Canada's swim stars begin next Olympic cycle with trials in Victoria
World championships and Commonwealth Games ahead in next few months
A tidal wave of momentum continues to sweep across the swimming landscape in Canada as athletes prepare to hit the reset button with a busy summer schedule ahead.
Canadian swimmers are hoping to build on a successful Olympics in Tokyo where they won six medals, followed by an historic medal haul at the short course world championships in December where swimmers from the country won 15 medals.
Strong performances at the U Sports and NCAA swimming championships have Canadian athletes garnering international attention as well.
"We've had some amazing swimming," John Atkinson, Swimming Canada's high-performance director, told CBC Sports. "People are now ready to come back to what I would describe as our first trials since 2019. The really exciting part is this is the whole swimming community back in and racing."
Now Atkinson wants to make sure the team keeps moving forward.
Streamed live on CBC
For the first time in three years, Swimming Canada is holding a full national trials featuring more than 500 swimmers from 131 clubs across Canada. It starts Tuesday at the Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, B.C.
The six days of competition will go toward selecting Swimming Canada teams competing at the world championships in June in Budapest, Hungary, the Commonwealth Games a month later in Birmingham, England, as well as the world para swimming championships slated for June in Madeira, Portugal.
Teams competing at the junior Pan Pacific championships in Hawaii and the world junior open water championships in Seychelles will also be selected.
All sessions will be streamed live on CBC Sports and can be watched with the free CBC Gem streaming service, at cbcsports.ca as well as through the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.
The talent across the Canadian team is eye-popping right now, with some suggesting this is the golden age of swimming in Canada.
It's something that's exciting Atkinson right now. But there's no time to rest on past successes; with the Tokyo Games having been delayed a year the clock is already ticking down to the next Olympics in Paris two years from now.
Atkinson says these trials are a chance to evaluate where everyone is at while keeping them focused on the larger goal of building toward another Games.It's also a chance to identify new talent as well.
WATCH | Kylie Masse takes silver:
"The program is building. We have our established athletes who are performing and you have to continue that conveyor belt of adding athletes year-on-year, while keeping everyone moving forward. That builds depth," Atkinson said.
Penny Oleksiak, 21, Canada's most decorated Olympian with seven career medals, is gearing up for another push to the Games. Maggie Mac Neil, 22, won a medal of every colour in Tokyo, including gold in the 100-metre butterfly, and she was recently named Swimming Canada's female swimmer of the year.
Kylie Masse is Canada's most decorated FINA swimmer with 11 medals while Sydney Pickrem, Taylor Ruck, Kayla Sanchez, Katerine Savard, Rebecca Smith and Tessa Cieplucha are all well-known swimmers who pose a threat in the pool as well.
And then there's 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, who last month swam the third-fastest time ever recorded in the 400 IM.
"An amazing young woman," Atkinson said of McIntosh. "She's 15 years old. She might have been to an Olympics, she might have swam an Olympic final, but just keep improving. I know that's the old adage to do what you can do to improve, but that's always been our mantra."
WATCH | Summer McIntosh wins silver in 400M IM:
The men's program continues to build, led by one of the up-and-coming stars in the sport. Josh Liendo, 19, was just named Swimming Canada's junior swimmer of the year.
He competed in the Tokyo Olympics and then went on to win three medals at the short course worlds. Atkinson is hoping to build a group of athletes around Liendo now and into the future leading to Paris.
"You're kind of two years out from the Games. We'll see new names this year," Atkinson said. "There are a lot of things that coaches and athletes can look at to keep motivated. Adding in different events keeps things fresh and adds motivation."
Noticeably absent from these trials however will be longtime Canadian coach Ben Titley, who didn't have his contract renewed by Swimming Canada after it expired in the beginning of March.
Titley helped the Canadian team to two very successful Olympic performances. He has since joined the Spanish team's coaching staff.
Titley, of England, oversaw the HPC in Toronto since 2012, where he was coaching a number of swimmers including Oleksiak, Masse, McIntosh and Liendo.
Atkinson won't go into details about why Titley's contract wasn't renewed but did wish Titley the best in his future endeavours.
"I think he was outstanding in what he did with the female athletes and how he brought them through. Like everything, we have things go where people didn't expect it to go. That's the way I would phrase it," Atkinson said.
"Obviously he's moving on to new pastures. Wish him nothing but the best. And now we work with the athletes and program to move forward."
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