2024 Canadian Open: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2024 SPEEDO CANADIAN SWIMMING OPEN

• April 10-13, 2024
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
• Toronto, Ontario, CAN
• LCM (50m)
• Prelims 9:30am (ET) / Finals 6pm (ET)
• Event Page
• Meet Packet
• Psych Sheets
• How To Watch
• Live Stream (VPN required outside of Canada)
• Live Results

Good evening everyone and welcome in for the first finals session at the 2024 Canadian Open. We’ve got a full schedule on our plates with finals of both swimming and para swimming, individual events and relays.

Order of Events

• Women’s para 200 freestyle — final
• Men’s para 200 freestyle — final
• Women’s 200 freestyle — final
• Men’s 200 freestyle — final
• Women’s para 100 backstroke — final
• Women’s 100 backstroke — final
• Men’s 100 backstroke — final
• Women’s 200 butterfly — final
• Men’s 200 butterfly — final
• Women’s para 50 butterfly — final
• Women’s 1500 freestyle — timed final, fastest heat
• Men’s 800 freestyle — timed final, fastest heat
• Mixed 4×100 medley relay — timed final

Starting with the 200 freestyle means that our first look at Summer McIntosh this evening will be in one of her more standard events before she races the 100 backstroke–a more atypical race for her–later in the sesssion. McIntosh leads the women’s field in the 200 freestyle after a controlled-looking 1:58.47. Mary-Sophie Harvey–who has already swum a lifetime best this season–didn’t let McIntosh get too far ahead this morning; Harvey qualified 2nd in 1:58.81. Ella Jansen also joined the pair under the 2:00 mark in prelims (1:59.72).

Then in the 100 back, McIntosh is sitting as the 3rd seed heading into the final (1:01.25). Delia Lloyd put together the third sub-1:01 swim of her career to grab lane 5 for the final in 1:00.68. That’s right, lane 5–this meet is running 10 lane finals. Maggie MacNeil swam her first LCM 100 backstroke since 2022 this morning, putting together a 1:01.17 that slots her in just ahead of McIntosh. Doha Worlds bronze medalist Ingrid Wilm moved through to the final in 4th this morning (1:01.61) so watch for her to move up.

There’s a great race brewing in the men’s 200 freestyle as well. Lorne Wigginton popped a lifetime best of 1:50.01 to earn the top time of the morning. But Finlay Knox, the reigning 200 IM world champion–is lurking just .23 seconds behind him in 2nd (1:50.24). Ethan Ekk also put up a 1:50-point prelims swim with a 1:50.43 and Javier Acevedo is running 4th (1:51.60). This is shaping up to be a race between these four; what could tip the scales in Wigginton’s favor is if he’s on or near the form he had a Doha Worlds when he split 1:47.83 anchoring Canada’s 4×200 free relay.

Knox, Acevedo, and Ekk all face off later in the session during the championship final of the men’s 100 backstroke. The three are running 3rd-4th-5th with Acevedo turning in a 56.06 followed by Knox (56.18) and Ekk (56.90). Heading up this race is Raben Dommann. The HPC-Vancouver swimmer swam 55.53 for the fastest time of the morning with Blake Tierney qualifying second (55.94).

Both the women’s and men’s 200 fly should feature close races as well. In the women’s race, Mabel Zavaros and Sofia Sartori are separated by just two-tenths after prelims. It’s Zavaros’ closing speed that was the difference maker for her in prelims as she closed quickly to get her hands on the wall ahead of Sartori’s time. On the men’s side, Max Malakhovets leads but he’ll be flanked by Kevin Zhang, Michael Sava, and Bill Dongfang. Both Zhang and Dongfang have cracked the 2:00 barrier already in their careers.

Women’s Para 200-Meter Freestyle — Final

• Canadian Para Record S4: 4:08.75 — Joelle Rivard (2005)
• Canadian Para Record S5: 3:21.18 — Marie Dannhaeuser (2000)
• Canadian Para Record S14: 2:15.16 — Angela Marina (2019)

Top 10:

1. Angela Marina, S14 (BRANT) — 2:18.00
2. Jessica Tinney, S5 (AJAX) — 3:39.43
3. Hannah Burns, S4 (LAC) — 4:50.59

Angela Marina and Jessica Tinney both improved on their prelims swim as the finals session got underway with the women’s para 200 freestyle. Marina posted her best time of the year with a 2:18.00, three-hundredths quicker than the 2:18.03 she swam in February this year.

From prelims to finals, Marina improved the back half of her race; this morning she split a pair of 36-points on the back 100. In finals, she kept all her splits sub-36.

Tinney swam 3:39.43, dropping 6.1 seconds from her prelims time and touching in second place. Hannah Burns, who owns the Canadian S4 Para Record in the 100 backstroke, was just off her prelims time in 4:50.59

Men’s Para 200-Meter Freestyle — Final

• Canadian Para Record S14: 1:54.41 — Nicholas Bennett (2022)

Top 10:

1. Nicholas Bennett (RDCSC) — 1:54.20 *New Canadian S14 Para Record*

Swimming by himself like he did in prelims, Nicholas Bennett made the most of the clean water. He took down his own Canadian S14 Para Record with a 1:54.20. His previous standard stood at 1:54.41 from 2022.

Bennett opened the race in 26.58, then split 28.94 and 29.67 over the middle 100-meters. He closed in 29.01, taking .21 seconds off his record. It’s a strong portent for this summer’s Paralympics for the 20-year-old. Bennett won the S14 200 freestyle at the 2023 Para Swimming Championships–his first world title.

In August, he’ll be looking to improve on his 6th place finish from the 2020 Paralympics. At those Games, this time would have earned bronze.

Women’s 200-Meter Freestyle — Final

• Canadian Record: 1:53.65 — Summer McIntosh (2023)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:57.26

Top 10:

1. Summer McIntosh (SYS) — 1:54.21
2. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAMO) — 1:56.76
3. Julie Brousseau (NKB) — 1:58.40
4. Ella Jansen (HPCONT) — 1:58.88
5. Emma O’Croinin (HPCVN) — 1:59.48
6. Penny Oleksiak (TSC) — 1:59.75
7. Sylvia Statkevicius (ESWIM) — 2:00.20
8. Mia West (MANTA) — 2:02.12
9. Isabella Ekk (ATAC) — 2:04.85
10. Tess Cieplucha (MAC) — 2:05.80

Summer McIntosh jumped on the championship final, flipping at the 50-meter mark in 26.99. She was the only one to open the race in sub-27 seconds. McIntosh only continued to grow her lead as the race continued, splitting 28.73 and 29.36 over her middle 100 meters. She brought the race home in 29.13, taking the win in a 1:54.21. 

That’s a new season best for McIntosh and is the second-fastest time in the world this year. McIntosh was already sitting at #3 this season, but now she bypasses Mollie O’Callaghan‘s time from the Queensland Championship and is just .13 seconds behind the season leader Siobhan Haughey.

Mary-Sophie Harvey took second in a lifetime best, breaking 1:57 for the first time in her career. Harvey set her best at 1:57.06 earlier this year and she just chopped three-tenths off her best for a new Quebec provincial record and 2nd place. She tore home on the final 50 meters, putting up a field-best 28.52 closing split.

Florida commit Julie Brousseau was three-tenths off her personal best, taking third place in 1:58.40 as she got ahead of of Ella Jansen (1:58.88).

Men’s 200-Meter Freestyle — Final

• Canadian Record: 1:46.40 — Brent Hayden (2008)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:46.26

Top 10:

1. Finlay Knox (SCAR) — 1:48.39
2. Lorne Wigginton (HPCONT) — 1:48.84
3. Ethan Ekk (ATAC) — 1:50.24
4. Timothe Barbeau (NN) — 1:51.36
5. Jordi Vilchez (BTSC) — 1:51.38
6. Ricky Balduccini (GTCH) — 1:51.85
7. Blake Tierney (GOLD) — 1:52.55
8. Owe Ekk (ATAC) — 1:53.47
9. Francis Brennan (BBST) — 1:53.55
10. James Ward (UNVAR) — 1:53.88

Finlay Knox, like McIntosh, made his statement at the start of the race. He was first to flip at the 50-meter mark, turning in 25.27. Ricky Balduccini was running 2nd (25.65) with Lorne Wigginton in 3rd (25.78).

Knox maintained his lead at the halfway point with a field best second 50 (27.90). Wigginton split 27.92 on the second 50 to jump up into a tie for 2nd with Balduccini. Knox still held the final turn as Wigginton closed the gap and distanced Balduccini.

Knox outsplit Wigginton on the final 50, 27.41 to 27.55, to hold on for the win in the 200 free. He turned in the third best performance of his career with a 1:48.39. That’s just off the 1:48.17 he swam at Doha Worlds. He’s been sub 1:48 once in his career (1:47.92) at the 2022 Canadian Trials.

Wigginton shattered his personal best with his second place finish. In prelims, he swam a lifetime best 1:50.01, which he just blew by with a 1:48.84. That’s a 1.17 drop from Wigginton, who is slated to join Michigan in September.

It was really a race between Knox and Wigginton for the win. Ethan Ekk clocked 1:50.24 for 3rd place, which is just three-hundredths away from his lifetime best.

Women’s Para 100-Meter Backstroke — Final

• Canadian Para Record S6: 1:20.76 — Shelby Newkirk (2022)
• Canadian Para Record S7: 1:19.99 — Shelby Newkirk (2019)
• Canadian Para Record S10: 1:05.90 — Summer Mortimer (2012)

Top 10:

1. Jaime Cosgriffe, S10 (OAK) — 1:09.29
2. Ruby Stevens, S6 (RCAQ) — 1:32.04
3. Yang Tan, S7 (OAK) — 1:33.67

Jaime Cosgriffe dropped 2.42 from her prelims time and turned in a new lifetime best in the women’s para 100 backstroke final. Cosgriffe clocked 1:09.29, cutting .64 seconds from her previous lifetime best that she set just over a month ago.

Ruby Stevens also dropped time from prelims, posting 1:32.04. It was a close race between her and Yang Tan during prelims, but Stevens was able to distance herself from Tan here in the final. Tan added a tenth from this morning, touching in 1:33.67 .

Women’s 100-Meter Backstroke — Final

• Canadian Record: 57.70 — Kylie Masse (2021)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 59.99

Top 10:

1. Maggie MacNeil (LAC) — 59.93
2. Summer McIntosh (SYS) — 59.96
3. Ingrid Wilm (CASC) — 59.97
4. Delia Lloyd (ESWIM) — 1:00.74
5. Madison Kryger (BROCK) — 1:00.81
6. Ashley McMillian (GO) — 1:01.62
7. Danielle Hanus (RAPID) — 1:01.71
8. Leah Tigert (TSC) — 1:03.67
9. Halayna Montrichard (BRANT) — 1:03.75
10. Katelyn Schroeder (LOSC) — 1:04.14

It came down to the touch in the women’s 100 backstroke as Maggie MacNeil, McIntosh, and Ingrid Wilm were all in with a chance to win. MacNeil got her hand on the wall first, touching in a season-best 59.93. As mentioned above, this is MacNeil’s first meet swimming the 100 backstroke in almost two years. And per SwimRankings, this is actually just her second time breaking the 1:00 barrier; her lifetime best is 59.45.

As she likes to do, MacNeil got out to a fast start. She flipped at the wall first (29.16), two-hundredths ahead of Wilm. McIntosh turned third in 29.27.

MacNeil split 30.77 on the way home. McIntosh made her charge on the back half, splitting 30.69. That put her into the mix for the win but she ran out of room to pass MacNeil and she took second in 59.96. She set her personal best at 59.64 in February leading off a relay.

She did have enough to get ahead of Wilm, who finished third just a hundredth behind McIntosh in 59.97. The three were the only women to break a minute, as Delia Lloyd put together a 1:00.74 for 4th place.

Men’s 100-Meter Backstroke — Final

• Canadian Record: 53.35 — Markus Thormeyer (2019)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 53.74

Top 10:

1. Raben Dommann (HPCVN) — 55.16
2. Javier Acevedo (AJAX) — 55.38
3. Blake Tierney (GOLD) — 55.41
4. Cole Pratt (CASC) — 55.54
5. Finlay Knox (SCAR) — 55.80
6. Loic Courville Fortin (CAMO) — 56.94
7. Benjamin Winterborn (KBM) — 57.17
8. Parker Deshayes (CASC) — 57.61
9. Ramy Ghaziri (LMRL) — 58.30
10. Carter Buck (TSC) — 58.60

In lane 5, top qualifier Raben Dommann maintained his position and took the win in the men’s 100 backstroke. Dommann was third at the turn. He was running behind Javier Acevedo (who scratched the 200 freestyle earlier in the session to focus on this race) and Blake Tierney. Acevedo split 26.80 on the opening 50, while Tierney turned in 26.96 and Dommann 27.11.

Dommann made his move on the second 50 meters. He charged home in a field-best 28.05, outsplitting Tierney by four-tenths and Acevedo by over half a second. That was the winning move for Dommann and he earned the win in a season-best 55.16.

Acevedo held on for 2nd ahead of Tierney’s push. He clocked 55.38, improving significantly from this morning and getting his hand on the wall three-hundredths ahea of Tierney.

Women’s 200-Meter Butterfly — Final

• Canadian Record: 2:04.06 — Summer McIntosh (2023)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 2:08.43

Top 10:

1. Mabel Zavaros (MAC) — 2:11.88
2. Sofia Sartori (LSU) — 2:12.81
3. Angela Jiachen Wang (MAC) — 2:16.42
4. Jasmine Nicols (MAC) — 2:17.53
5. Victoria Raymond (UNVAR) — 2:18.06
6. Claire Christie (GGST) — 2:18.17
7. Tess Cieplucha (MAC) — 2:18.81
8. Mariana Cabezas Garzon (ESWIM) — 2:18.88
9. Sydney Colquhoun (BTSC) — 2:19.57
10. Jessica Moran (ESWIM) — 2:21.86

Mabel Zavaros and Sofia Sartori both put together similar race strategies from this morning. Zavaros was out first in 29.64. Victoria Raymond was second (29.78) and Sartori was third (29.89). Then like this morning, Sartori outsplit Zavaros over the middle 100 meters, closing the gap between them.

Sartori turned for home at the final turn ahead of Zavaros, but the last 50 is where Zavaros went to work. Zavaros powered home in 34.42, out-splitting the LSU swimmer by .87 seconds. She quickly pulled even with Sartori and then passed her. There were just two-tenths separating them after prelims, but Zavaros took the win by almost a second in the championship final, winning in 2:11.88. It’s another strong performance for Zavaros, improving on her 2:13.64 from this morning as she returns to racing after her shoulder injury.

Sartori earned second in 2:12.81, coming within a second of her personal best of 2:12.12 from 2021.

After opening strongly, Raymond was hurting on the final 50 meters. MAC teammates Angela Jiachen Wang and Jasmine Nicols both passed her, with Wang securing third place in a lifetime best 2:16.42.

Men’s 200-Meter Butterfly — Final

• Canadian Record: 1:53.82 — Ilya Kharun (2023)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 1:55.78

Top 10:

1. Kevin Zhang (WAT) — 2:00.18
2. Max Malakhovets (ESWIM) — 2:00.29
3. Michael Sava (RAMAC) — 2:00.43
4. Benjamin Loewen (CREST) — 2:00.65
5. Bill Dongfang (ISC) — 2:02.05
6. Zachary McLeod (WDSC) — 2:03.78
7. Mark Van Eybergen (ACS) — 2:04.93
8. Brendan Oswald (WAC) — 2:06.04
9. Diego De La Torre Clavel (ACS) — 2:07.45
10. Anton Semenyuk (NG) — 2:09.49

With the top four swimmers separated by less than a half-second, the men’s 200 butterfly championship final proved to be a close race. Top qualifier Max Malakhovets held the lead through the first 100 meters, splitting 26.70/30.23 on the front half of the race.

The race began to tighten over the third 50 as both Kevin Zhang (31.21) outsplit Malakhovets (31.39) on the penultimate 50 meters, turning for home .55 seconds behind Malakhovets. Zhang continued to charge on the last 50 meters; he split 31.31 on the final 50 meters which gave him the push he needed to out-touch Malakhovets by nine-hundredths. Zhang won the race in 2:00.29.

Malakhovets took second in 2:00.29, coming just .28 seconds from the lifetime best of 2:00.01 that he swam last year.

Michael Sava was further back in the field at the final turn. He ground out a field-best 30.65 closing split to move through the field and take 3rd in 2:00.43, clipping his lifetime best from March 2022 by two-hundredths.

Women’s Para 50-Meter Butterfly — Final

• Canadian Para Record S4: 52.09 — Tammy Cunnington (2016)
• Canadian Para Record S5: 54.24 — Jordan Tucker (2022)

Top 10:

1. Jordan Tucker, S4 (RCAQ) — 54.78
2. Jessica Tinney, S5 (AJAX) — 1:02.21

Jordan Tucker added time from the 54.18 she posted this morning, but she still got her hand on the wall first in the women’s para 50 butterfly. Tucker, who now races in the S4 classification, clocked 54.78 in the championship final.

After swimming the 200 freestyle earlier in the session, Tinney dropped seven seconds from her 50 butterfly prelims time. Here in the final, she swam a season-best 1:02.21. It’s her fastest performance since swimming her personal best in 2019.

Women’s 1500-Meter Freestyle — Timed Final (Fastest Heat)

• Canadian Record: 15:57.15 — Brittany MacLean (2014)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 16:09.09

Top 10:

1. Laila Oravsky (BTSC) — 17:10.36
2. Peyton Leigh (BROCK) — 17:23.66
3. Mia Thomas (ESWIM) — 17:25.43
4. Zoe Tomory (LSC) — 17:25.93
5. Taira Vroom (BTSC) — 17:26.91
6. Mariana Cabezas Garzon (ESWIM) — 17:48.56
7. Alexia Pham-Spickler (CAMO) — 17:55.05
8. Megan Donnelly (OAK) — 17:55.09
9. Victoria Sun (MAC) — 17:55.39
10. Jade Marquis (SAMAK) — 18:00.50

In the fastest timed final, it was Laila Oravsky who swam away from the rest of the field. Oravsky, who swims for the Barrie Trojan Swim Club, won the timed final by just over 15 seconds.

Oravsky swam 17:10.36 tonight, which not only gave her a decisive win in her heat, but the overall event win as well. She touched 13.30 seconds ahead of Peyton Leigh, who was the leader in the clubhouse after this morning’s heats.

Leigh holds onto second though, which is an excellent outing for her in first first registered time swimming the 1500 freestyle. She clocked 17:23.66 this morning, which Mia Thomas followed for 3rd in 17:25.43, winning a close race with Zoe Tomory in this evening’s timed final.

Men’s 800-Meter Freestyle — Timed Final (Fastest Heat)

• Canadian Record: 7:41.86 — Ryan Cochrane (2011)
• 2024 Olympic Qualifying Time: 7:51.65

Top 10:

1. Timothe Barbeau (NN) — 8:06.73
2. Sebastian Paulins (BRANT) — 8:12.18
3. Max Vorobiev (MAC) — 8:16.52
4. Guillaume Lord (MUST) — 8:18.11
5. Mark Van Eybergen (ACS) — 8:22.58
6. William Debroux (BTSC) — 8:26.82
7. Zachary McLeod (WDSC) — 8:27.60
8. Hunter Payne (BRANT) — 8:30.28
9. Carter Scheffel (BRANT) — 8:34.93
10. Eric Hou (ESWIM) — 8:39.43

Timothe Barbeau earned the win in the men’s 800 freestyle cleanly. In the fastest timed final, he jetted away from the competition and won by 5.45 seconds.

Barbeau’s winning time of 8:06.73 is the second fastest outing of his career behind only the 8:04.72 he swam at 2023 World Juniors.

Sebastian Paulins clocked 8:12.18 for second place, separating himself from third place Max Vorobiev. Vorobiev earned third in 8:16.52.

From the earlier timed finals, William Debroux‘s 8:26.82 held up for 6th place.

Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay — Final

Top 10:

1. Granite Gators — 4:09.62
2. SAMAK — 4:11.34
3. New York Aquatic Club — 4:23.14

The Granite Gators squad of Henry Sclater (1:00.40), Samuel Hibbert (1:10.52), Claire Christie (1:02.18), and Lila Bleakney (56.52) earned the win in the mixed 4×100 medley relay by 1.72 seconds.

They took the lead on the first leg thanks to Sclater’s backstroke lead-off, then didn’t let go for the rest of the race. NYAC were just three-tenths behind them after the backstroke leg but GGST’s breaststroke split was almost nine seconds faster than theirs.

SAMAK made up ground on that breaststroke leg with a 1:05.82 split from Hans Li Ying Pin, but it was Audrick Dufort‘s 54.12 anchor that helped seal second place for them.