmers may not qualify because of the athlete quotas. An athlete who hits a “B” cut here but who has an “A” cut from another Olympic qualifying meet in the qualification period, though, wouldn’t be subject to those World Aquatics limits.
• Priority Five: The selection committee has the discretion to nominate eligible swimmers to improve relays at the advice of the High Performance Director.

Editor’s note: Swimming Canada updated the selection criteria on April 15. The priorities below reflect the updated criteria.

PRIORITY 1 SWIMS THRU DAY 4 (OLYMPIC A CUTS, TOP 2):

• Summer McIntosh — women’s 400 freestyle (3:59.06)
• Maggie MacNeil — women’s 100 butterfly (56.61)
• Mary-Sophie Harvey — women’s 100 butterfly (57.32)
• Tristan Jankovics – men’s 400 IM (4:11.74)
• Summer McIntosh – women’s 200 freestyle (1:53.69)
• Mary-Sophie Harvey – women’s 200 freestyle (1:55.44)
• Blake Tierney — men’s 100 backstroke (53.48)
• Javier Acevedo — men’s 100 backstroke (53.55)
• Kylie Masse — women’s 100 backstroke (57.94)
• Ingrid Wilm — women’s 100 backstroke (59.31)
• Summer McIntosh — women’s 400 IM (4:24.38)
• Josh Liendo — men’s 100 freestyle (47.55)
• Yuri Kisil — men’s 100 freestyle (48.19)
• Kylie Masse — women’s 200 backstroke (2:06.24)
• Regan Rathwell — women’s 200 backstroke (2:09.38)

PRIORITY 2 SWIMS THRU DAY 4 (FREE RELAY TOP 4S AND MEDLEY RELAY TOP 1S):

• Julie Brousseau — women’s 200 freestyle (1:57.60) *also an Olympic ‘B’ cut
• Emma O’Croinin — women’s 200 freestyle (1:57.86)
• Finlay Knox — men’s 100 breast (1:00.66)
• Sophie Angus — women’s 100 breast (1:06.96) *also has an Olympic “A” cut from a prior meet
• Alex Axon — men’s 200 freestyle (1:47.56)
• Patrick Hussey — men’s 200 freestyle (1:47.78)
• Lorne Wigginton — men’s 200 freestyle (1:47.93)
• Jeremy Bagshaw — men’s 200 freestyle (1:48.49)
• Finlay Knox — men’s 100 freestyle (48.29)
• Javier Acevedo — men’s 100 freestyle (48.58)

PRIORITY 3 SWIMS THRU DAY 4: (OLYMPIC “A” CUTS AT OTHER MEETS + TOP 2 AT TRIALS):

• Ella Jansen — women’s 400 IM (4:38.88)

PRIORITY 4 SWIMS THRU DAY 4: (OLYMPIC “B” TIMES + EVENT WINNER – UNLIKELY TO BE INVITED):

• None

PRIORITY 5 SWIMS THRU DAY 4 (EXTRA RELAY SWIMMERS):

• To be announced

SWIMMERS WITH OLYMPIC A/B CUTS WHO DIDN’T PLACE HIGH ENOUGH:

A cuts:

• Rebecca Smith – women’s 100 fly (57.89) (3rd place finisher)
• Taylor Ruck — women’s 100 backstroke (59.78) (3rd place finisher)

B cuts:

• Julie Brousseau — women’s 400 freestyle (4:08.12) (Winner under the A cut)
• Lorne Wigginton — men’s 400 IM (4:13.60) (Winner under the A cut)
• Aiden Norman — men’s 100 backstroke (53.99) (3rd place finisher)
• Kelsey Wog — women’s 100 breaststroke (1:07.00) (Winner has an A cut/chosen for relay, Wog doesn’t have an A cut in the qualifying period)
• Regan Rathwell — women’s 100 backstroke (1:00.23) (4th place finisher)