2023 Canadian Trials: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2023 CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS

• March 28 – April 2, 2023
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – Toronto, Ontario
• TPASC
• Long Course Meters
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
• Day 5 Prelims Live Recap |

As is the case whenever she is set to race, all eyes will be on Summer McIntosh tonight. She is the top seed in the 400 IM and is on high alert for a world junior record and maybe even a world record. Her best time is a 4:28.61 from December 2022, which is the current world junior record and only seconds away from Katinka Hosszu‘s 4:26.36.

Before McIntosh’s swim, we will see Kylie Masse, Ella Varga, Ingrid Wilm, and others face off in the 200 backstrokes, each trying to hit the 2:11.08 FINA A standard. Then it’ll be the men’s 200 backstroke where Richie Stokes holds the top seed courtesy of his 1:59.55 morning swim. The fourth event of the meet is the men’s 400 IM and then we’ll close out with the multi-class 150 and 200 IMs.

Women’s 200 Backstroke Final

• World Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (Australia) – 2023
• Canadian Record: 2:05.42, Kylie Masse – 2021
• FINA ‘A’ Cut: 2:11.08

1. Kylie Masse – 2:07.13
2. Ingrid Wilm – 2:10.19
3. Ella Varga – 2:11.22

Two-time Olympian Kylie Masse was the favorite in this event and pulled off the win by swimming a . Masse’s Canadian record in this event comes from her swim at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago when she won a silver medal. This 2:07.13 is Masse’s 10th-fastest swim in her career and makes her the 3rd-fastest woman in the world this year.

Masse is well under the FINA A cut with this swim, which means that she is set to race the backstroke triple at the 2023 World Championships this summer. Also under the FINA A standard was Ingrid Wilm who hit a 2:10.19 for the silver medal. Wilm beat her prelims time of 2:13.67 by more than three seconds and also beat her best time from 2022 of 2:11.61.

Wilm had already qualified for the 100 backstroke this summer and has added a second event to her lineup with this swim.

Ella Varga was the second seed heading into the A final, having swum a 2:12.18 in the morning. While she improved upon her time and was less than a second slower than Wilm, she missed the FINA A cut by 0.14 seconds here. This is a new PB for Varga who came into the meet with a 2:11.95.

Delia Lloyd of ESwim placed 4th overall in the final with a 2:14.24 and Jordan Greber wasn’t too far behind with her time of 2:14.53 for 5th place.

Men’s 200 Backstroke Final

• World Record: 1:51.92, Aaron Peirsol (USA) – 2009
• Canadian Record: 1:56.96, Markus Thormeyer – 2019
• FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:58.07

Update: Hugh McNeill was originally missing from our results but has since been added.

1. Hugh McNeill – 1:58.07
2. Aiden Norman – 1:59.35
3. Raben Dommann – 1:59.73

Hugh McNeill pulled off an incredible feat as he exactly matched the FINA A standard of 1:58.07 in the men’s 200 backstroke final. He dropped 4.12 seconds off his morning swim of 2:02.19 to power his way to a gold medal and win this event by over a second. McNeill has likely qualified for the World Championships with this swim.

Aiden Norman took half of a second off of his morning swim and broke 2 minutes again in the final with a 1:59.35 to win the silver medal. Norman and Raben Dommann were in a heated battle until the very end of this race and touched less than 0.40 seconds apart.

Dommann came into the wall with a 1:59.73 for the bronze medal, improving upon his morning swim of 2:00.48 as well as his lifetime best heading into the meet of 2:05.92 from just last month. Norman also cracked 2 minutes for the first time at this mean, beating his 2:01.26 entry time from earlier in 2023.

Tristan Jankovics made it so that four men in this event got under 2 minutes by swimming a 1:59.93 to slightly beat his 1:59.93 prelims time. Blake Tierney also narrowly missed the podium by swimming a 2:00.28 and Richie Stokes rounded out the top six with a 2:01.69.

Women’s 400 IM Final

• World Record: 4:26.36, Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) – 2016
• Canadian Record: 4:28.61, Summer McIntosh – 2022
• FINA ‘A’ Cut: 4:43.06

1. Summer McIntosh – 4:25.87
2. Sydney Pickrem – 4:39.81
3. Mabel Zavaros – 4:42.27

The world was watching Summer McIntosh again tonight and she delivered her second world record of this meet by hitting a 4:25.87 to take out Katinka Hosszu‘s 4:26.36 time from 2016. McIntosh beat her own Canadian, Commonwealth, and world junior records or 4:28.61 with this swim, en route to becoming the first female under 4:26.00.

McIntosh first broke this world junior record a year ago at the 2022 Canadian Trials, swimming a 4:34.86, which means that she has taken almost 9 seconds off if roughly one year. McIntosh is now the fastest female in history in both the 400 freestyle and 400 IM. McIntosh will go into the 2023 World Championships as the defending champion and world record holder in this event and will be the clear favorite to win gold.

McIntosh won this event by over 13 seconds as Sydney Pickrem came into the wall with a 4:39.81 for the silver medal. That time also gets Pickrem under the FINA A standard and will add another event to her lineup this summer in Fukuoka.

Mabel Zavaros was under the FINA A cut as well, swimming a 4:2.27 for the bronze medal and Ella Jansen rounded out the top four with a 4:44.23.

Men’s 400 IM Final

• World Record: 4:03.84, Michael Phelps (USA) – 2008
• Canadian Record: 4:11.41, Brian Johns – 2008
• FINA ‘A’ Cut: 4:17.48

1. Lorne Wigginton – 4:16.14
2. Collyn Gagne – 4:17.44
3. Ilya Kharun – 4:21.25

The top seed in tonight’s final Lorne Wigginton pulled off a gold medal swim when he touched a full second before anyone else in the field with a 4:16.14. That was a new best time for Wigginton, improving upon the 4:19.40 that he swam while representing Canada at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

In addition to a new PB, this time for Wigginton under the FINA A cut in the 400 IM of 4:17.48, meaning that he has seemingly booked a spot on the World Championships team for this year. Silver medalist Collyn Gagne also clinched a World Champs-qualifying time, getting under the cut by just 0.04 seconds. Gagne hit a 4:17.44 to slightly improve upon the 4:17.82 best time he entered with.

200 butterfly champion Ilya Kharun got onto another podium here in the 400 IM when he hit a 4:21.25 for the bronze medal and Ben Cote was fourth overall with a 4:23.14.

Para Women’s 150 IM Final

1. Jordan Tucker – 3:50.52
2. Niki Ens – 4:27.73
3. Aly Van Wyck-Smart – 4:32.83

Jordan Tucker swam a 3:50.52 150 IM to win the gold medal in the 150 IM. She entered this meet with a best time of 3:50.79 from last year but dropped down to a 3:46.52 during prelims, establishing a new best time. Tucker was exactly four seconds slower tonight with her finals time to secure the gold medal.

Niki Ens swam a 4:27.73, shaving 1.89 seconds off her prelims time, to claim the silver medal. Also on the podium, Aly Van Wyck-Smart rounded out the podium here by swimming a 4:32.83 while Hannah Burns took 4th place with a 4:16.43.

Para Women’s 200 IM Final

1. Tess Routliffe – 3:07.21
2. Danielle Dorris – 3:07.93
3. Katie Cosgriffe – 2:39.04

In the final women’s event of the night, it was Tess Routliffe for gold as she swam a 3:07.21 200 IM. Routliffe has won Olympic and World Championships silver in this event and holds a lifetime best of 2:58.06 from back in 2019.

Danielle Dorris was also a bit slower than her lifetime best in this event, which is a 2:59.62. She posted a 3:07.93 for the silver medal and Katie Cosgriffe pulled off a bronze medal swim with her 2:39.04.

Para Men’s 200 IM Final

1. Nicholas Bennett – 2:10.71
2. Zach Zona – 2:44.88
3. Connor Bissett – 2:30.43

To close out the second last night of this meet, Nicholas Bennett won his third event of this meet by hitting a 2:10.71 200 IM. He added another gold medal here to the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly medals he won earlier on this week.

Zach Zona was the silver medalist with his swim of 2:44.88 and Connor Bissett got into third position overall with a 2:30.43.