2024 Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Trials: Day 4 Finals Live Recap (original) (raw)

2024 CANADIAN OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC TRIALS

Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet

Canadian stars Summer McIntosh, Josh Liendo, and Kylie Masse take the stage in their signature events on the fourth night of the Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Trials in Toronto.

McIntosh will kick off Thursday night’s action in the women’s 400 IM, where she led prelims by four seconds in an Olympic ‘A’ cut of 4:38.27 this morning. Then Liendo will enter the pool for the men’s 100 free, where he went 47.80 in this morning’s heats for his fastest time since his lifetime best at the 2022 World Championships (47.55). Four Olympic spots will be on the line in the men’s 100 free as the top four swimmers earn a spot on Canada’s 4×100 free relay.

Masse posted the top time in the women’s 200 back this morning at 2:11.08, within a second of the Olympic ‘A’ cut (2:10.39). The reigning Tokyo Olympic silver medalist qualified for the 100 back on Wednesday night with a time of 57.94, her quickest performance since Tokyo.

The session will continue with Para finals in the 100 free before concluding with the men’s 800 free. The 2021 Canadian Trials champion, 21-year-old Eric Brown, need to drop more than five seconds off his entry time (7:56.96) in order to sneak under the Olympic ‘A’ cut in the 800 free (7:51.65).

DAY 4 SCHEDULE

WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Summer McIntosh (UNCAN) – 4:24.38 *WORLD RECORD, OQT
  2. Ella Jansen (HPCON) – 4:38.88
  3. Mabel Zavaros (MAC) – 4:40.46
  4. Bailey Andison (CAMO) – 4:42.14
  5. Tessa Cieplucha (MAC) – 4:43.24
  6. Kathryn Hazle (UNCAN) – 4:43.38
  7. Julie Brousseau (NKB) – 4:43.79
  8. Kamila Blanchard (PCSC) – 4:49.50
  9. Laila Oravsky (BTSC) – 4:53.27
  10. Angela Wang (MAC) – 5:03.23

Summer McIntosh shaved more than a second off her own world record from last summer with her winning time of 4:24.38, igniting the crowd at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center. She split 59.18 on the butterfly leg, 1:07.12 on the backstroke leg, 1:17.13 on the breaststroke leg, and 1:00.95 on the freestyle leg, showcasing the most improvement on her breaststroke.

“It was awesome,” said the 17-year-old phenom, whose previous best stood at 4:25.87 from last April. “The crowd was absolutely electric. I heard you guys during the breaststroke and it really kept me going, so thank you.”

McIntosh said her goal for this event at the Paris Olympics is “just to go out there and have fun.” The two-time world champion in the 400 IM did not contest the event in Tokyo.

“400 IM is an event where it’s all about strategy and pacing the front half,” McIntosh said. “I’m always trying to work that breaststroke because it is my weakest stroke. I’m just excited to be able to do it in Paris.”

Runner-up finisher Ella Jansen missed the Olympic ‘A’ cut (4:38.53) by just a few tenths with a time of 4:38.88. The Tennessee commit was about a second off her personal-best 4:37.35 from World Juniors last September.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Josh Liendo (NYAC) – 47.55, OQT
  2. Yuri Kisil (CASC) – 48.19, OQT
  3. Finlay Knox (SCAR) – 48.29
  4. Javier Acevedo (AJAX) – 48.58
  5. Edouard Fullum-Huot (PCSC) – 49.06
  6. Filip Senc-Samardzic (TSC) – 49.18
  7. Patrick Hussey (PCSC) – 49.32
  8. Ilya Kharun (UNCAN) – 49.37
  9. Stephen Calkins (UCSC) – 49.50
  10. Antoine Sauve (CAMO) – 49.66

Josh Liendo matched his lifetime best from the 2022 World Championships with a 1st-place finish in 47.55. The 21-year-old NCAA champion now ranks 3rd in the world this season behind only Chris Giuliano (47.49) and world record holder Pan Zhanle (46.80).

Yuri Kisil also finished under the Olympic ‘A’ cut of 48.34 with time of 48.19. The 28-year-old was just a hair off his personal-best 48.15 from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Finlay Knox (48.29), and Javier Acevedo (48.58) are also in line to earn nominations on the Canadian Olympic team by virtue of their top-4 efforts. It will be the second Olympics for Liendo and Knox and the third for Kisil and Acevedo.

Knox set a new personal best en route to 3rd place, taking almost a second off his previous-best 49.11 from prelims. His best time before today was 49.23 from the 2022 Canadian Trials.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Kylie Masse (TSC) – 2:06.24, OQT
  2. Regan Rathwell (GO) – 2:09.38, OQT
  3. Madison Kryger (BROCK) – 2:12.00
  4. Bridget Burton (UBCT) – 2:12.14
  5. Delia Lloyd (ESWIM) – 2:12.87
  6. Shannon Meadway (USC) – 2:13.17
  7. Ingrid Wilm (CASC) – 2:13.63
  8. Reina Liu (UNCAN) – 2:13.69
  9. Madelyn Gatrall (WAC) – 2:15.04
  10. Jordan Greber (UCSC) – 2:16.29

Kylie Masse will contest both backstroke events at her third Olympics in Paris this summer after winning the 200 back in 2:06.24, well under the ‘A’ cut of 2:10.39. The 28-year-old has been as fast as 2:05.42 during her silver medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

Regan Rathwell, a rising junior at the University of Tennessee, qualified for her first Olympics with a personal-best 2:09.38, more than a second under the Olympic ‘A’ cut. She dropped almost two tenths off her previous-best 2:09.54 from 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,” said Rathwell, who underwent shoulder surgery in October of 2022.

At just 15 years old, Madison Kryger came within a second of the Olympic ‘B’ cut with her 3rd-place finish in 2:12.00. She has been as fast as 2:11.96 last month.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE PARA – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Aurelie Rivard, S10 (CNQ) – 1:00.19 (991 points)
  2. Shelby Newkirk, S6 (LASER) – 1:13.68 (924 points)
  3. Arianna Hunsicker, S10 (UL) – 1:02.12 (910 points)
  4. Tess Routliffe, S7 (UL) – 1:12.95 (900 points)
  5. Mary Jibb, S9 (MUSAC) – 1:05.58 (893 points)
  6. Jaime Cosgriffe, S10 (OAK) – 1:02.71 (887 points)
  7. Katarina Roxon, S9 (AASC) – 1:09.41 (769 points)
  8. Alisson Gobeil, S5 (CNJA) – 1:35.62 (606 points)
  9. Jessica Tinney, S5 (AJAX) – 1:42.84 (507 points)
  10. Sabrina Duchesne, S7 (UL) – DSQ

Aurelie Rivard accumulated the most Para points in the 100 free, touching a couple seconds shy of her S10 Canadian record (58.14) in 1:00.19. She said it was a slower than she wanted to go, but it gives her an idea of what to work on this summer. The Paralympic ‘A’ cut for S10 swimmers in this event stands at 1:03.43.

“I need to finish stronger than my rivals, hopefully,” said Rivard, who won gold in this event at the past two Paralympics.

Shelby Newkirk lowered her S6 national record with a runner-up finish in 1:13.68. Her previous best stood at 1:14.52 from last year.

Arianna Hunsicker reached the wall about a second under the Paralympic qualification standard (1:03.43) with her 3rd-place finish in 1:02.12.

MEN’S 100 FREE PARA – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Sebastian Massabie, S4 (PSW) – 1:25.07 (914 points)
  2. Reid Maxwell, S8 (EKSC) – 1:00.23 (901 points)
  3. Philippe Vachon, S8 (MEGO) – 1:03.30 (792 points)
  4. Alexander Elliot, S10 (CNQ) – 56.01 (784 points)
  5. Fernando Lu, S10 (LOSC) – 56.77 (757 points)
  6. Charle Giammichele, S7 (GHAC) – 1:09.13 (745 points)

Sebastian Massabie narrowly missed his own S4 Canadian record (1:24.85) with a time of 1:25.07. He was well under the Paralympic ‘A’ cut of 1:33.79.

Reid Maxwell lowered his own S8 Canadian record from earlier this year (1:00.78) with his runner-up finish in 1:00.23, about half a second clear of the Paralympic qualifying standard (1:00.72).

MEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – FINAL

Top 10:

  1. Timothe Barbeau (NN) – 8:00.61
  2. Eric Brown (PCSC) – 8:03.04
  3. Kieran Watson (UNCAN) – 8:06.73
  4. Sebastian Paulins (BRANT) – 8:10.21
  5. Aiden Kirk (KAJ) – 8:11.93
  6. Alexander Axon (MAC) – 8:14.82
  7. Benjamin Cote (KSC) – 8:14.94
  8. Max Vorobiev (MAC) – 8:17.57
  9. Diego Paz (EKSC) – 8:21.68
  10. Guillaume Lord (MUST) – 8:22.32

Nobody finished under the Olympic ‘A’ cut of 7:51.65, but Timothe Barbeau offered hope for the future of Canadian distance swimming with an upset victory over top-seeded Eric Brown (8:03.04).

The 18-year-old Barbeau won his first national title in 8:00.61, dropping more than four seconds off his previous-best 8:04.72 from World Juniors last September. He’ll now turn his attention to the 1500 free this weekend, where he needs to drop 23 seconds off his best time (15:23.50) in order to get under the Olympic ‘A’ cut (15:00.99).

Brown was about six seconds off his entry time of 7:56.96.

In This Story

Javier Acevedo
Josh Liendo
Kylie Masse
Pan Zhanle
Summer McIntosh

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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