Canadian Olympic Trials: 16-year-old Katrina Bellio hits 1,500 Free A Cut

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Photo Courtesy: Gerard Richardson/Swimming Canada

Canadian Olympic Trials: 16-year-old Katrina Bellio hits 1,500 A Cut

At age 16, Katrina Bellio can’t lay claim to the title of the next young star on the Canadian distance block. In a world with 14-year-old Summer McIntosh dropping time like it’s going out of style, Bellio is almost aged.

But just like her long-time Etobicoke swim club teammate, Bellio sent a message that she’s one to watch for the future.

Bellio won the 1,500 freestyle at Canadian Olympic Trials Wednesday night, a time of 16:29.67. That is more than two seconds under the FINA A standard, which mean Bellio is headed to the Tokyo Olympics.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Bellio said. “I’m still in shock. It’s incredible to be 16 years old and be nominated for the Olympics.”

Bellio has had a quietly stellar meet to cap an eventful spring. She dropped 3.5 seconds in the 800 free on Monday, finishing second to McIntosh with a swim that she credits with giving her the confidence heading into the meet’s final day.

She separated from the field early and kept them at bay. Entering three seconds shy of the A cut, she got that and more to dip under 16:30 and book a spot in Tokyo.

Bellio and McIntosh had been teammates for several years at Etobicoke, one of the top teams in Canada, before McIntosh made the jump to the Toronto High Performance Centre this year. You sense it’s a move Bellio could make sooner rather than later.

“She puts in so much hard work,” Bellio said of her connection with McIntosh. “We used to do every single distance set together, and she was always my training partners and pushed me every single day. We’re both so young and we still have so much left in our swimming careers. I can’t wait for the things that we can do.”

Bellio’s status as Canadian swimming’s future includes a tie to the past: Brittany MacLean, the national record holder in the event and two-time Olympian. When MacLean made it to Rio five years ago, as Bellio recounted on the national broadcast of Trials, she bequeathed to Bellio a bag that included racing suits and gear from the Games.

In retrospect, it feels like an anointing of the next one. But the connection didn’t stop there, as Bellio and MacLean remain in contact, Bellio relying on her for advice in and out of the pool.

“She’s a phenomenal swimmer, she’s a phenomenal person and she’s been such a big role model for me my entire life, and not just for swimming,” Bellio said.

Second was Abby Dunford, who is just 15 years old, in 16:38.75. Alyson Ackman took home third.

For Bellio, who has been watching MacLean since she was seven and recalled watching Trials in 2016, to be on the Olympic stage so quickly is almost unfathomable.

“If you had told me when I was 12 years old that I would be there in five years, I would not believe you,” she said. “It’s crazy to believe that so much has changed since then.”

 Event 27  Women 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 15:57.15  2014-08-24Brittany MacLean, ESWIM
    OLYMPIC A: A 16:32.04
    Name                 Year Team                 Seed     Finals        
==================================================================
  1 Bellio, Katrina        04 ESWIM            16:34.99   16:29.67A 
    r:+0.73  29.79      1:01.72 (31.93)
        1:34.36 (32.64)     2:06.99 (32.63)
        2:39.76 (32.77)     3:12.69 (32.93)
        3:45.69 (33.00)     4:18.62 (32.93)
        4:51.75 (33.13)     5:24.54 (32.79)
        5:57.68 (33.14)     6:30.76 (33.08)
        7:03.73 (32.97)     7:36.66 (32.93)
        8:09.82 (33.16)     8:43.04 (33.22)
        9:16.20 (33.16)     9:49.34 (33.14)
       10:22.51 (33.17)    10:56.13 (33.62)
       11:29.78 (33.65)    12:03.22 (33.44)
       12:36.76 (33.54)    13:10.19 (33.43)
       13:43.52 (33.33)    14:16.85 (33.33)
       14:50.10 (33.25)    15:23.82 (33.72)
       15:57.05 (33.23)    16:29.67 (32.62)
  2 Dunford, Abby          06 CASC             16:39.54   16:38.75  
    r:+0.80  30.23      1:02.88 (32.65)
        1:35.26 (32.38)     2:08.27 (33.01)
        2:40.89 (32.62)     3:13.93 (33.04)
        3:46.56 (32.63)     4:19.71 (33.15)
        4:52.11 (32.40)     5:25.19 (33.08)
        5:57.73 (32.54)     6:31.10 (33.37)
        7:03.66 (32.56)     7:36.93 (33.27)
        8:09.88 (32.95)     8:43.43 (33.55)
        9:16.38 (32.95)     9:50.26 (33.88)
       10:23.72 (33.46)    10:57.88 (34.16)
       11:31.43 (33.55)    12:05.78 (34.35)
       12:39.56 (33.78)    13:14.10 (34.54)
       13:48.15 (34.05)    14:22.65 (34.50)
       14:56.56 (33.91)    15:31.13 (34.57)
       16:05.00 (33.87)    16:38.75 (33.75)
  3 Ackman, Alyson         93 PCSC             16:54.53   16:46.32  
    r:+0.65  29.67      1:02.03 (32.36)
        1:34.93 (32.90)     2:07.97 (33.04)
        2:41.42 (33.45)     3:14.70 (33.28)
        3:48.09 (33.39)     4:21.40 (33.31)
        4:54.94 (33.54)     5:28.38 (33.44)
        6:01.99 (33.61)     6:35.50 (33.51)
        7:09.33 (33.83)     7:43.04 (33.71)
        8:16.78 (33.74)     8:50.32 (33.54)
        9:24.33 (34.01)     9:58.41 (34.08)
       10:32.42 (34.01)    11:06.44 (34.02)
       11:40.57 (34.13)    12:14.65 (34.08)
       12:48.84 (34.19)    13:23.08 (34.24)
       13:57.31 (34.23)    14:31.31 (34.00)
       15:05.65 (34.34)    15:39.76 (34.11)
       16:13.43 (33.67)    16:46.32 (32.89)
  4 Jansen, Ella           05 ESWIM            16:49.30   16:56.37  
    r:+0.84  30.78      1:04.09 (33.31)
        1:37.88 (33.79)     2:11.73 (33.85)
        2:45.34 (33.61)     3:19.03 (33.69)
        3:52.68 (33.65)     4:26.41 (33.73)
        5:00.06 (33.65)     5:33.84 (33.78)
        6:07.50 (33.66)     6:41.37 (33.87)
        7:14.99 (33.62)     7:49.10 (34.11)
        8:22.85 (33.75)     8:56.99 (34.14)
        9:30.77 (33.78)    10:04.62 (33.85)
       10:38.67 (34.05)    11:12.77 (34.10)
       11:46.52 (33.75)    12:20.92 (34.40)
       12:54.97 (34.05)    13:29.45 (34.48)
       14:03.97 (34.52)    14:38.79 (34.82)
       15:13.40 (34.61)    15:47.89 (34.49)
       16:22.27 (34.38)    16:56.37 (34.10)
  5 Anderson, Olivia       99 ESWIM            16:40.40   16:58.41  
    r:+0.71  29.96      1:02.21 (32.25)
        1:34.89 (32.68)     2:07.83 (32.94)
        2:41.12 (33.29)     3:14.50 (33.38)
        3:48.20 (33.70)     4:22.07 (33.87)
        4:55.83 (33.76)     5:29.68 (33.85)
        6:03.47 (33.79)     6:37.63 (34.16)
        7:11.86 (34.23)     7:46.07 (34.21)
        8:20.44 (34.37)     8:54.82 (34.38)
        9:29.24 (34.42)    10:03.56 (34.32)
       10:38.20 (34.64)    11:13.15 (34.95)
       11:47.72 (34.57)    12:22.46 (34.74)
       12:57.31 (34.85)    13:32.17 (34.86)
       14:06.76 (34.59)    14:41.23 (34.47)
       15:16.05 (34.82)    15:50.50 (34.45)
       16:25.09 (34.59)    16:58.41 (33.32)
  6 O'Croinin, Emma        03 EKSC             16:30.46   17:05.37  
    r:+0.77  30.51      1:03.59 (33.08)
        1:36.94 (33.35)     2:10.27 (33.33)
        2:43.72 (33.45)     3:17.26 (33.54)
        3:50.89 (33.63)     4:24.51 (33.62)
        4:58.30 (33.79)     5:32.19 (33.89)
        6:06.14 (33.95)     6:40.07 (33.93)
        7:14.09 (34.02)     7:48.35 (34.26)
        8:22.66 (34.31)     8:57.11 (34.45)
        9:31.59 (34.48)    10:06.13 (34.54)
       10:41.19 (35.06)    11:15.89 (34.70)
       11:50.59 (34.70)    12:25.54 (34.95)
       13:00.44 (34.90)    13:35.49 (35.05)
       14:10.71 (35.22)    14:45.83 (35.12)
       15:21.00 (35.17)    15:56.43 (35.43)
       16:31.49 (35.06)    17:05.37 (33.88)
  7 Smallegange, Kenna     03 BAD              16:54.54   17:20.29  
    r:+0.84  30.64      1:03.41 (32.77)
        1:36.69 (33.28)     2:10.07 (33.38)
        2:43.20 (33.13)     3:16.66 (33.46)
        3:50.25 (33.59)     4:23.95 (33.70)
        4:57.93 (33.98)     5:32.35 (34.42)
        6:06.48 (34.13)     6:40.87 (34.39)
        7:15.43 (34.56)     7:50.02 (34.59)
        8:24.98 (34.96)     9:00.13 (35.15)
        9:35.95 (35.82)    10:11.65 (35.70)
       10:47.56 (35.91)    11:23.41 (35.85)
       11:59.66 (36.25)    12:35.25 (35.59)
       13:11.00 (35.75)    13:46.87 (35.87)
       14:22.98 (36.11)    14:59.05 (36.07)
       15:34.99 (35.94)    16:10.91 (35.92)
       16:46.77 (35.86)    17:20.29 (33.52)
  8 Gage, Kyla             04 PCSC             17:28.02   17:23.26  
    r:+0.78  31.21      1:04.72 (33.51)
        1:38.89 (34.17)     2:13.08 (34.19)
        2:47.53 (34.45)     3:22.16 (34.63)
        3:56.69 (34.53)     4:31.22 (34.53)
        5:06.08 (34.86)     5:40.78 (34.70)
        6:15.73 (34.95)     6:50.63 (34.90)
        7:25.73 (35.10)     8:00.68 (34.95)
        8:35.52 (34.84)     9:10.35 (34.83)
        9:45.39 (35.04)    10:20.49 (35.10)
       10:55.90 (35.41)    11:31.17 (35.27)
       12:06.88 (35.71)    12:42.09 (35.21)
       13:17.69 (35.60)    13:52.75 (35.06)
       14:28.34 (35.59)    15:03.62 (35.28)
       15:39.10 (35.48)    16:14.32 (35.22)
       16:49.31 (34.99)    17:23.26 (33.95)

Men’s 800 Freestyle

The Canadians don’t have an A cut, but they do have a sub-8-minute finisher in Eric Brown, who lopped 12 seconds off his time to finish in 7:59.87. It’s 5.5 seconds shy of the Olympic A cut.

Second was Alexander Axon in 8:04.19. Both are teenagers. Veteran Jeremy Bagshaw was third.

Event 28  Men 800 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 7:41.86  2011-07-27Ryan Cochrane, IS
    OLYMPIC A: A 7:54.31
    Name                 Year Team                 Seed     Finals        
==================================================================
  1 Brown, Eric            02 PCSC              8:12.39    7:59.87  
    r:+0.75  27.52        57.03 (29.51)
        1:27.01 (29.98)     1:57.07 (30.06)
        2:27.27 (30.20)     2:57.55 (30.28)
        3:27.93 (30.38)     3:58.22 (30.29)
        4:28.72 (30.50)     4:59.14 (30.42)
        5:29.88 (30.74)     6:00.15 (30.27)
        6:30.28 (30.13)     7:00.24 (29.96)
        7:30.35 (30.11)     7:59.87 (29.52)
  2 Axon, Alexander        03 MAC               8:05.76    8:04.19  
    r:+0.69  27.31        57.31 (30.00)
        1:27.54 (30.23)     1:57.84 (30.30)
        2:28.29 (30.45)     2:58.58 (30.29)
        3:29.11 (30.53)     3:59.69 (30.58)
        4:29.96 (30.27)     5:00.88 (30.92)
        5:31.71 (30.83)     6:02.35 (30.64)
        6:32.90 (30.55)     7:03.94 (31.04)
        7:34.99 (31.05)     8:04.19 (29.20)
  3 Bagshaw, Jeremy        92 ISC               8:05.77    8:04.94  
    r:+0.70  27.36        56.96 (29.60)
        1:27.37 (30.41)     1:57.62 (30.25)
        2:27.97 (30.35)     2:58.42 (30.45)
        3:28.80 (30.38)     3:59.29 (30.49)
        4:29.51 (30.22)     5:00.09 (30.58)
        5:30.55 (30.46)     6:01.05 (30.50)
        6:32.31 (31.26)     7:03.60 (31.29)
        7:34.81 (31.21)     8:04.94 (30.13)
  4 Pratt, Alexander       00 UBCT              8:13.59    8:05.95  
    r:+0.77  27.23        57.26 (30.03)
        1:27.60 (30.34)     1:58.46 (30.86)
        2:29.39 (30.93)     3:00.29 (30.90)
        3:31.23 (30.94)     4:02.27 (31.04)
        4:32.73 (30.46)     5:03.76 (31.03)
        5:34.76 (31.00)     6:05.47 (30.71)
        6:36.26 (30.79)     7:06.95 (30.69)
        7:37.47 (30.52)     8:05.95 (28.48)
  5 Brothers, Peter        96 UCSC              8:02.40    8:10.96  
    r:+0.74  27.48        57.05 (29.57)
        1:27.14 (30.09)     1:57.29 (30.15)
        2:27.56 (30.27)     2:57.90 (30.34)
        3:28.52 (30.62)     3:59.12 (30.60)
        4:29.64 (30.52)     5:00.70 (31.06)
        5:32.33 (31.63)     6:04.12 (31.79)
        6:36.09 (31.97)     7:07.85 (31.76)
        7:39.89 (32.04)     8:10.96 (31.07)
  6 Beaudin-Bolduc, Natha  99 UL                8:18.09    8:12.37  
    r:+0.72  27.96        58.38 (30.42)
        1:29.32 (30.94)     2:00.50 (31.18)
        2:31.50 (31.00)     3:02.92 (31.42)
        3:34.29 (31.37)     4:05.70 (31.41)
        4:36.56 (30.86)     5:07.92 (31.36)
        5:39.02 (31.10)     6:10.46 (31.44)
        6:41.37 (30.91)     7:12.38 (31.01)
        7:42.48 (30.10)     8:12.37 (29.89)
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