TORONTO – The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Swimming Trials, presented by Bell, concluded on Wednesday night with 16-year-old Katrina Bellio and Tessa Cieplucha qualifying to be nominated for their first Olympic Games.

The Canadian swimming team for Tokyo 2020 will be officially announced Thursday on Swimming Canada, COC and CBC digital channels.

Bellio, who hails from Mississauga, Ont., and trains at Etobicoke Swim Club with Rob Novak, won the women’s 1500m freestyle, while Cieplucha, a 22-year-old from Oakville, Ont., finished second in the women’s 400m individual medley, both in Olympic standard times.

Kelowna, B.C.’s Taylor Ruck also qualified for nomination in an event on Day 5, thanks to a second-place finish in the women’s 200m backstroke.

Bellio posted a personal-best 16:29:67 in the 1500, an event set to make its Olympic debut in the Japanese capital. She was motivated to get nominated after her 800m heat as well as the performances of 14-year-old Summer McIntosh earlier this week.

At age 7, Bellio was inspired by the exploits of two-time Canadian Olympian Brittany MacLean. Now, she looks to follow in MacLean’s footsteps with a qualification to the Olympics. Finishing second in this evening’s race was 15-year-old Abby Dunford, with a time of 16:38.75.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Bellio. “It’s incredible to be 16 years old and to be nominated. I’ve completed my lifelong dream.”

Cieplucha, who trains with coach Sean Baker at the Markham Aquatic Club, finished behind Sydney Pickrem in the 400 IM, in 4:37.26. Swimming neck and neck with Pickrem for the majority of the race propelled Cieplucha to reach the wall under the qualifying time.

“She’s pushed me on my journey in this race,” Cieplucha said of Pickrem. “I’m super happy I got to swim beside her today.”

Pickrem, an HPC-Ontario swimmer who was one of the swimmers provisionally nominated by Swimming Canada’s Selection Committee earlier this year, clocked a winning time of 4:37:03. The 24-year-old, who also won the women’s 200 IM earlier in the week, was full of praise for Cieplucha after her performance.

“I just wanted to raise her arm up and say, ‘You did it, you’re an Olympian,’” Pickrem said.

In the third final of the evening, Rio Olympian Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., earned Bell Performance of the Day honours after she prevailed in the women’s 200m backstroke, an event in which she had been provisionally nominated. Her time of 2:06.67 was seven tenths of a second away from her own Canadian record. On the same day as her graduation from the University of Toronto in Kinesiology, Masse, the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist in the 100 back, continues to prove to herself that she can be one of the best swimmers in the world in the backstroke.

Masse also received the female Swim of the Meet award for the Canadian record 57.70 she posted in the 100-m backstroke on Day 1. Meanwhile, Brent Hayden’s blazing Day 3 50-m freestyle time of 21.82 stood as the male Swim of the Meet.

“I just love racing,” Masse said. “Training is hard day in day out but racing is the best part. I love the opportunity to race.”

Ruck finished second in 2:09:25, below the Olympic standard time. The 21-year-old won bronze medals in the 4×100 and 4x200m freestyle relays in Rio.

In other action Wednesday, Collyn Gagne of Simon Fraser Aquatic set a personal best to win the men’s 400m individual medley in 4:18:65. Cole Pratt of Calgary, who qualified for nomination earlier this week in the men’s 100m backstroke, won the 200m back in 1:58.11, while Eric Brown of Pointe-Claire, Que., took 13 seconds off of his personal best with a 7:59.87 win in the men’s 800m freestyle.

A total of 184 swimmers from 65 clubs across the country competed for spots on Team Canada for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that are taking place July 23 – Aug. 8.

CBC Sports weekly staple ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES will provide broadcast coverage on Saturday, June 26 starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on CBC TV.

RESULTS: https://results.swimming.ca/2020_Olympic_Swimming_Trials/

NOTES: Six swimmers were provisionally nominated by Swimming Canada’s Selection Committee earlier this year, including Kylie Masse (100m and 200m backstroke), Margaret Mac Neil (100m butterfly), Penny Oleksiak (200m freestyle), Sydney Pickrem (200m breaststroke, 200m and 400m individual medley), Taylor Ruck (100m freestyle) and Markus Thormeyer (200m backstroke).

QUALIFIED FOR NOMINATION: TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES