2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
It’s time for the 2nd night of racing at the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials and tonight’s session will feature 4 more A finals: the women’s and men’s 200 freestyles and 100 breaststrokes.
Penny Oleksiak is the only pre-qualified swimmer in any events that will go down tonight as she’s been named to the team in the 200 freestyle. She raced during the prelims and led the way with a 1:57.07 stacked pack of women will join her, all fighting for a spot on the team. Summer McIntosh, Rebecca Smith, Katerine Savard, and Mary-Sophie Harvey will be among those in the mix.
On the men’s side, Jeremy Bagshaw had the quickest prelims swim with a 1:49.60 while Peter Brothers was right behind in a 1:50.08. Those times are just short of the 1:47.02 FINA A which will be the time to beat tonight in order to earn a spot in Tokyo.
Only Kelsey Wog was under the women’s 100 breaststroke FINA A of 1:07.07 with a 1:06.92 in the morning but Rachel Nicol (1:07.73) and Avery Wiseman (1:07.86) each swam in the 1:07 range during prelims and will want to get under the mark tonight.
As for the men, Gabe Mastromatteo led the way in prelims with a 1:00.11 which was just above the 59.93 he needs to qualify tonight. On his tail, Richard Funk and James Dergousoff posted a 1:00.93 and 1:00.94, respectively.
Follow along here for all the action as we get into night 2 of the 2021 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials:
Women’s 200 Freestyle – Final
- Canadian Record: 1:54.44 – Taylor Ruck (2018)
- FINA A Standard: 1:57.28
Podium
- Summer McIntosh – 1:56.19
- Penny Oleksiak – 1:57.24
- Rebecca Smith – 1:57.76
14-year-old Summer McIntosh managed to pull out her first win of the meet here with a 1:56 to book a spot on the Olympic team in the 200 freestyle. Prior to this meet McIntosh held a PB in the event of 1:57.65 from May of 2021 and has now swum the 6th fastest time in the world this season.
| 2 |
Yang Junxuan |
CHN | 1:54.57 | 05/04 |
| 3 |
Siobhan Haughey |
HKG | 1:54.89 | 04/18 |
| 4 |
Ariarne Titmus |
AUS | 1:55.43 | 04/15 |
| 5 |
Emma McKeon |
AUS | 1:55.56 | 03/21 |
| 6 |
Madi Wilson |
AUS | 1:56.26 | 04/15 |
| 7 |
Barbora Seemanova |
CZE | 1:56.27 | 05/20 |
| 8 |
Federica Pellegrini |
ITA | 1:56.29 | 05/20 |
Penny Oleksiak didn’t need to win this event in order to swim the event in Tokyo as she was nominated already based on her 6th place finish in the event in Tokyo. Oleksiak did finish in the top 2 though and posted a 1:57.24 for the silver medal.
Oleksiak was a bit faster during the prelims where she posted a 1:57.07 meaning that she’s been under the FINA A twice today.
Rebecca Smith was 3rd overall with a 1:57.76 which is a little bit over the FINA A but will likely be enough to get her on the team in the 4×200 relay. That’s a bit slower than her PB which sits at a 1:57.43 from earlier this year.
Next, Katerine Savard was a 1:57.79 for 4th place and could also be getting the nod for the relay after qualifying individually for the 100 butterfly on day 1. Like Smith, Savard has been a little bit faster in the past, holding a PB of 1:57.13 from 2017.
Canada has medaled in the 4×200 freestyle a few times in the past few years, taking bronze in Rio in 2016, bronze in 2019 at Gwangju.
Mary-Sophie Harvey placed 5th overall with a 1:58.70 while Kayla Sanchez was 6th in a 1:58.81.
Men’s 200 Freestyle – Final
- Canadian Record: 1:46.40 – Brent Hayden (2008)
- FINA A Standard: 1:47.02
Podium
- Peter Brothers – 1:49.07
- Ruslan Gaziev – 1:49.45
- Jeremy Bagshaw – 1:49.55
Peter Brothers has collected his second national title in 2 days here, adding to his 400 freestyle victory on day 1.
Brothers delivered a 1:49.07 for the gold medal which was quicker than his morning swim of 1:50.08 and an improvement upon his 2017 PB in the event of 1:49.70. Brothers’ swim was 2 seconds over the FINA A standard of 1:47.02 which means that Canada likely won’t send anyone to Tokyo individually.
This will mark the second Olympic Games in a row where no men will race the event considering no one got the nomination in 2016. Blake Worsley raced the 200 free for Canada back in 2012 and hit a 1:48.14 for 17th overall.
Ruslan Gaziev came in with a 1:49.45 for the silver medal which was quicker than his 1:50.55 prelims swim and just a bit off his best time in the event of 1:49.33 from 2019.
Making for 3 men under 1:50, Jeremy Bagshaw hit a 1:49.55 for the bronze medal to shave 0.05 seconds off his prelim swim of 1:49.60. Bagshaw raced the 400 freestyle for Canada at the 2017 World Championships and placed 16th with a 3:48.82.
There were notably a number of men absent from the 200 freestyle who are present at this meet including Markus Thormeyer and Canadian record-holder Brent Hayden. Hayden broke the record back in 2008 and has since retired from the sport and made a 2019 comeback. He has remained focused on the 50 and 100 freestyles and has not yet ventured to race the 200.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Final
- Canadian Record: 1:05.74 – Annamay Pierse (2009)
- FINA A Standard: 1:07.07
Podium
- Kelsey Wog – 1:06.77
- Rachel Nicol – 1:07.31
- Kierra Smith – 1:07.72
University of Manitoba swimmer Kelsey Wog has officially qualified for her first-ever Olympic team by winning the women’s 100 breaststroke in a 1:06.77.
That swim for Wog is under the 1:07.07 FINA A cut and hovers a little bit above the 1:06.44 that she posted in February 2020 at the USports Championships. With this swim, Wog has likely qualified to race both the individual 100 breast and the breaststroke leg on the women’s 4×100 medley relay.
Rachel Nicol and Kierra Smith represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games in this event but seem to have been shut out of making the team again as they both trailed the FINA A.
Nicol was a 1:07.31 for the silver medal to shave some time off her morning swim of 1:07.73 and Smith swam a 1:07.72 in the final, getting down from her 1:08.60 in the heats.
At the 2016 Games, Nicol placed 5th overall in the event with a 1:06.68 while Smith finished in 18th with a 1:07.41.
Avery Wiseman hit a 1:08.08 to take 4th place and Sydney Pickrem, who is already qualified to swim the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 breast, placed 5th with a 1:08.17.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Final
- Canadian Record: 59.85 – Scott Dickens (2012)
- FINA A Standard: 59.93
Podium
- Gabe Mastromatteo – 1:00.75
- James Dergousoff – 1:00.88
- Eli Wall – 1:00.99
Gabe Mastromatteo managed to pull off the win here in the men’s 100 breaststroke but ended up added some time to his morning swim of 1:00.11 with a 1:00.75. That’s not under the FINA A standard of 59.93, meaning that Mastromatteo will likely not earn a spot on the Olympic team in the individual 100 breaststroke.
Mastromatteo could potentially earn a spot on the team still considering that Canada has qualified for the 4×100 medley relay based on their 10th place finish overall at the 2019 World Championships.
Mastromatteo held a PB of 1:00.69 prior to today which he swam at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest to take 4th place overall.
Following Mastromatteo, James Dergousoff hit a 1:00.88 to nab the silver medal which was a little faster than his 1:00.94 swim in the morning but not quite a PB. Dergousoff broke his own PB twice today, getting down from the 1:01.56 he swam back in 2016.
Eli Wall came in with a 1:00.99, just dipping under 1:01.00 and getting under his morning swim of 1:01.21. Wall swam this event for Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and posted a 1:01.47 during the semi-finals to take 10th overall.
2019 World Championships team member Richard Funk was 4th here with a 1:01.13, adding time to his morning swim of 1:00.93 and hovering over his 59.89 PB from the 2017 World Championships.
