Canadian Trials, Day 6 Finals: Ilya Kharun Crushes Canadian Record in 50 Fly; Mary-Sophie Harvey Tops 200 Freestyle
After five days of scintillating performances, including three world records, Summer McIntosh was idle during the last day of racing at the Canadian Trials for this summer’s World Championships in Singapore. McIntosh’s decision to skip her last scheduled event, the 200 freestyle, opened the door for other Canadian standouts to take the standout.
Taking advantage was Ilya Kharun, who shattered the Canadian record in the 50 butterfly. Kharun had been chasing that record for several weeks and put together a huge performance in his final race of Canadian Trials.
Here is how Night Six unfolded in British Columbia:
- Live Results
- Psych Sheet
- Live Steam (CBC Sports on Youtube)
- Canadian Trials Preview
- Day 1 Prelims Recap
- Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap
- Night 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap
- Night 4 Finals Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Recap
- Night 5 Finals Recap
- Day 6 Prelims Recap
Women’s 200 Freestyle
Trailing Ella Jansen through the 150-meter mark, Mary-Sophie Harvey surged down the last length to claim victory in 1:56.60, .73 clear of the 1:57.33 of Jansen. Harvey has qualified to race five individual events at the World Championships in Singapore, with the 200 freestyle complemented by the 100 butterfly, 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley.
With Summer McIntosh available for relay duty at Worlds, Canada will have three strong legs for the 800 freestyle relay. Finding a fourth leg will be the key in pursuit of a podium finish in Singapore.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
The B Final produced the biggest news of the event, as Antoine Sauve set a Canadian record of 1:46.39. That swim was .01 quicker than the 1:46.40 that stood as the national record to Brent Hayden since 2008. While Sauve missed out on racing in the championship final, he made the most of his consolation opportunity. Sauve’s time was more than two seconds quicker than what won the national championship.
Coming off a victory and national record in the 200 backstroke, Ethan Ekk added another national title to his collection by winning the 200 freestyle. Ekk rallied from second place at the midway point to prevail in 1:48.53, which was .30 clear of the matching 1:48.83 marks of Jordi Vilchez and Filip Senc-Samardzic. Ekk, however, will not contest the 200 freestyle at the World Championships, as the qualifying standard sits at 1:46.70.
Women’s 50 Butterfly
Throughout her career, Taylor Ruck has primarily focused on freestyle and backstroke events, but she walked away with a Canadian title in the 50 butterfly on Thursday night. Ruck clocked 26.47 to edge Matea Gigovic, who touched the wall in 26.52. Another backstroke standout, Kylie Masse, was the bronze medalist in 26.71. Ruck’s winning time was shy of the World Champs A qualifying standard of 26.23.
Men’s 50 Butterfly
Wrapping up a sweep of the butterfly events, Ilya Kharun crushed his Canadian record in the 50 butterfly with a mark of 22.68, which ranks as the No. 1 time in the world for 2025. Kharun’s previous record was 23.09, which he recorded earlier this year at the TYR Pro Series stop in Fort Lauderdale.
With victories already earned in the 100 butterfly and 200 fly, Kharun cut .41 from his national standard in the one-lap event, while defeating runnerup Finlay Knox (23.59) by nearly a second. Kharun will be a medal contender in all three fly disciplines at the World Champs. He was the Olympic bronze medalist last summer in the 100 fly and 200 fly.
Men’s 800 Freestyle
Eric Brown completed the distance double, going 8:00.11. That’s well shy of the A cut for Worlds, though Brown has already qualified in open water. He was more than six seconds ahead of the field.
Aiden Kirk was the clear second choice in 8:06.17. Olivier Risk led a trio of 8:10s to the wall in 8:10.41.
Women’s 1,500 freestyle
Much like Brown, Emma Finlin’s spot in open water is sealed for Singapore. That cushions the blow of her falling off the A cut pace in the 1,500 free, winning the event in 16:34.86, about 10 seconds shy of the auto time. She was 13.5 seconds ahead of the field.
Tori Meklensek finished second in 16:48.39. She held off Bailey O’Regan’s 16:50.11. Abigail McLeod finished fourth in 16:51.54, the only other swimmer under 17 minutes.
Paraswimming
Reid Maxwell picked up the win in the multi-class 100 back, the S8 swimmer going 1:09.12. But Nicholas Bennett, who finished third, lowered his Canadian record in S14 by .09 seconds to 1:02.40.
Jaime Cosgriffe went 1:08.26 to win the women’s 100 back. She’s an S10 swimmer.