2016 Canadian Olympic Trials: Day 6 Finals Live Recap

2016 CANADIAN OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC TRIALS

The final night of swimming is upon as at the Canadian Olympic Trials, with plenty of exciting swims scheduled for tonight. On the men’s side we’ll see the 50 free, 200 IM and 1500 free, with a few opportunities for new swimmers to qualify or the team. Santo Condorelli and Ryan Cochrane are the two favorites in the freestyle events and have already qualified, but there’s a good chance they can get two swimmers qualified in both these races if the others can step up. Karl Krug and Kier Maitland are favored for the runner-up positions. The 200 IM will be wide open, and whether or not someone qualifies for the team remains to be seen as no one was within two and a half seconds this morning.

It would be a shock on the women’s side if two women didn’t qualify in both the 50 free and 200 back, as both events have at least three women capable in each of getting under the standard. Hilary Caldwell will likely be the only new qualifier on the women’s side. The men’s medley relay will close off the session looking to improve their ranking in the event in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.

Women’s 50m Freestyle Final

  1. Chantal Van Landeghem, 24.63 OQ
  2. Michelle Williams, 24.82 OQ
  3. Sandrine Mainville, 25.04

As expected national record holder Chantal Van Landeghem touched first to claim the win in the 50 freestyle, going 24.63. She was just off her national record of 24.39, but was well under the qualifying standard of 25.28. Her High Performance Ontario teammate Michelle Williams finished 2nd in 24.82, also qualifying her for the Olympics. Both had already qualified in the 100 free for Van Landeghem and the 4×100 relay for Williams.

Finishing 3rd was Sandrine Mainville in 25.04, also under the standard but unable to earn a berth in this event as she didn’t finish in the top-2. Like Williams, Mainville has qualified in the 4×100 free relay. Leah Troskot finished 4th in 25.59, and Riki Bonnema was 5th in 25.63.

Taylor Ruck won the B-final in 25.66.

Men’s 50m Freestyle Final

  • Olympic Qualifying Standard – 22.27
  • Top Seed for Tonight – Santo Condorelli, 22.34
  • Canadian Record – Brent Hayden, 21.73 (2009)
  1. Yuri Kisil, 22.23 OQ
  2. Santo Condorelli, 22.25 OQ
  3. Karl Krug, 22.45

He wasn’t favored to finish in the top two in this event, but Yuri Kisil pulled out the win at the finish in a new best time of 22.23, taking off a considerable amount from his previous best time of 22.52. Santo Condorelli appeared to have the win locked up, but Kisil’s reach got him at the touch. Condorelli finished a close 2nd in 22.25, as they both qualify in this event for the Olympics sneaking under the 22.27 standard.

Karl Krug, who won this race at the 2015 trials, had to settle for 3rd in 22.45, and the runner-up last year Alex Loginov was 4th in 22.56. Both swimmers were slower here than they were last year. Also getting under 23 seconds was Mirando Jarry (22.62), Chris Manning (22.72), and Luke Peddie (22.84).

Simonas Bilis clocked the top time in the B-final in a quick 22.10, just ahead of Dylan Carter (22.64) and Derek Toomey (22.67). Bilis represents Lithuania in international competition, while Carter represents Trinidad and Tobago and Toomey the United States. Bilis’ time is the 10th fastest in the world this year.

Women’s 200m Backstroke Final

  1. Hilary Caldwell, 2:07.96 OQ
  2. Dominique Bouchard, 2:08.52 OQ
  3. Kennedy Goss, 2:09.64

In a race where we saw four different women get under the FINA-A standard it was Canadian record holder Hilary Caldwell touching 1st in 2:07.96, elevating her into 4th in the world. Caldwell makes the team after missing out in the 100m. Runner-up Dominique Bouchard touched in 2:08.52 to clinch her second individual event for the Olympics, just off her PB of 2:08.16. Bouchard moves into 7th in the world. Both will be threats to final at the Olympics.

2015-2016 LCM Women 200 BACK

MayaUSA
DI RADO
08/12
2.05.99
2Katinka
HOSSZU
HUN2.06.0308/11
3Belinda
HOCKING
AUS2.06.4904/13
4Emily
SEEBOHM
AUS2.06.5904/13
5Daria K.
USTINOVA
RUS2.06.9204/22
6Hilary
CALDWELL
CAN2.07.1708/11
7Madison
WILSON
AUS2.07.1801/22
View Top 26»

NCAA bronze medalist Kennedy Goss closed incredibly fast on the final 50 to pull into 3rd in a big best time of 2:09.64. She passed 100m back winner Kylie Masse in the final 15m, as Masse settles for 4th in 2:09.71, one one-hundredth off her personal best time. This event is proving to be one of Canada’s most competitive.

Meryn McCann was 5th in 2:11.11, and Alexia Zevnik was 6th in 2:11.84.

American Elizabeth Beisel won the B-final in 2:10.42.

Men’s 200m IM Final

  • Olympic Qualifying Standard – 2:00.28
  • Top Seed for Tonight – Luke Reilly, 2:03.07
  • Canadian Record – Keith Beavers, 1:59.19 (2008)
  1. Luke Reilly, 2:00.71
  2. Evan White, 2:01.53
  3. Mack Darragh, 2:01.69

Luke Reilly completed the IM sweep here in the 200 IM, touching 1st in a best time of 2:00.71, just off the FINA-A standard of 2:00.28. Evan White was 2nd in 2:01.53, as he was unable to get down to his 2014 form when he went 1:59.84. 100 and 200 butterfly winner Mack Darragh finished in a personal best of 2::01.69 for 3rd, and Rob Hill was 4th in 2:03.29.

The B-final was won by Marcin Cieslak in 2:02.20.

Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final

  • Olympic Qualifying Standard – 15:14.77
  • Top Seed for Tonight – Ryan Cochrane, 15:08.03
  • Canadian Record – Ryan Cochrane, 14:39.63 (2012)
  1. Ryan Cochrane, 15:00.75 OQ
  2. Peter Brothers, 15:21.19
  3. Kier Maitland, 15:30.24

Two-time Olympic medalist in this event Ryan Cochrane qualified for the 1500 freestyle at the Olympics for the third straight time, going 15:00.75 to finish 1st. He wasn’t quite as fast as he’d like to be, but Cochrane has historically swam much faster later in the summer than he does in April. His time ranks him 7th in the world. He’ll look to challenge distance stars Gregorio PaltrinieriConnor Jaeger, and Sun Yang at the Olympics this summer.

2015-2016 LCM Men 1500 Free

2Connor
JAEGER
USA14.39.4808/13
3Mack
HORTON
AUS14.39.5404/14
4Gabriele
DETTI
ITA14.40.8608/13
5Jordan
WILIMOVSKY
USA14.45.0308/13
6Jack
McLOUGHLIN
AUS14.48.6004/14
7Damien
JOLY
FRA14.48.9008/12
View Top 26»

400 free runner-up Peter Brothers finished in the same position here, posting a personal best of 15:21.19, missing the FINA-A standard of 15:14.77. Kier Maitland came into the meet seeded 3rd after going 15:12 last year, but was unable to reach that form clocking 15:30.24. Eric Hedlin was 4th in 15:32.34, nearly 30 seconds off his best from 2013, and Jon McKay was 5th in 15:35.23.

Men’s 400m Medley Relay

  • Canadian Record – 3:31.02 (2009)

Canada didn’t finish in the top-12 at the World Championships- they were 13th, so they didn’t earn an automatic qualification in the 400 medley relay. Their time from the Pan Ams (3:34.40) currently sits as the top time among teams who haven’t qualified, and the top-4 at May 31st will qualify for the Olympics.

They were very close, but just off that mark tonight, clocking 3:34.55. The splits for tonight were as follows:

  • Javier Acevedo (BK) – 53.78
  • Jason Block (BR) – 1:00.92
  • Santo Condorelli (FLY) – 51.60
  • Yuri Kisil (FR) – 48.25

Javier Acevedo was just off his time from the individual 100 back in 53.78, and Jason Block was a few tenths off his time from the 100 breast finals, but both Santo Condorelli and Yuri Kisil had fast splits. Condorelli, who was DQed in the 100 fly, split 51.60, well under his best time of 52.41. Kisil’s split of 48.25 was under his 100m time of 48.58.

Their time from Pan Ams of 3:34.40 will stand up as their time, and it’s very likely that will qualify them for the Olympics. However, they won’t know for sure until the end of May.

  • Female Swim of the Meet: Penny Oleksiak, 100 Butterfly
  • Male Swim of the Meet: Santo Condorelli, 100 Freestyle

 

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thomaslurzfan
8 years ago

Pretty disappointing: Womens 50 free. I thought that Van Landeghem might be at 24 low in Rio, but now it will be very difficult.
Very disappointing: Mens 1500 free. It should be very difficult for Cochrane to reach the final. We have Detti, Paltrinieri, Yang, Jaeger, Horton, Akrem, Christiansen, 2 brits, McBroom probably all at sub 14:50. I think the final will be Detti, Paltrinieri, Yang, Jaeger, Horton, Akrem and 2 out of the 2 brits, Christiansen and McBroom.

Interested
8 years ago

Any chance that Atkinson adds anyone else to the team besides for the relays?

Forgotten Swimmer
Reply to  Interested
8 years ago

Not without completely disregarding athlete rights.

JSWIM
Reply to  Forgotten Swimmer
8 years ago

I’ve been waiting for that . . . thanks Forgotten!

Leblanc's Montréal.
8 years ago

Congratulations Taylor!
Best to come.

Rafael
8 years ago

Canada is pretty safe on the medley relay the problem is the 4×200

anon
8 years ago

No surprises to team named to Olympics, with the exception of Taylor Ruck. Excellent decision to take her to Rio.

SwimStrong
Reply to  anon
8 years ago

I would say not naming Jason Block as part of the Men’s Medley relay was a surprise to me. They may officially name him later in June after they know for sure that they have a medley relay going. But counting on Baumann (winner of the 200 Br and on the team) to swim on the relay when he was a 1:01.5 doesn’t give Canada a chance imo.

Canswim13
8 years ago

Taylor Ruck makes the team.
Smart decision if she can get back to her 2015 World jr. form

NickH
8 years ago

Looks like Taylor Ruck gets the nomination for the free relays. Not a bad choice in my opinion, considering the best times that she has. A little bit surprised that they didn’t name a male 100 breaststroker for the relay, perhaps they could use Baumann, or maybe add someone else later.

Splash
Reply to  NickH
8 years ago

Well the medley relay hasn’t yet qualified for Rio, the need to wait to see if they are still in the top 4 of the unqualified medley relay teams before Block can be named to the team. That being said, they are currently in a good position to qualify, and it is likely that Block will be added to the team at a later date.

SwimStrong
Reply to  Splash
8 years ago

I was convinced that they were going to nominate Jason Block to the men’s medley relay, then i reread the selection criteria (http://swimswam.com/qualify-2016-canadian-olympic-team/) and if they had gone under 3:34.02 tonight (they went 3:34.5), then he would have been named according to priority 5. However, looking a little deeper and adding up all the 100 time winners, if Santo hadn’t been disqualified in the 100 fly prelims, they additive time would have been a ~3:33.36 (3:35.16-1.8) well under the relay qualification standard.

So breaking down what I said above, if Santo wouldn’t have got disqualified in the 100 Fly prelims and assuming he won at night since he was a second faster than everyone, their relay… Read more »

Splash
Reply to  SwimStrong
8 years ago

Well it is also easier to add someone later on once they know that the team has indeed qualified, rather than naming someone to the team and then having the relay not qualify and subsequently having to remove the person from the team.

Splash
8 years ago

Ruck got added as a relay alternate

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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