2022 Bell Canadian Trials: Finlay Knox Lowers 200 IM National Record
Finlay Knox clocked in at 1:57.50 to lower his national record in the men’s 200 individual medley on the first night of the 2022 Bell Canadian Trials Tuesday night.
First night of the six-day meet culminated with Summer McIntosh trimming a second off her record in the 400 free, the 15-year-old going 4:01.59.
Knox went 1:59.52 in the morning. He sped up to 1:57.50 at night, lowering the record of 1:58.07 that he set last June at Canadian Trials.
Knox’s splits:
1 Knox, Finlay 01 SCAR 1:59.52 1:57.50n 913
r:+0.67 24.71 54.77 (30.06)
1:29.27 (34.50) 1:57.50 (28.23)
Almost the entire drop came in his backstroke leg: He split 30.60 in the swim at Trials last year and 30.06 on Tuesday night. All three other 50s were within .03 seconds of the previous record swim.
“I felt like I was a little distracted in the ready room, trying to figure out when I was swimming,” Knox said in a Swimming Canada press release. “I still managed to swim fast. “I gave my everything tonight. I know there is a lot of room to work for this summer. I can’t wait.”
Second was Collyn Gagne, who went 2:00.37. Third was 18-year-old Benjamin Loewen in 2:03.48, a best time by a second and a half.
On the women’s side, Sydney Pickrem led a trio of swimmers under the FINA standard for Worlds with a time of 2:10.58. Second was Mary-Sophie Harvey in 2:10.98 with Tessa Cieplucha third in 2:12.03.
“We look at trials as a stepping stone,” Pickrem said. “I had a lot of nerves going into it. I had to keep reminding myself let’s just get it done. It’s nice I got that out of the way.”
Pickrem was able to neutralize the front-half strength of Harvey, out quicker by a tenth, before opening up a half-second cushion on the breaststroke leg.
Event 5 Women 19 & Over 200 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
FINA: f 2:12.98 World Standard
WORLD: w 2:06.12 2015-08-03Katinka Hosszu, HUN
CAN: n 2:08.61 2019-06-01Sydney Pickrem, UNATT
Name Year Team Prelims Finals FINA
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Pickrem, Sydney 97 TSC 2:13.45 2:10.58f 900
r:+0.69 27.96 1:01.53 (33.57)
1:39.29 (37.76) 2:10.58 (31.29)
2 Harvey, Mary-So 99 CAMO 2:13.41 2:10.98f 892
r:+0.68 28.49 1:01.62 (33.13)
1:39.89 (38.27) 2:10.98 (31.09)
3 Cieplucha, Tess 98 MAC 2:14.40 2:12.03f 871
r:+0.79 28.80 1:03.40 (34.60)
1:40.81 (37.41) 2:12.03 (31.22)
Kylie Masse put a scare into her national record in the women’s 100 backstroke but still ended up cruising to victory. She won the event in 58.48, .07 seconds off her prelims time. She holds the national record at 57.70.
Masse is one of three women under the FINA standard. Taylor Ruck followed in 59.67, using a solid final 50 of 30.37 to sneak past Ingrid Wilm. Wilm, who went 59.77 in the morning, was 59.75 at night. Harvey pulled off a daunting double to finish fourth.
Event 7 Women 19 & Over 100 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
FINA: f 1:00.59 World Standard
WORLD: w 57.45 2021-06-13Kaylee McKeown, AUS
CAN: n 57.70 2021-06-19Kylie Masse, TSC
Name Year Team Prelims Finals FINA
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Masse, Kylie 96 TSC 58.41 58.48f 954
r:+0.56 28.30 58.48 (30.18)
2 Ruck, Taylor 00 SCAR 1:00.73 59.67f 898
r:+0.61 29.30 59.67 (30.37)
3 Wilm, Ingrid K 98 CASC 59.77 59.75f 894
r:+0.61 28.85 59.75 (30.90)
4 Harvey, Mary-So 99 CAMO 1:00.90 1:00.90 844
r:+0.61 29.83 1:00.90 (31.07)
Javier Acevedo goes down as the winner in the men’s 100 backstroke in 54.37 seconds. That’s short of the FINA Standard (54.03). It also trailed the time set by Polish international (and NCAA champion) Kacper Stokowski, in 54.17. Third overall was another international collegian, USC’s Vaggelis Makrygiannis, the Greek swimmer going 54.43.
Second among the Canadian contingent was Blake Tierney in 54.62.
McIntosh entered the 400 free as the top seed after a 4:08.01 in the morning. She was much faster at night, blasting her way to a Canadian record of 4:01.59.
McIntosh had downed the old record, a 4:03.43 by Brittany MacLean in 2016, with a 4:02.42 that was pending as the record. It is no more, thanks to her swim Tuesday.
The splits for McIntosh:
1 McIntosh, Summer 06 ESWIM 4:08.01 4:01.59 937
r:+0.75 27.75 57.74 (29.99)
1:27.90 (30.16) 1:58.28 (30.38)
2:28.88 (30.60) 2:59.71 (30.83)
3:30.88 (31.17) 4:01.59 (30.71)
Second was Katrina Bellio, the Olympian in the mile, in 4:11.06. Ella Jansen was second, just .09 back, making a 1-2-3 among Etobicoke-produced teens.
Jeremy Bagshaw won the men’s 400 free in 3:52.01, nearly four seconds short of the FINA standard. Alex Axon was second in 3:52.07. Eric Brown was third in 3:52.70.