Oliver Dawson Lowers Own 15-17 200 Breast Canadian Age Record To 2:11.25 At Canadian Trials

On the first night of the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, 17-year-old Oliver Dawson defended his 200m breaststroke title, breaking his own Canadian age group record (15-17) with a time of 2:11.25.

The Grande Prairie Piranhas swimmer improved on his previous best of 2:12.42 from last year’s Trials win, posting a time under Swimming Canada’s secondary standard for Worlds team consideration, but still short of the ‘Aqua A’ cut. This places him in priority three of the national governing body’s selection criteria, meaning a likely Worlds berth but not confirmed until the end of the meet.

An Indiana University commit, Dawson said of achieving the record, “I’m really happy, that was the goal all season.”

Dawson went out significantly faster through the first 150 meters, compared to the old record. His opening 50 was 30.11 versus 30.15, but his second and third 50s were the biggest factor, 33.43 and 33.59 compared to 34.42 and 34.26, putting him comfortably ahead of his pace (1:37.13 versus 1:38.83). His final 50 was a bit slower (34.26 versus 33.56), but his faster middle splits helped him demolish the record by 1.17 seconds.

Splits Comparison:

In addition to the record, Dawson now sits 12th on the all-time 17 & under world rankings in this event:

1. Shin Ohashi (JPN) – 2:08.89, 2025
2. Josh Matheny (USA) – 2:08.40, 2019
3. Alexander Zhigalov (RUS) – 2:10.36, 2019
4. Ippei Miyamoto (JPN) – 2:10.51, 2016
5. Gergely Gyurta (HUN) – 2:10.71, 2007
6. Daniel Gyurta (HUN) – 2:10.75, 2004
7. Reece Whitley (USA) – 2:10.82, 2017
8. Yuta Arai (JPN) – 2:10.84, 2019
9. Josh Bey (USA) – 2:11.02, 2024
10. Christian Vom Lehn (GER) – 2:11.07, 2009
11. Taku Taniguchi (JPN) – 2:11.13, 2019
12. Oliver Dawson (CAN) – 2:11.25, 2025*

With the 50 and 100 breaststrokes still ahead, Dawson gave a brief comment about how he plans to prepare for the 100 on Monday, saying, “I’ll work on my 100 pace and then just go for it.”

The Canadian age group record in the 100 breast remains in his sight. Dawson doesn’t yet own that mark but certainly looks capable of challenging it this week. The current record belongs to Gabe Mastromatteo, who clocked 1:00.69 at the 2019 World Junior Championships, where he touched 4th.

Last summer at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, Dawson earned bronze in the 100 breast and placed 4th in the 200 breast with a 2:14.20, slower than his Trials best. He also helped Canada win silver in the 4×100 medley relay, splitting 1:00.77, half a second faster than his individual best of 1:01.27.

Race Video: