Led by individual Olympic gold medallist Maggie MacNeil, 27 total swimmers will represent the maple leaf in the Hungarian capital of Budapest come the 19th FINA World Championships in June of this year. MacNeil won the 100 butterfly (57.13) ahead of Katerine Savard (58.01) but also sustained an injury during the meet that will take some time to recover. MacNeil is the reigning Olympic champion and the defending World champ in the 100 butterfly, so this could be a big loss for Swimming Canada if she is unable to recover in time for Worlds, although with or without MacNeil, this Canadian team is one of its strongest.

Most notably for Canada has been the emergence of teenage Summer McIntosh. She made her international debut last summer at the Olympics just a few weeks shy of her 15th birthday and has qualified for her first Worlds team this year after winning the 200 (1:55.39) and 400 free (4:01.59) as well as the 200 fly (2:07.60) and 400 IM (4:34.86) at Trials.


Very quickly, McIntosh has become one of the best swimmers in the world, and after finishing fourth in the 400 free last summer in Japan, could be in line for her first individual podium at a major long course meet. The 400 free has been her most successful event in the last 12 months, but with the impending rematches between Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and USA’s Katie Ledecky, McIntosh may have a better chance at an individual gold in perhaps the 400 IM, where she swam a 4:29.12 earlier this year in March. That swim put her third all-time and was the fastest time anyone has swum in six years.

Swimming Canada also has two rising stars on the men’s side in 19-year-old Joshua Liendo and 21-year-old Finlay Knox, both of whom won individual silver medals at the FINA World Junior Championships 2019 in Budapest, the very same pool they will race again in this summer at Worlds. Liendo currently leads the world rankings in the 50 free (21.63) and is second in the 100 butterfly (50.88), breaking the Canadian record in both events in British Columbia.

Canada has long been searching for its next great men’s star after the retirement of Ryan Cochrane in 2016, and Liendo just might be the guy. He picked up valuable experience in Tokyo last summer, reaching the semifinals in the 100 fly (11th) and 100 free (14th), and swam on two
finals relays.

Liendo also won the 100 freestyle (48.35) last week, just ahead of Ruslan Gaziev (48.41), while Yuri Kisil (48.80) was in third. Last year, Liendo and Kisil were two-piece on the 4x100 free relay team to place fourth, just six tenths off the podium, a seemingly unlikely finish after placing 13th in the same relay at the 2019 Worlds.

Now with the recent retirement of the legendary Brent Hayden, Gaziev comes in to fill that gap, while Javier Acevedo picks up the fourth spot from Trials, and Canada has a formidable men’s sprint relay once again. With this quartet of swimmers, the Canadians have a chance for their first men’s relay podium at a Worlds or Olympics since 2007.

Finlay Knox won the 200 IM at 1:57.50, breaking his own Canadian record in the process, and also reached the qualifying standard behind Liendo in the 100 butterfly (51.86). Knox’s best international finish came in the 200 IM at the World Juniors three years ago and he will return to Budapest with the potential of reaching the final after he was 17th in Tokyo last year.

The Canadian women’s team has been one of the dominant forces in global swimming for the last six years, and they have some serious gold medal contenders in individual events and in relays come Budapest.

Kylie Masse, who won two individual silvers last year at the Olympics, won both the 100 (58.48) and 200 backstroke (2:07.66) as she made her third Worlds team. Masse is the two-time defending World champion in the 100 backstroke and also set the world record five years ago in Budapest to win the 2017 title. Masse has long been one of the best backstrokers in the world, so don’t expect that to change moving forward to this summer.

Penny Oleksiak, another big part of Canada’s dominance, finished second in both the 100 (53.71) and 200 freestyles (1:57.01), behind Kayla Sanchez in the 100 (53.68) and McIntosh in the 200. Sanchez was also fourth in the 200 freestyle behind Taylor Ruck, both swimming 1:57s.

Pending what happens with the national trials from China, the United States, and Australia, it looks like Canada is the early gold medal favourite for the 4x200 free relay. They were just off the podium last summer, with McIntosh, Sanchez, and Oleksiak each splitting 1:55s. In comes Ruck, who has been 1:54 in the past and looks a lot stronger in the pool after overcoming some personal struggles in the last couple of years. This relay looks capable of beating anyone in the world.


With Ruck added to the mix in the 4x100 free relay, along with Katerine Savard, Canada has the potential to reach the podium in all three women’s relays, matching what the team did at the 2019 Worlds. And with Sophie Angus as the national champion in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.60), the medley relay is a favourite to reach the podium as well. Ruck also qualified to swim the 100 (59.67) and 200 backstroke (2:09.63) in what will be her second FINA World Championships, while Sanchez also won the 50 free at 24.93.

The Canadian women’s team will also be highlighted by Sydney Pickrem, who won the 200 IM (2:10.58) ahead of Mary-Sophie Harvey (2:10.98), Abby Dunford, who won the 1500 (16:20.26), Kelsey Wog, winner of the 200 breast (2:24.87), and Tess Cieplucha, the runner-up to McIntosh in the 400 IM (4:39.49). Canada has had two strong showings at the last two Olympics with six medals each, and shows no sign of slowing down in the march toward 2024