Javier Acevedo Wins Second National Title Of The Week With 24.90 50 Back National Record

2023 CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS

• March 28 – April 2, 2023
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – Toronto, Ontario
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On the second night of the 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials, Javier Acevedo broke a Canadian record in the men’s 50 backstroke. He posted a 24.90 to shave 0.07 seconds off his former national record, which was the 24.97 that he set in 2022.

Acevedo has already picked up two national titles at this meet, having won the 100 backstroke on day one with a 53.83. That swim got him a spot on the World Championships team this year, undercutting the FINA A cut of 54.03. Acevedo is a Canadian national team vet and first raced for Canada at the 2015 World Championships and went on to race at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships.

Acevedo didn’t qualify for the 2019 World Championships but did swim for Canada at the Pan American Games. Acevedo bounced back, however, after the pandemic and was selected for the Olympic team in 2021 and the World Championships team in 2022.

In the past year, Acevedo has reset the 50 back Canadian record twice and is right on top of his lifetime best of 53.64 from back in 2017. Acevedo’s return to form is opportune considering the precarious state of men’s backstroke in Canada right now. From 2019 – 2021, Markus Thormeyer and Cole Pratt were the nation’s key backstrokes and swam for Canada at the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They both set several national records in various events and qualified for international finals.

Thormeyer, however, was hit with a one-year doping ban last year and has been out of the pool ever since, while Pratt sustained an injury in 2021 that has kept him away from high-level competition for over a year. Pratt is racing again at Trials but has yet to return to full form.

Acevedo is set to race the 100 backstroke at Worlds and will likely add the 50 back to his lineup after his win tonight. He will also likely be a key member of Canada’s 4×100 freestyle relay, having split a 47.97 in the event at the 2022 World Championships.