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Canadian Trials Psych Sheets: Penny Oleksiak in 100 and 200 Free, Markus Thormeyer Aims for 100 Free
Penny Oleksiak will swim the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle at Canadian Trials starting June 19, according to psych sheets released this week. She is not entered in the 100 butterfly, in which she holds the world junior record, set on the way to a silver medal at the Rio Olympics.
Canadian Trials is the last stage of a hybrid selection process due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with six swimmers (including Oleksiak in the 200 free) already named to the Olympic team. That leaves open the possibility for Oleksiak to swim that event in Tokyo even without doing so at Trials. She does have an Olympic B cut of 58.44 this cycle (and a best time of 56.46).
All six of the provisionally selected Olympians are entered in their nine events for Tokyo – Kylie Masse in both backstrokes, Maggie MacNeil in the 100 fly, Oleksiak in the 200 free, Sydney Pickrem in the 200 breaststroke and both individual medleys, Taylor Ruck in the 100 free and Markus Thormeyer in the 200 back. Canadians are vying for spots on the three women’s relays, plus the men’s 400 medley and 400 free and the mixed medley relay at the twice-delayed Trials at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
Maggie MacNeil; Photo Courtesy: Michigan Photography
Entrants in each event are limited to a maximum of 20. In addition to the usual timed finals the 800 and 1,500 free, the 400 free and 400 IM will also be timed finals.
Among the Canadian Trials psych sheet highlights:
Summer McIntosh, the 14-year-old who blasted the 10th-fastest time in the world this season two weeks ago with a 4:05.13 in the 400 free, will not swim that event, likely as a precursor to her selection in it. The top seed at Canadian Trials goes to the other Canadian A-cut holder, Emily Overholt.
Youth is likely to be served in the women’s distance ranks. Emma O’Croinin, still just 18, is the top seed in the 800 free at 8:39.63, followed by 16-year-old Katrina Bellio at 8:41.77. McIntosh is the fourth seed behind Marit Anderson. The field includes six Olympic B cuts but no A cuts. McIntosh (1615.19) and O’Croinin (16:30.46) are 1-2 in the 1,500 with A cuts.
The highest profile swimmer on the women’s side without provisional passage to Tokyo is Kayla Sanchez. She’s the top seed in the 50 free with a B cut of 24.81 that is just .04 off the standard. Ruck is second in 25.45; she holds the Canadian record at 24.26 from 2018. Masse will also swim the 50, seeded 10th in 25.99. Sanchez is seeded fourth in the 200 free, behind A cuts for Oleksiak, Ruck and Overholt. She’s fifth in the 100 back in a loaded field of A cuts – Masse, Ruck, MacNeil and Jade Hannah.
Without Oleksiak in the 100 fly, the door is open for Rebecca Smith. She’s seeded second behind MacNeil with an A cut of 57.59. Also fifth in the 100 free and sixth in the 200 free, Smith could be a valuable relay cog.
Pickrem is the favorite in the 200 IM and 400 IM. In the former, Bailey Andison stands her best shot to get to the Games, the second seed in 2:09.99. Kelsey Wog is third. In the latter, Overholt is the second seed with an A cut. Tess Cieplucha is third with Andison fourth.
Behind Sanchez, the next closest to Tokyo without a confirmed spot is Wog. After a stellar 2020, she’s a bit of a wild card, having not participated in either test event ahead of Canadian Trials. She’s the top seed in the 100 breast at 1:06.44, a tenth ahead of Kierra Smith with Pickrem third. Wog is the top seed in the 200 breast, .21 ahead of Pickrem, with Smith also holding an A cut.
Where the women have 30 swimmers entered in events holding A cuts, the men have just six. Two are in the 100 back, where Thormeyer and Cole Pratt will joust. The same is true in the 200 back, where Pratt is .46 off the A standard time.
Brent Hayden will stick with his specialty of the 50 and 100 free. He’s within .26 of his national record (from 2009) in the 50 at 21.97, with Yuri Kisil second and 18-year-old Joshua Liendo third. In the 100, he’s .24 ahead of Thormeyer. Finlay Knox is fifth in that event, behind Liendo and Kisil, and will be fighting to enter the relay reckoning.
Pratt is also chasing an A standard in the 200 IM behind Knox, the Canadian record-holder. He’s nearly two seconds shy of that. Pratt is due to swim five events, with both backstrokes, the 200 IM, 100 free (he’s seeded 17th) and 200 free (seventh). There’s no relay carrot in the latter. Knox will also swim the 100 fly.
