Following the 2024 Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials that took place last week at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Swimming Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced the roster of swimmers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The swimmers set to compete for Team Canada in Paris are:
Javier Acevedo (Toronto, Ont.)
Sophie Angus (Weston, USA)
Alex Axon (Newmarket, Ont.)
Jeremy Bagshaw (Victoria, B.C.)
Julie Brousseau (Ottawa, Ont.)
Brooklyn Douthwright (Riverview, N.B.)
Emma Finlin (Edmonton, Alta.)
Mary-Sophie Harvey (Trois-Rivieres, Que.)
Apollo Hess (Lethbridge, Alta.)
Patrick Hussey (Beaconsfield, Que.)
Tristan Jankovics (Puslinch, Ont.)
Ella Jansen (Burlington, Ont.)
Ilya Kharun (Montreal, Que.)
Yuri Kisil (Calgary, Alta.)
Finlay Knox (Okotoks, Alta.)
Josh Liendo (Toronto, Ont.)
Margaret (Maggie) Mac Neil (London, Ont.)
Kylie Masse (Lasalle, Ont.)
Summer McIntosh (Toronto, Ont.)
Emma O’Croinin (Edmonton, Alta.)
Penny Oleksiak (Toronto, Ont.)
Sydney Pickrem (Halifax, N.S.)
Regan Rathwell (Ashton, Ont.)
Taylor Ruck (Kelowna, B.C.)
Rebecca Smith (Red Deer, Alta.)
Blake Tierney (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Lorne Wigginton (Calgary, Alta.)
Ingrid Wilm (Calgary, Alta.)
Kelsey Wog (Winnipeg, Man.)
To make Team Canada’s Olympic team, swimmers needed to achieve the Olympic Qualifying Time in that event and finish top two at the Trials. Canada has also qualified entries in all seven relay events, so there are several athletes who will make their Olympic dreams as members of these relay squads.
Seventeen-year-old Summer McIntosh is qualified in five individual events and has put herself into consideration for multiple relays. She made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 as the youngest athlete on Team Canada.
McIntosh has since won more gold medals – four – than any Canadian swimmer ever at the World Aquatics Championships, becoming a back-to-back world champion in the women’s 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley in 2022 and 2023.
During last week’s Olympic Trials, McIntosh bettered her own World Record in the 400m IM, taking 1.5 seconds off the time she set last year. Her time of 4:24.38 is almost two seconds faster than any other woman in the event.
"I'm pretty happy to be able to qualify in my top five events, so going into Paris I'm super excited," said McIntosh. "I think it's going to be an amazing meet, and not just for me but for all of Team Canada. I was just watching Josh [Liendo who just swam a Canadian record moments before] and it gave me a lot of motivation."
Maggie Mac Neil, who won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 in the women’s 100m butterfly, will have the chance to defend her title in the event, and will be joined by Mary-Sophie Harvey, who will have the opportunity to compete in her first individual Olympic events after having competed in the 4x200m freestyle relay at Tokyo 2020.
Four-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse will make her third Olympic appearance in Paris, having qualified in the women’s 100m and 200m backstroke events with some of the fastest times in the world this year during the Trials. The Lasalle, Ontario native will be joined in the 100m backstroke by Ingrid Wilm, who will make her Olympic debut as the 2024 World Championships bronze medallist in the event.
“I’m motivated by my teammates, my national team teammates, my coaches. I’m motivated by my competitors in Canada and around the world,” said Masse. “I think every day brings a different motivation, sometimes it’s just motivation to get through the week and other times it’s a bigger motivation. Like anything in life, I think it’s just about continuing to show up and be disciplined in what I do, be disciplined in the skills that I’m working on and trying to perfect every detail.”
“There’s a couple of us now that will have been on a couple of Olympic teams, so to be there with people that have done it before and to be there with fresh excited new faces is also a blessing,” she added. “I hope to just be there for everyone in whatever way I can support them and help their Olympic journey to achieve great performances.”
Canada’s all-time most decorated Olympian, Penny Oleksiak, is headed to her third Olympic Games after some difficult years that have seen her manage multiple injuries, including knee surgery just four months before the Trials. Now 23, Oleksiak became the first Canadian athlete to ever win four medals at one Olympics – the Rio 2016 Games.
While it was members of the women’s team that won Team Canada’s total of 12 Olympic swimming medals from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the Canadian men have continued to improve and aspire to take the next step onto the Olympic podium. Josh Liendo won bronze medals in the men’s 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. Liendo then upgraded himself to silver in the 100m butterfly at the 2023 Worlds.
This past February, Finlay Knox became the first Canadian man in 17 years to win a gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships, after his breakthrough performance in the men’s 200 IM. Both men were part of a fast 100m freestyle final at the Trials, which has boosted hopes for a potential podium in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Liendo and Yuri Kisil, the runner-up in the 100m freestyle at Trials, contributed to a fourth-place finish in that event at Tokyo 2020.
“Last time around in the Olympics, my goal was to try to get into the final, try to make a semi. Now, I’m obviously challenging to be in that final. Once you’re in the final, everyone’s going for a podium, so that’s kind of my mindset right now, I want to be at the top with the best guys,” Liendo said after securing his Olympic spot in the 100m freestyle.
Among the first-time Olympic team members are Tristan Jankovics and Jeremy Bagshaw, at opposite ends of their swimming careers. The 20-year-old Jankovics became the first Canadian to qualify for the men’s 400m IM since London 2012.
The Paris-bound squad includes 13 swimmers with previous Olympic experience and six Olympic medallists. Fifteen Paris 2024 Canadian Olympic swimmers have won medals at World Aquatics Championships, and 13 won medals at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games this past October.
“I am very happy with the make-up of the Swimming Canada Olympic team. The Trials have been a great event, and the outcome can be seen with the strength of the team announced,” said John Atkinson, High Performance Director of Swimming Canada. “There have been world-class performances from many of our athletes across both male and female events, and that is extremely pleasing from the Trials. The team has quality at the world level in many events and now the focus for all our team members is to prepare for improvement and progression from Trials to Games and be ready for 9 days of competition in the pool in Paris.”
Team Canada has won 55 Olympic swimming medals, second only to athletics for most Olympic medals won by Canadians in a summer sport.
Swimming will take place during the first nine days of the Olympics (27 July to 4 August 4) at the Paris La Defense Arena.
‘’Congratulations to the Canadian swimmers who earned their ticket for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Their performances throughout Trials this week have offered us several moments of intensity, where concentration, passion, and excellence were in the spotlight. It’s inspiring to see these athletes push themselves and always aim higher,‘’ said Bruny Surin, Team Canada’s Paris 2024 Chef de Mission. ‘’Their potential is undeniable, and I can’t wait to see Team Canada makes waves to get on the podium in Paris.’’
The latest Team Canada Paris 2024 roster can be found here.
Courtesy: Swimming Canada