14-Year-Old McIntosh May Have Qualified For Tokyo Without Yet Racing At Trials

2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

• June 19 – June 23, 2021
• Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto Pan Am Sport Centre
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Olympic Qualifying Event
• Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
• Meet Package
• Psych Sheets
• Live results

The 2021 Canadian Olympic roster has begun to grow past the original 6-strong contingent that was named earlier this year.

During night 1 of the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials, Canada likely gained 4 new Olympians for Tokyo in the form of Katerine Savard, Josh Liendo, Cole Pratt, and Summer McIntosh.

2021 Canadian Olympic Roster Through Day 1

Note: This is a presumptive list based on results from the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials and has not yet been made official by Swimming Canada

Canadian Olympic Swimming Roster 2021 (Pre-Trials):

• Kylie Masse – 100/200 backstroke
• Maggie MacNeil – 100 butterfly
• Penny Oleksiak – 200 freestyle
• Sydney Pickrem – 200/400 IM, 200 breaststroke
• Taylor Ruck – 100 freestyle/100 backstroke
• Markus Thormeyer – 100/200 backstroke
• Cole Pratt – 100 backstroke
• Katerine Savard – 100 butterfly
• Josh Liendo – 100 butterfly
• Summer McIntosh – 400 freestyle

While there was plenty of fast racing in the pool, one of the biggest storylines of night 1 came from a swim that occurred a few weeks ago. 14-year-old Summer McIntosh swam a 4:05.13 on May 27, 2021, which was a major PB and a new Canadian Age Group Record.

The reason that it is important now is that in the absence of any FINA A cuts in the women’s 400 free final, Swimming Canada now has the discretion to name McIntosh to the team based on her result from a few weeks ago.

Swimming Canada Selection Criteria:

“Priority 5 – Where an event has no nominated swimmers or only one nominated swimmer from Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 3, swimmers who have achieved the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT ‘A’) (appendix A) at FINA Approved Olympic Qualification Events between 1 st March 2019 to 23rd June 2021 will be ranked and will be nominated in rank order up to a maximum of two swimmers per event per gender-inclusive of the swimmers who were nominated under Priority 1, Priority 2 and Priority 3. Prior to nomination, all potential nominees from Priority 5 will undergo a review for Competitive Readiness.”

Alyson Ackman won the women’s 400 free in Toronto but fell short of the 4:07.90 FINA A, hitting a 4:10.92. Emily Overholt and Emma O’Croinin were also a little bit over the cut with their swims of 4:11.91 and 4:12.10.

It’s important to note that while the criteria allow for her selection, McIntosh has not been officially selected to race the 400 freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.

Starting things off in the women’s 100 butterfly, Savard swam to a 2nd place finish behind pre-selected world champion Maggie MacNeil. MacNeil was a 56.19 for the win while Savard followed with a 57.86 to get under the FINA A standard of 57.92. This will be Savard’s 3rd Olympic team, having represented Canada in 2012 and 2016.

After that, Josh Liendo swam under the men’s 100 fly FINA A cut of 51.96 with a 51.72 to pick up the national title and book his ticket to Tokyo. Liendo was actually faster during the prelims when he posted a blistering 51.40 to take out Santo Condorelli‘s former Canadian record of 51.83 from 2016.

Between the men’s and women’s 100 backstroke, Cole Pratt was the only top 2 finisher who had not yet made the team. His 53.54 2nd place finish in the event was under the 53.85 FINA A and allowed him to join fellow backstroker Markus Thormeyer, who was a 53.40 here, in Tokyo.

Thormeyer was pre-selected for the team in the 200 backstroke but his 100 backstroke victory means that he now has at least 2 individual events in his Tokyo program.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Kylie Masse swam an incredible 57.70 Canadian record to become the 3rd fastest swimmer in history. Masse already had a spot on the team for the event but this swim should give her a confidence boost heading into Tokyo where she will face a lethal field including world record holder Kaylee McKeown (57.45) and former world record holder Regan Smith (57.57). Notably, Masse is also a former world record holder herself, having hit a 58.10 WR back in 2017.

Taylor Ruck added to her 100 freestyle pre-selection by swimming a 59.60 for second in the 100 backstroke, giving her 2 individual events in Tokyo so far.