Speedo Canadian Open: Summer McIntosh Supplies Power with 100 Free Win
Summer McIntosh provided the power on Thursday night at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, a little before the lights in the facility dimmed in a brief power outage.
McIntosh won the women’s 100 freestyle over a field of Olympics, going 53.90. Her time bested Maggie MacNeil, 54.01, and Mary-Sophie Harvey, who went 54.27. Fourth was the Canadian sprint program’s long-time standard-bearer, Penny Oleksiak, marking her return from injury in 54.43.
It’s a salient swim for McIntosh’s hopes of getting a place on the Canadian 400 free relay in Paris this summer. The Canadians took silver in Tokyo, with a squad that included MacNeil and Oleksiak. Kayla Sanchez, who has since switched her international affiliation to the Philippines, led off, while Rebecca Smith, a long-time relay stalwart, swam the third leg. Taylor Ruck, dealing with injuries and training disruptions, swam prelims.
Ruck isn’t swimming in Toronto this week, in what is a tune-up for next month’s Olympic Trials. Smith, a 17-time medalist at World Championships in relays, finished seventh Thursday in 55.63.
McIntosh and MacNeil are swimming mostly off events this week as they prepare for the big showdowns to book spots in Paris next month.
Ingrid Wilm won the women’s 50 backstroke in 27.75 on the second night of the four-day meet. She was a half-second ahead of a field that did not include long-time Canadian backstroke star Kylie Masse. MacNeil didn’t swim that event or the 50 butterfly, the latter won in 27.18 by Mia West.
Shona Branton won the women’s 100 breaststroke, a pertinent battle for a medley relay spot. Branton went 1:07.40, edging Kelsey Wog’s 1:07.52. Alexanne Lepage (1:07.75) and Sophie Angus (1:07.82) were also in the lead group.
Croatia’s Jere Hribar won the men’s 100 free, the LSU freshman bidding for an A cut. He was 48.90 in prelims, a best time by two tenths though still behind the A cut of 48.34. He went 49.26 at night to win.
The second swim denied a back-to-back by Javier Acevedo. The Canadian was second in the 100 free in 49.51, .12 ahead of fellow 400 free relay aspirant Yuri Kisil. Acevedo won the men’s 50 back in 25.81, .03 up on Blake Tierney.
Mainstay Finlay Knox staked his claim to a possible spot on the men’s medley relay at the Paris Olympics by winning the 100 breast, a little outside the IMer’s usual comfort zone. Knox went 1:00.91, comfortably faster than Gabe Mastromatteo in 1:02.42. Mastromatteo was the one who swam on the finalist medley relay in Tokyo.
Mabel Zavaros routed Tokyo Olympian Tessa Cieplucha head-to-head in the 400 individual medley. Zavaros clocked in at 4:43.55, 6.5 seconds ahead of Cieplucha, in 4:50.10. Jordi Vilchez won the men’s race in 4:25.59, and Eric Ginzburg went 24.33 to claim the 50 fly.
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