Swimming Canada Announces 26-Member Olympic Roster

2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS

• June 19 – June 23, 2021
• Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto Pan Am Sport Centre
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
• Live results

24 pool and two open water swimmers were officially named to the 2021 Canadian Olympic team on Thursday morning, with Swimming Canada making the announcement via Facebook Live.

With the five-day Canadian Olympic Trials wrapping up on Wednesday night, a total of 16 swimmers had achieved the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standards during the Trials, including the six swimmers that received early nomination, meaning Swimming Canada added eight more athletes to its roster.

“It’s been the longest Olympic year on record,” said High Performance Director John Atkinson, who will serve as the “Team Leader” at the Games. “To get to the point that we can name our nominations to the Canadian Olympic Committee is a great step. The athletes who have made the team have shown their adaptability and resilience for the last 15 months and have shown that they are ready to compete with the best in the world.”

“The focus shifts to preparing in Vancouver at UBC for the final staging camp, leaving no stone unturned so that every team member can continue to progress and improve from their Trials performances when they compete in Tokyo. Having seen what they have done over the last five days, I know that they can thrive in the environment in Tokyo.”

EARLY NOMINATIONS (6)

• Kylie Masse – women’s 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
• Maggie MacNeil – women’s 100 butterfly
• Sydney Pickrem – women’s 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
• Penny Oleksiak – women’s 200 freestyle
• Taylor Ruck – women’s 100 freestyle
• Markus Thormeyer – men’s 200 backstroke

Among the six swimmers that were named to the team back in January, three of them added individual events to their schedule in Tokyo at the Trials. The swimmers were only named to the team in event(s) in which they both finished in the top-eight at the 2019 World Championships and were the top Canadian finisher.

Defending Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak added the women’s 100 freestyle to her 200 free entry, Taylor Ruck added the women’s 100 and 200 backstroke to her 100 free slot, and Markus Thormeyer added the men’s 100 back after qualifying early in the 200 back.

ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS DURING TRIALS (10)

• Katrina Bellio – Women’s 1500 freestyle
• Tessa Cieplucha – Women’s 400 IM
• Brent Hayden – Men’s 50 freestyle
• Finlay Knox – Men’s 200 IM
• Joshua Liendo – Men’s 50/100 freestyle, 100 butterfly
• Summer McIntosh – Women’s 200/800 freestyle
• Cole Pratt – Men’s 100 backstroke
• Kayla Sanchez – Women’s 50 freestyle
• Katerine Savard – Women’s 100 butterfly
• Kelsey Wog – Women’s 100/200 breaststroke, 200 IM

Among this group, Summer McIntosh is expected to be given the opportunity to enter both the women’s 400 and 1500 freestyle at the Games as well, with less than two women going under the ‘A’ cut at Trials and having been under herself within the qualifying period.

Brent Hayden comes in with the most Olympic experience on the team, with this being his fourth Olympic Games, having made his debut in 2004, retiring after 2012 in London, and announcing his comeback in late 2019.

Katerine Savard, who has had an up and down last five years in the pool, made a triumphant return to top form and will make her third straight Olympic appearance for Canada.

“After 2016 I had a couple of difficult years, I didn’t believe I’d be able to return to the level of performance that I had known,” said Savard. “I had a hard time setting new goals, new dreams.

“I chose, as my dream, to compete in my third Olympics. I trained really hard and honestly, I surprised myself. I didn’t believe I had it in me to do everything I did this week. I’m proud of myself and can’t wait to see what I can do in Tokyo.”

SWIMMERS ADDED TO TEAM (8)

• Javier Acevedo
• Bailey Andison
• Ruslan Gaziev
• Mary-Sophie Harvey
• Yuri Kisil
• Gabe Mastromatteo
• Kierra Smith
• Rebecca Smith

Among the eight names that Swimming Canada added to the team overnight, Ruslan Gaziev and Javier Acevedo got the nod as the second and fourth-place finishers in the men’s 100 freestyle, with the Canadian men qualified to swim the 400 free relay in Tokyo.

Yuri Kisil was the top seeded swimmer entering that 100 free final, but ended up injuring himself in warmup and had to pull out just minutes prior to the event. With Kisil’s prelim time of 48.43 under the FINA ‘A’ standard of 48.57, and only Joshua Liendo (48.13) going under during the final, Kisil will likely earn an entry into the individual event at the Games, in addition to being a huge relay asset.

Rebecca Smith and Mary-Sophie Harvey placed third and fifth in the women’s 200 free, respectively, which gets them on the team. Smith will also be a valuable relay swimmer at the Games with the ability to race the 100 free and 100 fly at a high-level, potentially chipping in on prelim teams.

Kierra Smith, a 2016 Olympic finalist in the women’s 200 breaststroke, was third in the 100 breast at Trials in a time of 1:07.72, but since only Kelsey Wog went under the ‘A’ cut in the final, Smith gets the nod having been under it (1:06.54 in April 2019) inside the qualifying period. The ‘A’ standard sits at 1:07.07.

Gabe Mastromatteo fell shy of the qualifying standard in the men’s 100 breaststroke (59.93), coming within less than two-tenths in the prelims (1:00.11), but still gets added to the team for medley relay purposes after winning the final in 1:00.75. Mastromatteo could also get an entry into the individual event since he’s under the ‘B’ cut.

The only swimmer added to the team without a clear-cut reason was Bailey Andison, primarily an IM specialist who placed third in both medley events at Trials. Andison was under the ‘A’ cut in the 200 IM. If Wog were to make the 100 breast final at the Olympic Games, she would have a tight double with the 200 IM semis shortly after, so it’s possible Wog plans on dropping the 200 IM, bringing Andison onto the team.

FULL OLYMPIC SWIMMING ROSTER (POOL)

OPEN WATER ROSTER

Fan and Sanderson were named to the 10k open water event in Tokyo based on their results at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier, held June 19-20, in Setubal, Portugal.

COACHING STAFF