3 Big Things From Day Two of Canadian Olympic Trials

1. Some Fresh Faces Will Be Sporting the Maple Leaf

After the second night of competition in Toronto there will be two more rookies wearing the maple leaf at the Olympic Games in Rio. Kylie Masse qualified for Rio winning the women’s 100 backstroke in a time of 59.06. Masse represented Canada last summer at the FISU Games, but this will her first time representing her country at a major international competition.

After finding success representing Canada at the World Junior Championships last summer Javier Acevedo qualified for his first senior national team this evening. Acevedo took the men’s 100 backstroke in a time of 53.67 beating the FINA A time of 54.36 and just missing Pascal Wollach’s Canadian record of 53.63.

The two will be joining Penny Oleksiak, who will also be representing Canada for the first time at a major international meet.

2. Success One Year Does Not Guarantee it the Next

Both Russell Wood and Zach Chetrat had a great year in 2015. Wood posted a lifetime best time in the 100 backstroke at the Canadian Trials last April, finished just outside of the medals in both the 100 and 200 backstroke at the Pan American Games and competed in Kazan. Chetrat set a new Canadian record in the 200 butterfly capturing the Pan American Games silver medal in the process.

After the improvements both swimmers made last year one could have projected that improvement to continue and we would ultimately see both of them in Rio. That was not the case and neither men were able to qualify for the Olympic team in their best events.

3. The Start of a Great Rivalry

In the 1990s Canadian Swimming saw a great rivalry develop between Marianne Limpert and Joanne Malar in the 200 IM and we may seeing the start of another, this time in 400 IM. Sydney Pickrem and Emily Overholt have gone one-two at the last two Canadian Trials. In 2015 Pickrem beat Overholt by 1.33 seconds and tonight she finished 16 one-hundredths of a second ahead of the Canadian record holder.

Overholt stepped up her game significantly last summer setting a new Canadian record of 4:32.52 en route to winning the bronze medal at the World Championships. If this is to turn into a true rivalry Pickrem will have to challenge Overholt on the international stage, which is something she will have a chance to do in Rio.