Canadian Olympic Trials: Tessa Cieplucha to Join Sydney Pickrem in 400 IM in Tokyo

tess-cieplucha-
Tessa Cieplucha; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Canadian Olympic Trials: Tessa Cieplucha to Join Sydney Pickrem in 400 IM in Tokyo

The gap between Tessa Cieplucha and the Olympic stood at only .43 seconds. But as plenty of swimmers can attest, at Canadian Olympic Trials and elsewhere around the world, that fraction can look like a mountain.

Cieplucha summitted that mountain in style Wednesday night, nabbing an Olympic A cut in the 400 individual medley. Her time of 4:37.26 pushed Sydney Pickrem hard, Cieplucha landing second by .23 behind Pickrem’s winning time of 4:37.03.

Pickrem’s place in Tokyo was set via pre-selection, one of three individual events she’ll swim. But Cieplucha was swimming for her Olympic life on the final day of the five-day meet, in her favorite event.

“This is such a great feeling right now. I’m so happy,” Cieplucha said. “This has been a dream of mine and coming back into training after the pandemic and everything happened, this has been my goal, and I’m just so happy everything paid off.”

Cieplucha was fourth after 100 meters but threw down a pair of 35s in the backstroke to surge into the lead. It was a big enough edge that she was only .07 behind Pickrem after the breaststroke leg, Pickrem’s specialty. She was up by .65 seconds at 350 meters, but Pickrem closed with a 31.22 to get the win.

Pickrem, Sydney. 20210621 SCOTDay03. Photo.GerardRichardson-92166

Photo Courtesy: Gerard Richardson/Swimming Canada

Cieplucha is also a back-halfer, and she focused on being aggressive with the front half of her race Wednesday. That she was neck-and-neck with Pickrem provided a confidence booster.

“I always feel comfortable in the back half of the race, but today was all about testing, putting myself out there in the first half,” Cieplucha said. “Seeing here, I think I turned to Sydney’s side a few times in the race. Seeing her beside me the whole race definitely helped me push through when it was getting tough.”

Pickrem was delighted to see Cieplucha hit the FINA A standard. The two have raced for years in the SEC, with Pickrem at Texas A&M and Cieplucha in Knoxville. Pickrem was also reminded of 2016 when she made her first cut in the 400 IM, a full-circle moment seeing her teammate and training partner at the Toronto High Performance Centre do the same.

“I know what it’s like to have that pressure,” Pickrem said. “I know this race isn’t fun. I don’t think anyone will say it’s fun. … I don’t even know what I went, I was just looking at what she went and seeing if she was under the standard at the end. To have a teammate going to the Olympics with you, it’s great.”

Event 23  Women 400 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 4:32.52  2015-08-09Emily Overholt, WVOSC
    OLYMPIC A: A 4:38.53
    Name                 Year Team                 Seed     Finals        
==================================================================
  1 Pickrem, Sydney        97 TSC               4:35.15    4:37.03A 
    r:+0.66  29.29      1:03.05 (33.76)
        1:38.92 (35.87)     2:14.88 (35.96)
        2:53.61 (38.73)     3:32.89 (39.28)
        4:05.81 (32.92)     4:37.03 (31.22)
  2 Cieplucha, Tessa       98 MAC               4:38.96    4:37.26A 
    r:+0.78  29.78      1:04.16 (34.38)
        1:39.24 (35.08)     2:13.86 (34.62)
        2:52.89 (39.03)     3:32.95 (40.06)
        4:05.32 (32.37)     4:37.26 (31.94)
  3 Andison, Bailey        97 PERTH             4:39.54    4:38.66  
    r:+0.70  29.73      1:03.84 (34.11)
        1:40.27 (36.43)     2:15.28 (35.01)
        2:54.14 (38.86)     3:34.05 (39.91)
        4:06.76 (32.71)     4:38.66 (31.90)
  4 Harvey, Mary-Sophie    99 CAMO              4:42.70    4:43.30  
    r:+0.69  29.71      1:04.31 (34.60)
        1:40.98 (36.67)     2:17.35 (36.37)
        2:56.97 (39.62)     3:37.85 (40.88)
        4:10.62 (32.77)     4:43.30 (32.68)
  5 McMillan, Ashley       04 KISU              4:52.49    4:49.63  
    r:+0.75  29.88      1:03.62 (33.74)
        1:40.69 (37.07)     2:17.19 (36.50)
        2:59.62 (42.43)     3:40.89 (41.27)
        4:15.70 (34.81)     4:49.63 (33.93)
  6 Herbert, Bailey        02 LOSC              4:53.05    4:50.74  
    r:+0.79  30.24      1:05.17 (34.93)
        1:43.79 (38.62)     2:21.28 (37.49)
        3:01.97 (40.69)     3:43.14 (41.17)
        4:17.56 (34.42)     4:50.74 (33.18)
  7 McCloy, Allison        99 UCSC              4:51.57    4:51.29  
    r:+0.84  30.61      1:04.96 (34.35)
        1:44.42 (39.46)     2:21.96 (37.54)
        3:02.89 (40.93)     3:44.51 (41.62)
        4:18.34 (33.83)     4:51.29 (32.95)
  8 Wheeler, Megan         03 NKB               4:55.30    4:52.02  
    r:+0.57  31.09      1:06.74 (35.65)
        1:43.29 (36.55)     2:20.14 (36.85)
        3:02.07 (41.93)     3:44.83 (42.76)
        4:18.78 (33.95)     4:52.02 (33.24)

Men’s 400 Individual Medley

Collyn Gagne, the third seed entering the event, had a huge time drop to get the win in 4:18.65. It’s a cut of just shy of three seconds off his seed time.

Second was top seed Tristan Cote in 4:23.13, nearly six seconds slower than his seed. He was just .15 ahead of Jacob Gallant.

Event 24  Men 400 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 4:11.41  2008-08-09Brian Johns, UBCD
    OLYMPIC A: A 4:15.84
    Name                 Year Team                 Seed     Finals        
==================================================================
  1 Gagne, Collyn          00 SFA               4:21.49    4:18.65  
    r:+0.74  27.35        58.28 (30.93)
        1:32.67 (34.39)     2:05.32 (32.65)
        2:41.88 (36.56)     3:18.58 (36.70)
        3:49.42 (30.84)     4:18.65 (29.23)
  2 Cote, Tristan          95 UCSC              4:17.22    4:23.13  
    r:+0.70  27.20        58.40 (31.20)
        1:31.52 (33.12)     2:03.95 (32.43)
        2:40.47 (36.52)     3:18.61 (38.14)
        3:50.72 (32.11)     4:23.13 (32.41)
  3 Gallant, Jacob         02 FAST              4:22.87    4:23.28  
    r:+0.74  27.80        59.45 (31.65)
        1:32.90 (33.45)     2:06.22 (33.32)
        2:43.34 (37.12)     3:21.18 (37.84)
        3:52.58 (31.40)     4:23.28 (30.70)
  4 Hussey, Patrick        01 PCSC              4:26.70    4:24.35  
    r:+0.73  27.81      1:00.52 (32.71)
        1:35.09 (34.57)     2:09.01 (33.92)
        2:45.74 (36.73)     3:23.43 (37.69)
        3:54.16 (30.73)     4:24.35 (30.19)
  5 Loewen, Benjamin       04 CREST             4:27.75    4:25.72  
    r:+0.65  27.68        59.55 (31.87)
        1:33.54 (33.99)     2:06.24 (32.70)
        2:45.00 (38.76)     3:25.36 (40.36)
        3:57.44 (32.08)     4:25.72 (28.28)
  6 Fotherby, Justin       03 KISU              4:26.01    4:26.00  
    r:+0.76  27.62        59.14 (31.52)
        1:33.26 (34.12)     2:06.95 (33.69)
        2:46.39 (39.44)     3:25.87 (39.48)
        3:56.37 (30.50)     4:26.00 (29.63)
  7 Palaschuk, Brian       98 UOFC              4:23.13    4:26.65  
    r:+0.69  27.62        59.86 (32.24)
        1:35.03 (35.17)     2:08.41 (33.38)
        2:46.03 (37.62)     3:25.13 (39.10)
        3:56.20 (31.07)     4:26.65 (30.45)
  8 Champagne, Montana     96 GO                4:21.40    4:27.92  
    r:+0.74  26.98        58.26 (31.28)
        1:33.56 (35.30)     2:08.04 (34.48)
        2:45.76 (37.72)     3:24.73 (38.97)
        3:56.84 (32.11)     4:27.92 (31.08)

200 Women’s Backstroke

Taylor Ruck hasn’t had the week at Canadian Trials she might have expected, but she’s ending it on a high note.

Ruck went 2:09.26, a solid time for Trials to get the second spot. She has been 2:06.70, but put down a time well under the A cut at this meet is a good sign ahead of Tokyo.

It’s been an up-and-down meet for Ruck. She didn’t make the final in the 200 free, then withdrew from the 50. She’s the Canadian record-holder in both events. She also finished fifth in the 100 free, in which she was pre-selected to the Games.

But she’s been sharp in backstroke, finishing second with an A cut in the 100 back. And now she’s done the same in the 200.

Kylie Masse, the national record holder, won the event easily in 2:06.67. She was within .7 of her Canadian record.

Masse offers a little perspective on Ruck and how difficult things have been at Trials, so an up-and-down Trials doesn’t mean what it might normally mean.

“Being here with no fans, no anything, no teammates even on deck, just the people who are in the race, it’s quite different for everyone to get up and swim as fast as we can, and it’s definitely a challenge,” she said. “It’s been a difficult year. The most important thing has been being there for each other and supporting each other.”

Event 25  Women 200 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 2:05.94  2019-04-05Kylie Masse, TSC
    OLYMPIC A: A 2:10.39
    Name                 Year Team              Prelims     Finals        
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 Masse, Kylie           96 TSC               2:09.30    2:06.67A 
    r:+0.58  29.61      1:01.41 (31.80)
        1:33.85 (32.44)     2:06.67 (32.82)
  2 Ruck, Taylor           00 SCAR              2:11.46    2:09.26A 
    r:+0.66  29.80      1:02.02 (32.22)
        1:35.28 (33.26)     2:09.26 (33.98)
  3 Douthwright, Brooklyn  03 CNBO              2:14.99    2:10.49  
    r:+0.59  30.72      1:03.42 (32.70)
        1:37.01 (33.59)     2:10.49 (33.48)
  4 Rathwell, Regan        04 GO                2:16.03    2:11.72  
    r:+0.62  30.42      1:03.64 (33.22)
        1:37.83 (34.19)     2:11.72 (33.89)
  5 Varga, Ella            04 UCSC              2:13.61    2:11.95  
    r:+0.63  31.21      1:04.51 (33.30)
        1:38.20 (33.69)     2:11.95 (33.75)
  6 Zavaros, Mabel         00 MAC               2:14.62    2:12.39  
    r:+0.64  31.10      1:04.49 (33.39)
        1:38.55 (34.06)     2:12.39 (33.84)
  7 Wilm, Ingrid           98 CASC              2:13.33    2:12.76  
    r:+0.72  31.40      1:05.93 (34.53)
        1:40.53 (34.60)     2:12.76 (32.23)
  8 Moulson, Sara          03 MAC               2:15.00    2:14.47  
    r:+0.74  32.11      1:06.35 (34.24)
        1:40.56 (34.21)     2:14.47 (33.91)
  9 Janvier, Aela          99 PCSC              2:14.76    2:14.87  
    r:+0.61  31.73      1:05.54 (33.81)
        1:40.75 (35.21)     2:14.87 (34.12)
 10 Scholes, Dylan         04 MAC               2:17.11    2:16.16  
    r:+0.69  31.86      1:06.30 (34.44)
        1:41.04 (34.74)     2:16.16 (35.12)

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Cole Pratt dropped time from prelims to win the event in 1:58.11, but he’s .61 seconds shy of the automatic standard.

Second was Blake Tierney in 1:59.49, joined in the sub-2-minute club by Richie Stokes.

Not swimming the race was Markus Thormeyer. The Canadian record holder (an a cut of 1:56.96) has been pre-selected to the event in Tokyo.

Event 26  Men 200 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
     CANADIAN: N 1:56.96  2019-07-25Markus Thormeyer, UBCTS
    OLYMPIC A: A 1:57.50
    Name                 Year Team              Prelims     Finals        
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 Pratt, Cole            02 CASC              1:58.87    1:58.11  
    r:+0.64  28.19        57.86 (29.67)
        1:28.07 (30.21)     1:58.11 (30.04)
  2 Tierney, Blake         02 UBCT              2:00.60    1:59.49  
    r:+0.62  28.01        58.14 (30.13)
        1:28.77 (30.63)     1:59.49 (30.72)
  3 Stokes, Richie         00 UCSC              1:59.87    1:59.52  
    r:+0.60  28.06        58.19 (30.13)
        1:28.82 (30.63)     1:59.52 (30.70)
  4 McNeill, Hugh          03 LOSC              2:01.16    2:00.69  
    r:+0.66  28.44        59.09 (30.65)
        1:30.42 (31.33)     2:00.69 (30.27)
  5 Marois, William        98 CAMO              2:01.76    2:01.17  
    r:+0.59  28.05        58.40 (30.35)
        1:29.72 (31.32)     2:01.17 (31.45)
  6 Loewen, Benjamin       04 CREST             2:03.96    2:02.25  
    r:+0.69  29.44      1:00.61 (31.17)
        1:31.85 (31.24)     2:02.25 (30.40)
  7 De Pol, Tayden         02 UBCT              2:03.61    2:03.50  
    r:+0.63  27.37        57.57 (30.20)
        1:29.79 (32.22)     2:03.50 (33.71)
  8 Hill, Robert           96 UCSC              2:03.67    2:04.06  
    r:+0.57  28.37        59.52 (31.15)
        1:31.68 (32.16)     2:04.06 (32.38)
  9 Buck, Carter           03 LAC               2:06.25    2:06.13  
    r:+0.60  29.46      1:01.88 (32.42)
        1:34.04 (32.16)     2:06.13 (32.09)
 10 Mac, Matthew           98 OAK               2:05.98    2:07.24  
    r:+0.52  29.35      1:01.52 (32.17)
        1:34.26 (32.74)     2:07.24 (32.98)

 

 

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