2025 SPEEDO CANADIAN SWIMMING OPEN
- April 10-12, 2025
- Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Edmonton Kinsmen Sports Centre
- LCM (50m)
- Prelims 11:30am (ET) / Finals 7pm (ET)
- Event Page
- Live Results
- YouTube Livestream
- CBC Livestream
During the first finals session of the 2025 Speedo Canadian Open, two-time Canadian Olympian Mary-Sophie Harvey put on a show in the women’s 200 freestyle.
The 25-year-old posted a time of 1:56.46, easily clearing the field in the event. She was just shy of her personal best of 1:55.29, which she swam on her way to 4th place in last summer’s Olympic final. Her performance on Thursday night now ranks her as the 2nd-fastest swimmer in the world so far this season, behind only China’s Liu Yaxin, another 25-year-old, who set a marker of 1:54.96 at the Chinese National Spring Championships on March 23rd.
Top 5 Women’s 200 Freestyle World Rankings (as of April 11th):
- Liu Yaxin (China) — 1:54.96
- Mary-Sophie Harvey (Canada) — 1:56.46
- Abbey Webb (Australia) — 1:56.68
- Yang Peiqi (China) — 1:56.90
- Yu Yiting (China) — 1:57.03
Harvey’s time moved her up from 7th in the world, where she sat with her 1:57.81 from the Westmont Pro Swim Series in early March, to her new season-best.
Last year, Harvey clocked 1:56.76 at the Canadian Open, so she’s a few tenths ahead of where she was a year ago, which suggests she may challenge the 1:55 barrier as championship season approaches.
Harvey firmly established herself as a major international medal contender in 2024 after previously being more of a fringe finalist. She was a relay-only swimmer at the Tokyo Olympics, placed 8th in the 200 IM at the 2022 World Championships, and took 11th in the 200 IM and 19th in the 200 free at the 2023 Worlds.
Last year was a significant resurgence for the Canadian, as she placed 4th in the aforementioned 200 free race and contributed to Canada’s 4th-place finish in the 4×200 free relay. She ranked 9th in the world in the 200 free for the year and also had elite rankings in the 400 IM (13th), 200 IM (14th), 100 fly (19th), 100 free (31st), and 400 free (33rd).
At the 2024 Short Course Worlds, Harvey had a phenomenal performance, winning five medals—including an individual silver in the 200 free and bronze in the 400 free—and adding a trio of 4th-place finishes in the 100, 200, and 400 IMs. Riding this wave of momentum, Harvey will be one to watch in 2025.
Harvey is entered to compete in four more events throughout the weekend: the 100 free, 100 fly, 200 breast, and 200 IM.
It has been a delight to watch the rise of MSH, and I admire how tough she is, taking on challenging, multi-event schedules. I believe she has not reached her full potential in the IM races and is due for a breakthrough in those events–I hope we get to see it! Regardless, I appreciate her grit and wish her the best.
I know Australia, USA and China look too strong, but I really hope Canada can find some good 200 freestylers to get in the mix for a medal, it’s sad to see McIntosh’s sub 1:54 go to waste like at Paris Olympics
That’s a great time to her. I thought her Paris time might have been somewhat of an aberration, but she certainly looks like she could even improve on it further now.
Yesss!!! Fantastic Mary-Sophie!!