2016 Canadian Olympic Trials: Day 5 Prelims Live Recap

2016 CANADIAN OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC TRIALS

• April 5-10
• Prelims: 10 a.m EST
• Finals: 7 p.m EST
• Live Results
• Psych sheets
• Live stream
• Olympic Qualifying Times
• Selection Criteria 
• World Rankings

For the first time since the day one we’ll see five events contested here on day five, with the men’s 100 fly, 200 back and 1500 free, and the women’s 100 free and 200 breast. There will be lots of good racing this morning, including 100 free winner Santo Condorelli in the men’s 100 fly, two-time Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane in the 1500 free, and the women’s 100 free which will feature some of the sprint freestyle stars who have yet to compete here. The likes of Chantal van Landeghem and Sandrine Mainville had breakout summers, including both winning gold on the Pan Am 400 free relay team, so watch out for them and many others in a very competitive Canadian event. The women’s 200 breast will also be fast, as Canada could potentially send two swimmers in each of the five events contested this morning. The women’s 800 free final will take the place of the men’s 1500 tonight, as the final for the mile will take place during the last session tomorrow night.

Men’s 100m Butterfly Prelims

1. Mack Darragh, 53.74
2. Coleman Allen, 53.75
3. Alexandre Perreault, 53.93
4. Wyatt Yarish, 54.09
5. Ivan Cocunubo, 54.21
6. Gamal Assaad, 54.24
7. Nicolaas Dekker, 54.39
8. Josiah Binnema, 54.41
9. Kourosh Ahani, 54.43
10. Zack Chetrat, 54.52

In a very surprising turn of events, pre-race favorite Santo Condorelli has been disqualified here in the prelims and will not move onto the final. Condorelli had put up a personal best 52.32 before the DQ. In turn 200 fly winner Mack Darragh will take the top seed into tonight after clocking 53.74 this morning. He was just ahead of Coleman Allen (53.75) and Alexandre Perreault (53.93). Allen will now be the favorite heading into the final as he is the only one in the field to ever break 53 seconds, while the 17 year-old Perreault had a breakout swim taking off over a second from his seed time.

With Condorelli out the men will have some work to do if they’re going to send anyone in this event, as no one was close to the FINA-A standard of 52.36 this morning.

Tonight the B-final will feature Tom Kremer (53.52) and Marcin Cieslak (53.69), who posted the top times of anyone this morning.Missing out was American Tom Shields, who was three seconds off his best time in 54.05.

Women’s 100m Freestyle Prelims

1. Penny Oleksiak, 54.07
2. Chantal Van Landeghem, 54.44
3. Sandrine Mainville, 54.48
4. Michelle Williams, 54.58
5. Jacqueline Keire, 54.94
6. Alexia Zevnik, 55.01
7. Katerine Savard, 55.05
8. Leah Troskot, 55.53
9. Rebecca Smith, 55.71
10. Ariane Mainville, 55.85

Fifteen year-old Penny Oleksiak will look to qualify for her third individual event for the Olympics tonight in the women’s 100 free after posting the top time of the morning in 54.07. That swim takes nearly half a second off her previous best time, and puts her well under the FINA-A standard of 54.43.

The second seed went to Pan Am champion Chantal Van Landeghem, who posted a time of 54.44, one one-hundredth off the FINA-A standard she’ll be looking to hit tonight. It shouldn’t be a problem for her as she is the national record holder with her swim from Pan Ams (53.83). Canada has qualified for this relay in Rio after their 5th place finish at the 2015 World Championships, so the top-4 finishers will all qualify for the relay. Sandrine Mainville (54.48) and Michelle Williams (54.58) both will have a great chance to make it tonight as they sit 3rd and 4th after this morning, and Katerine Savard, who was on the relay last year with Van Landeghem, Mainville and Williams is lurking in 7th at 55.05.

Taylor Ruck had another disappointing morning swim, clocking 55.88 for 11th overall and misses a spot in the A-final. Ruck was nearly two seconds off her best time of 53.92 from the 2015 Junior World Championships.

Men’s 200m Backstroke Prelims

1. Jeremie Dezwirek, 1:59.06
2. Markus Thormeyer, 2:02.74
3. Rob Hill, 2:02.85
4. Bryce Kananowicz, 2:02.87
5. Noah Choboter, 2:03.27
6. Chad Bobrosky, 2:03.52
7. Russell Wood, 2:03.59
8. Adam Best, 2:03.63
9. Matthew Mac, 2:03.88
10. Javier Acevedo, 2:04.37

Jeremie Dezwirek asserted himself this morning in the men’s 200 back, posting the only time under two minutes in 1:59.06, a new personal best. He now also owns the fastest PB in the field, eclipsing Russell Wood‘s best time of 1:59.18. Dezwirek will look to track down the FINA-A cut of 1:58.22 tonight.

The second seed tonight belongs to Markus Thormeyer who was over three seconds back in 2:02.74. Thormeyer will look to break two minutes for the first time tonight. Pre-race favorite Russell Wood qualified just 7th for the final, clocking 2:03.59 this morning. It will be interesting to see what kind of performance we see from Wood tonight as this will be his last shot at the Olympic team. 100 back winner Javier Acevedo snuck into the A-final, placing 10th this morning in 2:04.37.

The B-final will be one to watch tonight as well, as Jacob Pebley (1:56.93) and Ryan Murphy (1:58.09) will both swim. The Americans will be joined by Kiwi’s Corey Main (1:59.04) and Bailey Main (2:04.04).

Women’s 200m Breaststroke Prelims

1. Kierra Smith, 2:25.47
2. Rachel Nicol, 2:27.04
3. Martha McCabe, 2:27.58
4. Ashley McGregor, 2:27.61
5. Kelsey Wog, 2:28.80
6. Tera Van Beilen, 2:29.33
7. Sydney Pickrem, 2:31.25
8. Miranda Stever, 2:32.11
9. Genevieve Robertson, 2:32.37
10. Tianna Rissling, 2:33.10

As expected Kierra Smith took the top seed in the women’s 200 breast this morning, clocking a time of 2:25.47. That time is under the FINA-A standard of 2:26.94, but Smith will likely only be satisfied if she can get down close to her personal best time of 2:22.82 from the 2015 World Championships. She has already qualified for the team in the 100 breast.

As has Rachel Nicol, who like Smith will be looking to add a second individual event in Rio. Nicol posted the 2nd fastest time in 2:27.04, as she’ll look to finish in the top-2 and get under the FINA-A standard. 2012 Olympian Martha McCabe was 3rd in 2:27.58, and Ashley McGregor was 4th in 2:27.61. Smith is the favorite for tonight, but the race for the 2nd spot should be an intriguing one. McCabe could challenge Smith tonight as her best time is actually faster (2:22.75), and 6th seed Tera Van Beilen will be dangerous as well as she has a best time of 2:24.03.

Men’s 1500m Freestyle Prelims

1. Ryan Cochrane, 15:08.03
2. Peter Brothers, 15:32.21
3. Eric Hedlin, 15:32.27
4. Kier Maitland, 15:36.30
5. Philippe Guertin, 15:37.78
6. Jon McKay, 15:39.17
7. Colin Gilbert, 15:44.70
8. Hau-Li Fan, 15:46.13
9. Josh Zakala, 15:47.18
10. Alexander Pratt, 15:49.84

Ryan Cochrane cruised to the top seed in the heats of the men’s 1500, coming in at 15:08.03, a time under the FINA-A standard of 15:14.77. He will be looking for a much faster time tomorrow night in the final. His best time and national record stands at 14:39.63 from the 2012 Olympics, but he has stated he’d like to be faster than he was last year at the World Championships (14:51.08).

The battle for second tomorrow could be fierce, with qualifiers 2-6 all within less than seven seconds of each other. Qualifying 2nd was Peter Brothers, who had a great swim in the 400 free finishing 2nd in a big best time. After the performance in the 400 its very possible Brothers could approach the standard of 15:14.77. His best time as it stands now is 15:26.55.

Seeded third is Eric Hedlin in 15:32.27, and 4th is Kier Maitland in 15:36.30. Hedlin is the third fastest Canadian ever in this event, with a best time of 15:03.64 from 2013. However, last year at the trials he was nearly 40 seconds off his best time. Maitland finished 2nd to Cochrane at the trials last year in a best time15:12.47, a time under the FINA-A cut. I’d call him the favorite for 2nd place right now, and we’ll have to wait and see if Brothers, Hedlin, or maybe Jon McKay can rise to the challenge and give him a race for 2nd. McKay was 3rd at last years trials in 15:22.27, and has a best time of 15:18.69. He qualified 6th for tomorrow, and qualifying 5th was Philippe Guertin who has a best time of 15:24.66.