2016 CANADIAN OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC TRIALS
- April 5-10
- Prelims: 10 a.m EST
- Finals: 6 p.m EST
- Live Results
- Psych sheets
- Live stream
- Olympic Qualifying Times
- Selection Criteria
- World Rankings
After taking the top seed in the 100m butterfly this morning and closing in on Katerine Savard’s Canadian record, 15-year-old Penny Oleksiak brought the heat once more in order to smash the Canadian record and secure her spot on her first Olympic team.
In a come-from-behind fashion Oleksiak passed both Noemie Thomas and Katerine Savard in order to touch the wall in 56.99, taking 0.28 seconds off Savard’s Canadian record and claiming gold. Oleksiak’s racing strategy mimicked a 2008 Phelps, coming from behind to win the race by just 0.03 seconds over Noemie Thomas’ 57.02.
The time ranks the new Canadian record holder as the third fastest swimmer this season in the event behind only world record holder Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden and China’s Xinyi Chen.
In just one day Oleksiak took a total of 1.45 seconds off her personal best time – showing that she’s on her game at Trials which suggests she could qualify in multiple events.
Oleksiak will be swimming the 50, 100 and 200m freestyles later in the competition. The 100m freestyle is her best event out of the three where she has the biggest shot at earning another spot on the Olympic team.
Oleksiak will need to finish in the top four in order to get a relay spot, and top two and under the FINA ‘A’ standard to make the team individually.