2025 Canadian Swimming Trials: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2025 CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS

Welcome to day 2 of the Canadian Swimming Trials. The first day of the meet lived up to the billing, seeing superstar Summer McIntosh break the World Record in the women’s 400 free. Today should see some more great racing, as we’ve got stars such as Josh Liendo, Ilya Kharun, and Kylie Masse in the action.

Day 2 Prelims Schedule:

  • Women’s 50 backstroke
  • Men’s 50 backstroke
  • Women’s 100 butterfly
  • Men’s 100 butterfly
  • Men’s 1500 freestyle (slow heats)
  • Women’s 800 freestyle (slow heats)

After winning the women’s 100 back last night in 58.18, Masse will be back in the pool competing in the 50 back today. Masse is the Canadian Record holder in the event, having set the mark of 27.13 earlier this year.

The men’s 100 fly should see a great race between Liendo and Kharun, who are the top seeds. Liendo set the Canadian Record at 49.99 last summer, while Kharun has been 50.42. Both men are coming off great college seasons in the US, and they should both have no problems finishing under the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 51.77.

WOMEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

  • World Record: 26.86 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2023)
  • Canadian Record: 27.13 – Kylie Masse (2025)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 28.22
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 29.41

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Kylie Masse (TSC) – 27.51
  2. Ingrid Wilm (CASC/HPCVN) – 28.15
  3. Taylor Ruck (KAJ) – 28.65
  4. Madison Kryger (BROCK) – 28.73
  5. Eloise Allen (UBCT) – 28.93
  6. Delia Lloyd (ESWIM/OSU) – 29.00
  7. Bridget Burton (ISC/HPCVN) – 29.02
  8. Ashley McMillan (GO) – 29.09

Though she could have a swum a more relaxed race and been just fine, kylie Masse put up a very strong prelims performance, clocking a 27.51 to earn the top seed for tonight’s final. Masse has really been on fire in the 50 back this year. So far in 2025, Masse has been 27.13 (Canadian Record), 27.42, 27.47, 27.48, 27.53, and 27.64 in the 50 back, along with the 27.51 she went this morning. That level of consistency bodes extremely well for her as she heads towards the World Championships.

Behind Masse, Ingrid Wilm had a very nice morning swim, clocking a 28.15 for 2nd. Wilm has already been 27.65 this year, which she swam back in March, so we can reasonably expect to see a faster swim out of her tonight.

Taylor Ruck put up a 28.65 for 3rd this morning. Ruck holds a season best of 28.36, so she has her work cut out for her in tonight’s final. That being said, Ruck managed to earn 2nd in the 100 back at last night’s finals over Wilm and she was only 0.10 seconds slower than Wilm on the first 50 of that race, so there’s a chance she could pull it off.

Junior swimmer Madison Kryger had a great swim this morning, popping a 28.73 for 4th. Eloise Allen was also under 29 seconds, swimming a 28.93 for 5th.

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

  • World Record: 23.55 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2023)
  • Canadian Record: 24.90 – Javier Acevedo (2023)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 25.11
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 26.08

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Blake Tierney (GOLD/HPCVN) – 25.48
  2. Benjamin Winterborn (UT/HPCON) – 25.50
  3. Parker Deshayes (CASC) – 25.57 (TIE)
  4. Finlay Knox (MAVS/HPCVN) – 25.57 (TIE)
  5. Cole Pratt (CASC/HPCVN) – 25.68
  6. Loic Courville Fortin (CAMO) – 25.75
  7. Patrick Groters (GIANT) – 25.87
  8. Andrew Herman (TSC) – 26.23

Blake Tierney led the charge in what was a very tight field for the men’s 50 back this morning. Tierney finished in 25.48, beating out Benjamin Winterborn by 0.02 seconds. Importantly, the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard is 25.11, so they’ll need someone to step up and go quite a bit faster tonight to get under that mark.

Parker Deshayes and Finlay Knox tied for 3rd this morning with a time of 25.57. Cole Pratt made it into this final as well, clocking a 25.68.

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

  • World Record: 54.60 – Gretchen Walsh, USA (2025)
  • Canadian Record: 55.59 – Maggie MacNeil (2021)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 58.33
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 1:00.82

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAMO) – 58.40
  2. Ella Jansen (ESWIM) – 59.22
  3. Matea Gigovic (KSC) – 59.34
  4. Brooklyn Douthwright (CNBO) – 59.58
  5. Clare Watson (UNCAN) – 59.97
  6. Ashlyn Massey (PCSC) – 1:00.09
  7. Kamryn Cannings (UCSC) – 1:00.16
  8. Leila Fack (OS) – 1:00.26
  9. Katie Forrester (MAC) – 1:00.69
  10. Penny Oleksiak (TSC) – 1:00.76

Mary-Sophie Harvey looked like the clear favorite in the women’s 100 fly this morning, putting up a 58.40, which was just off the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 58.33.

Ella Jansen was the next-fastest this morning, swimming a 59.22.

Junior swimmer Matea Gigovic will be one to keep an eye on in the final tonight, as she was out the fastest on the first 50 this morning. Gigovic swam a 27.48 on the opening 50 of the race this morning, which was the fastest split by a considerable margin. She tightened up on the back half of the race, however, if she’s able to go out fast again and hold on longer tonight, she could be right there in contention.

Brooklyn Douthwright was out fast as well, splitting 27.71 on the first 50. She wound up finishing in 59.58 so, like Gigovic, she struggled getting home a little bit.

Clare Watson was also under 1:00 this morning, swimming a 59.97.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

  • World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
  • Canadian Record: 49.99 – Josh Liendo (2024)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 51.77
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 53.73

Top 8 Qualifiers:

  1. Josh Liendo (NYAC) – 51.25
  2. Ilya Kharun (UNCAN) – 51.27
  3. *Martin Espernberger* (AUT) – 51.81
  4. Patrick Hussey (PCSC) – 52.38
  5. Eric Ginzburg (RAMAC) – 53.13
  6. Filip Senc-Samardzic (TSC) – 53.14
  7. Kent Goni Avila (RAMAC) – 53.63
  8. *Ali Sayed* (CAMO) – 53.86
  9. Nicholas Duncan (UCSC) – 53.91
  10. Benjamin Loewen (CREST) – 54.01

The battle between Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun has set itself up for tonight. The duo were nearly identical this morning, as Liendo swam a 51.25 and Kharun was 51.27. The swim marks Liendo’s first LCM 100 fly of the year, while Kharun has already been 50.42 this year.

Of note, Kharun was out faster, splitting 24.20 on the opening 50 to Liendo’s 24.56. We can expect Liendo to be out faster tonight than he was this morning.

Austrian Martin Espernberger came in 3rd this morning with a 51.81. As a foreign swimmer, he won’t be able to compete in the ‘A’ final tonight, but he had a great swim this morning. Ali Sayed competes for Qatar internationally, so he is also marked as a foreign swimmer for this meet and won’t be in the ‘A’ final either.

MEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE – EARLY HEATS

  • World Record: 14:30.67 – Bobby Finke, USA (2024)
  • Canadian Record: 14:39.63 – Ryan Cochrane (2012)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 15:01.89
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 15:37.52

 

WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – EARLY HEATS

  • World Record: 8:04.12 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2025)
  • Canadian Record: 8:09.96 – Summer McIntosh (2025)
  • World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 8:34.62
  • Canadian World Juniors Standard: 8:48.68

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RipRoomZoom
6 days ago

800FR Feb 2024: 8:11.39
400FR May 2024: 3:59.06
= .486 Ratio

800FR Feb 2025: 8:09.86
400FR May 2025: 3:58.28
= .486 Ratio

800FR June 2025: ???
400FR June 2025: 3:54.18

Extracting the inverse, the math indicates an 8:01.44. Even considering several other examples (some from the same peak tapered months such as Tokyo 2021), everything tells us an equivalent performance for her would be somewhere around 8:02

Name
Reply to  RipRoomZoom
6 days ago

it looked like she was cruising the 3:54 so i wouldn’t really be surprised to see a sub 8 🤷‍♂️

GOATKeown
6 days ago

Is Summer actually going to swim the 800 though? I feel like there’s a solid chance she’ll scratch

UVA #1 FAN!!!!!!!!
Reply to  GOATKeown
6 days ago

she said she’s swimming all her events I think before deciding for worlds

Eric Illouz
Reply to  GOATKeown
6 days ago

she’s swimming it!!

PFA
Reply to  GOATKeown
6 days ago

Nope she literally said yesterday after the 400 she’s swimming it and I’m scared of what she’s about to do in it.

Eric Illouz
Reply to  PFA
6 days ago

why oh why is she leaving Fred

Eric Illouz
Reply to  GOATKeown
6 days ago

its on her instagram feed fast heat timed final tonight

GOATKeown
Reply to  Eric Illouz
6 days ago

Fantastic. I’d love to see her with a huge PB but I thought this might be one she misses to prioritise other events.

Can’t wait to see it

Swim.coverage
6 days ago

Where’s the para swimmers?

Dan
6 days ago

Is there a B-Final where the international swimmers can get a 2nd swim?

Team Canada
6 days ago

On the results page it doesn’t show Summer for the 800, did she scratch?

CanuckSwim
Reply to  Team Canada
6 days ago

I think (and I could be wrong here) they ran the slower heats first for the 800m. The faster heats for the 800m are this evening.

Last edited 6 days ago by CanuckSwim
Eric Illouz
Reply to  CanuckSwim
6 days ago

its on her instagram feed fast heat timed final tonight

Oh Canada
6 days ago

GOOOOOOO PENNY ❤️

CanuckSwim
Reply to  Oh Canada
6 days ago

??

She didn’t make the top 8 today so isn’t going to the finals this evening in the 100m butterfly. Not sure why SwimSwam is showing the top ten in some events when only 8 qualify.

Last edited 6 days ago by CanuckSwim
ele
Reply to  CanuckSwim
6 days ago

Not sure why they showed 10 for women’s 100fly, but either way Penny scratched the B final

10 for men’s 100 fly makes sense because there are 2 international swimmers who cannot be in the A final (they’ll be in the B final), so the 9th and 10th place finishers make it into the A

Isaac
6 days ago

Kieran Smith has the 50 back record? I thought he was American

Team Canada
Reply to  Isaac
6 days ago

Its wrong on here. Javier Acevedo holds it with 24.90

Tanner-Garapick-Oleksiak-McIntosh
6 days ago

Looking forward to tonight’s finals session. Josh and Ilya going at it in the 100 fly, Kylie throwing down another good time in the 50 back and of course Summer chasing not only a PB in the 800 but potentially edging closer to Katie’s 8:04.

Tomek

Summer will brake Katie’s record tonigth…

Walter
Reply to  Tomek
6 days ago

She will be hitting the brakes then?

OSZAR »