Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – High Performance Time Trial
- May 7-8, 2021
- Toronto Pan American Sports Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Long Course Meters (50 meters)
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results (page currently not working)
- Results also on Meet Mobile: “MAY TPASC HP Time Trial”
A compact, but power-packed, time trial that includes most of the top Ontario-based swimmers kicked off on Friday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre Pool.
After the opening Para-race in the women’s 100 free, the first Olympic prep event is one of the highlights of the weekend, also in the women’s 100 free.
There, Kayla Sanchez swam a new lifetime best of 53.57 (.04 drop) to win the race and beat the defending Olympic co-champion Penny Oleksiak, who finished 2nd in 53.89.
Butterfly World Champion Maggie MacNeil placed 4th in a new best time of 54.27 (.24 drop) and Rebecca Smith placed 4th in a new lifetime best of 54.44 (.10 drop).
Taylor Ruck, who had the fastest split of Canada’s bronze-medal winning relay at the 2019 World Championships, placed 5th in 54.72.
This group included Canada’s entire free relay from those World Championships, so the flat-start best times from three of those five swimmers (including the prelims-only Smith) is a positive sign for the country’s medal chances in Tokyo as they try to both fend off the Chinese and the Dutch as well as chase down the Americans.
The very next race was a solo effort from E-Swim 14-year old Summer McIntosh, but the lack of competition didn’t mean a lack of prestige. She swam 16:15.19 in the race, which crushes a Canadian Age Record that has stood for 15 years. The old mark was a 16:34.27 that was set by Savanna King in 2006. McIntosh’s best time coming into the meet was a 16:34.85
That swim for McIntosh makes her the third-fastest Canadian in the history of the event and gives her a FINA Olympic “A” qualifying time by a wide margin. With no other Canadian women close to that fast in the 1500 free right now, McIntosh should be able to cruise to a spot on the roster for Tokyo in June if the rescheduled Olympic Trials happen. If not, she’s given Swimming Canada good evidence to select her for a ‘paper team.’
Brittany MacLean, the Canadian Record holder in this event, and Olivia Anderson, the 4th-fastest Canadian ever, also represented E-Swim domestically.
All-Time Top 5, Canadian Women’s 1500 Free, All Ages:
- Brittany MacLean, 2014 – 15:57.15
- Brittany Reimer, 2005 – 16:07.73
- Summer McIntosh, 2021 – 16:15.19
- Olivia Anderson, 2016 – 16:18.66
- MacKenzie Padington, 2019 – 16:23.66
The other big race of the day came in the women’s 100 backstroke, where 5 swimmers who could all be Olympians this summer squared off.
Kylie Masse, a former World Record holder and the defending World Champion in the event, won in 58.48, which ranks her 3rd in the world this season.
2020-2021 LCM Women 100 Back
McKeown
57.45
| 2 | Regan Smith | USA | 57.64 | 07/29 |
| 3 | Kylie Masse | CAN | 57.70 | 06/19 |
| 4 | Kathleen Dawson | GBR | 58.08 | 05/23 |
| 5 | Olivia Smoliga | USA | 58.31 | 05/15 |
Masse will face unrelenting challenges to retain that crown and win Olympic gold this summer from the likes of Americans Regan Smith (the World Record holder), Kathleen Baker, and Phoebe Bacon, plus Commonwealth rivals Kaylee McKeown and Kathleen Dawson, but a 58.4 shows that she’s not going to hand off the title easily, even to younger competitors. Even at 25, she’s already a ‘veteran’ relative to the global youth movement in the event.
The runner-up was MacNeil in 59.45, which is the first time she’s been under 1 minute in this event. Her previous best time was a 1:02.04 from the 2018 Canadian Championships. MacNeil, who trains in the U.S. at the University of Michigan, has shown some sprint backstroke abilities as a relay swimmer for the Wolverines, but hasn’t gone after the event much in long course in recent years as her butterfly and free have bloomed into world-leader type efforts.
That swim now makes MacNeil the third-fastest Canadian ever in the event.
Fastest Canadians All-Time, Women’s 100 LCM Backstroke
- Kylie Masse, 2017 – 58.10
- Taylor Ruck, 2019 – 58.55
- Maggie MacNeil, 2021 – 59.45
- Jade Hannah, 2017 – 59.62
- Sinead Russell, 2011 – 59.68
The swimmers on either side of MacNeil in that ranking also raced the 100 back on Friday. Ruck placed 3rd in 1:00.19, while Hannah was 5th in 1:01.93. Sanchez, who won the 100 free, missed her best time in the 100 back and placed 4th in 1:00.55.
Other Day 1 Highlights
- 20-year old Finlay Knox, a Canadian IM Record holder, swam 1:03.29 in the 100 breast and 49.28 in the 100 free. Those are lifetime bests by .56 and 1.71 seconds, respectively. While neither is an event he’s likely to swim individually in Tokyo, both are a good sign for his overall development ahead of the 200 IM that he’s entered in for Saturday. The breaststroke is traditionally the weakest leg of his IM.
- The 100 free also gives Knox at least consideration for a Canadian 400 free relay. Josh Liendo won that race in 49.15, a best time by .02, and Ruslan Gaziev swam a best time of 49.33, by a quarter of a second.
- 2019 World Championship bronze medalist in the 200 IM Sydney Pickrem swam, and won, that event on Friday in 2:10.29. That’s the second-best time of her career outside of an international championship or national selection meet. Tess Cieplucha finished 2nd in a best time of 2:13.16.
- Mabel Zavaros swam 2:12.61 in the women’s 200 fly. She’s been 2:08 in the event, and was 2:10 in March of 2020, just before coronavirus shutdowns set in.
- Mack Darragh, a 2016 Olympian, swam 1:58.69 in the 200 fly – about 2 seconds slower than his 2019 best.
Wow 14 yrs old goes 1.57.6 200m free!
Great news for the depth of Can’s 4×2 relay…!
Isn’t everyone on LOCKDOWN in Ontario ??
What about the 14 day quarantine for Canadians coming back from USA ??
Pools are ALL CLOSED in our area….
Don’t know what “area” you are in but trials qualified swimmers have continued to train in ontario where they are able to.
…and did you see what she did with 200 free National age record?! Not just Canadian, but American one as well.
And now, just pause for a second. In today’s world when even adults are caving in under so many COVID-related issues, this little girl with who knows how many other challenges in her life are capable to produce such swims!
Her 200 free was spectacular. However, I doubt she would appreciate being called a “little girl”.
Looks like Summer also broke the 800m record.
Where did you find splits? When I looked at both MM and Live Results, there weren’t any splits.
Splits and results are working now
In listing the Chinese, Dutch and Americans as those the Canadian women may be battling with for medal positions, ….shouldn’t the Australians be included?
What with all the cancellations and stuff going on in Canada, I think the athletes are about where they should be, they are not tapered for this meet it was time trials, they will be ready when it matters!
They were in the process of tapering for the original trials which were scheduled for next week. There might be some slight rest here at play but definitely no taper
if you’re 14 does a taper matter?..honest question I don’t know.
Not that much
At the national/international level – yes, yes it does.
and 200 fly, and 400 IM, and 800 free, and 400 free. AT LEAST. God saves her from injuries, this girl will be the unbeatable Canadian GOAT very soon!!! Kevin Thorburn is smiling somewhere up there “I told ya!”
Isn’t 54.72 in 100FR and 1:00.19 in 100BK too slow for Taylor Ruck? Even by in-season measures. It’s May already, not January. What was the reason for her to participate in this meet if she is that much unready yet?
It does seem slow but you are missing a point… you don’t just race when you’re ready to go fast; racing is part of the training (sometimes).
T-Ruck will be ready when it counts. She’s been a big meet swimmer since she was a 10 & under.
A little too early to write off a swimmer who turns 21 on 28 May 2021.
She swam poorly at trials in 2016 too and still got selected for the olympic team as a relay swimmer and it ended up working out quite well for the team. She really does show up when it counts but her trials performances aren’t always ideal
So there are no signs to worry about. That is what I wanted to hear from the people who know about Canadian swimming more than me.
Not sure, she could end up being incredible at the olympics and I wouldn’t be surprised is all I’m saying. including 2016, she’s had more trials performances that would be considered “worrying” than good, but she showed up at the major competitions whether it was individually or on the relays. I don’t think anyone will really know how good she’s gonna be until we see her first race at the olympics
It’s been her first racing opportunity in a very long time, but it is a little concerning that she isn’t faster right now. When she was at her best in 2019, she was consistently fast in season. Obviously no one should read too much into any single competition, particularly one under these conditions, but she’s got some ground to make up.
I thought Ruck’s best year was 2018 as evident by her performance at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
So you can make this comment?