TORONTO – The future of Canadian swimming was on full display Saturday on the sixth and penultimate night of the Olympic & Paralympic Trials, Presented by Bell.   

Finlay Knox from the High Performance Centre – Vancouver, in the men’s 200-m individual medley, and Toronto’s Josh Liendo, in the men’s 50 freestyle, lowered their own national records in back-to-back finals at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. 

Earlier in the evening, Toronto’s 17-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh posted the fastest time in the world this year – and the second fastest of her career – in the women’s 200 butterfly, while 16-year-old Para swimming sensation Reid Maxwell from the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club smashed his own Canadian standard in the men’s 100 backstroke S8.  

As a first-place finisher achieving the Olympic Qualifying Time, Knox qualified under Priority 1 to be nominated to the Olympic Team when the official announcement is made at the conclusion of Sunday’s finals. 

The 23-year-old had already qualified to be considered for nomination as a relay swimmer thanks to his win in the 100 breaststroke and third-place finish in the 100 free. 

McIntosh’s qualifying time in the 200 fly was her fourth of the week. Liendo had previously merited Priority 1 status thanks to his win in the 100 free. 

In Para swimming, Maxwell was one of three athletes to post “A” qualifying times on Day 6, along with Katie Cosgriffe (S10) from the Oakville Aquatic Club and Shelby Newkirk (S6) from the Saskatoon Lasers in the women’s 100 back. 

It was the second A time of the week for both Maxwell and Cosgriffe, while Newkirk put herself   in position to be nominated to the Paralympic Team for the first time (subject to slot allocations of 15 women and seven men).  

Knox resumed his sensational season in the men’s 200 IM, clocking 1:56.07 to best the time of 1:56.64 that allowed time to capture his first career world title at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships in February. 

He also claimed gold in the event last fall at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. 

“We’ve been putting a lot of work on that and obviously that’s paying off,” said Knox, who placed 17th in the event in his Olympic debut in Tokyo. 

“One thing I’ve learned this last year is to take every bit of confidence you can get. Celebrate the small wins, celebrate the big wins, and tonight’s a big win. Winning the world title was a big win, and just using it as fuel to the fire and every time I step out now, I know what I’m capable of doing.” 

In the men’s 50 free, Liendo prevailed in 21.48 to smash his previous best of 21.61 set at the 2022 Worlds in Budapest, where he finished fifth.  

The 21 year-old led from start to finish to out-touch Yuri Kisil from Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club, who missed the qualifying time of 21.96 by five hundredths of a second. 

“It feels good,” said Liendo, who was 18th in his first Olympic appearance in the short sprint three years ago. “I’m a lot faster than I was last year at this time, so I’m just happy with it. I just want to keep building from there and see what I can do next. 

A large contingent of local fans and family was in the crowd cheering him on once again, including his 20-year-old sister Sophia, who sang the national anthem before finals.  

“It means a lot. My cousin showed up today, this is my home pool, my mom and dad have been here every night. My sister sang the anthem, so it’s really cool. It’s kind of surreal that it’s all happening, but I’m just happy to be here and happy to have my whole family as part of it.” 

In the women’s 200 fly, McIntosh clocked 2:04.33, just over her Canadian senior and world junior record of 2:04.06 set at Fukuoka 2023, when she claimed her second straight world title in the event.  

She had already achieved qualifying times earlier this week in the 200 and 400 free, as well as the 400 IM. 

“I try not to focus too much on how fast I go compared to others,” McIntosh said. “When it comes to the Olympic Games, everyone’s going to give that much more, so it’s just important to focus on how I increase the pace. 

McIntosh added she was thrilled to head to her second Olympics in many different events. 

“It’s so exciting. In Tokyo, I just did freestyle events, so being able to come back to doing my favorite events, which is more IM along with the freestyle still, is really fun. Just to kind of see how to balance all of it together.” 

In the last Olympic program final of the evening, 18-year-old Julia Strojnowska from the Canadian Dolphin Swim Club prevailed in a personal best 8:38.36, over the qualifying time. 

On the Paralympic side, Maxwell won the men’s 100 back multiclass final in 1:08.86 to lower his own national S8 mark of 1:09.48 set in February at the WPS World Series in Aberdeen, U.K. 

His qualifying win Wednesday in the 400 free was also in Canadian record time.  

“It’s been pretty much the same prep all week,” Maxwell said. “You kind of tune out before your race, visualize everything, and then coming you see everyone in the stands and it motivates you a little bit more. 

“I’m just going to keep training, keep trying to put in the work, and just keep trying to get faster.” 

Cosgriffe, who hails from Burlington, Ont., won the women’s multiclass final in a career best 1:08.52, well under the S10 “A” time of 1:10.82, while Saskatoon’s Newkirk placed second in 1:22.33, more than six seconds under the required S6 time of 1:28.79. 

Newkirk, a Tokyo Paralympian, is the reigning two-time S6 world champion in the event.   

In the morning preliminaries of the 100 back, Emma Van Dyk, a native of Port Colborne, Ont., who represents Brock Niagara Aquatics, lowered her own national S14 mark with a 1:10.99 swim, over the “A” time.  

A total of 857 athletes from 151 clubs across the country are competing to represent Canada at the Olympic Games (July 26-Aug. 11) and Paralympic Games (Aug. 28-Sept. 8) in Paris. Teams for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships (Aug. 21-24) in Canberra, Australia, and Open Water Junior World Championships (Sept. 6-8) in Alghero, Italy, are also being selected. 

Preliminary heats are at 9:30 a.m. ET each day, with finals sessions set for 6 p.m.  

All sessions are being streamed live by CBC Sports, with a nightly highlight show on CBC TV. Live streams can be watched on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. All sessions will be also streamed on TOU.TV and Radio-Canada Sports platforms, with highlight shows broadcast Saturday and Sunday from 3-5 p.m. on ICI Télé. Highlights from the Trials will also be featured on CBC Sports’ weekend programming block on Saturday starting at 4 p.m. ET and Sunday at 3 p.m. on CBC TV and CBC Gem. 

 
RESULTS: https://results.swimming.ca/2024_Olympic_Paralympic_Trials/ 

QUALIFIED FOR NOMINATION (Priority 1): PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES (after Day 6 of Trials) 

Name	Hometown	Club	Event(s)
Javier Acevedo	Toronto, Ont.	HPC-Ontario	M 100 Back
Mary-Sophie Harvey	Trois-Rivières, Que.	CAMO	W 100 Fly & 200 Free
Tristan Jankovics	Guelph, Ont.	Royal City Aquatics	M 400 IM
Ilya Kharun	Montreal, Que.	Arizona State University	M 200 Fly
Yuri Kisil	Calgary, Alta.	Cascade Swim Club	M 100 Free
Finlay Knox	Okotoks, Alta.	HPC-Vancouver	M 200 IM
Josh Liendo	Toronto, Ont.	North York Aquatic Club	M 50 Free, 100 Free
Maggie Mac Neil	London, Ont.	London Aquatic Club	W 100 Fly
Kylie Masse	LaSalle, Ont.	Toronto Swim Club	W 100 Back, 200 Back
Summer McIntosh	Toronto, Ont.	Sarasota Sharks	W 200 Free, 400 Free, 400 IM, 200 Fly
Sydney Pickrem	N/A	Toronto Swim Club	W 200 Breast
Regan Rathwell	Ashton, Ont.	HPC-Ontario	W 200 Back
Blake Tierney	Saskatoon, Sask.	HPC-Vancouver	M 100 Back, 200 Back
Ingrid Wilm	Calgary, Alta.	Cascade Swim Club	W 100 Back
Kelsey Wog	Winnipeg, Man.	University of Manitoba	W 200 Breast

QUALIFIED FOR NOMINATION (“A” qualifying time): PARIS 2024 PARALYMPIC GAMES (after Day 6 of Trials) 

Name	Hometown	Club	Event(s)
Nicholas Bennett	Parksville, B.C.	Red Deer Catalina SC	M 100 Breast SB14, 200 IM SM14
Katie Cosgriffe	Burlington, Ont.	Oakville Aquatic Club	W 100 Fly S10, 100 Back S10
Danielle Dorris	Moncton, N.B.	CNBO	W 50 Fly S7
Sabrina Duchesne	Saint-Augustin, Que.	Rouge et Or	W 400 Free S7
Alec Elliot	Kitchener, Ont.	CNQ	M 200 IM SM10
Sebastian Massabie	Surrey, B.C.	Pacific Sea Wolves SC	M 100 Free S4
Reid Maxwell	St. Albert, Alta.	EKSC	M 400 Free S8, 100 Back S8
Shelby Newkirk	Saskatoon, Sask.	Saskatoon Lasers	W 100 Back S6
Aurélie Rivard	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.	CNQ	W 100 Free, 400 Free S10
Tess Routliffe	Caledon, Ont.	HPC-Quebec	W 50 Fly S7, 100 Breast SB7, 200 IM SM7
Katarina Roxon	Kippens, N.L.	Aqua Aces Swim Club	W 100 Breast SB8