Rokur Jakupsstovu - (Author)

By Rick Madge In a special time trial at the conclusion of the Olympic Trials, Canada's Men's 4 x 100 Medley Relay tried to improve their chances of getting into the Olympics with a 3:34.55. The relay team consisting of Javier Acevedo, Jason Block, Santo Condorelli and Yuri Kisil maintained Canada's...

by Rick Madge Ryan Murphy of the US is just off an incredible NCAA Div I championship held just a few weeks ago, where he dominated the 100 and 200 yard backstroke events, with NCAA records in both. But that meet is held in a 25 yard pool, and that's a huge difference from a 50 metre pool. Especiall...

by Rick Madge One of rarest of rare events happened tonight at the Canadian Olympic Trials All 4 members of an Olympic relay team train in the same place. And while they come from different clubs, they all train now at the High Performance Centre - Ontario located in Toronto. The four women represen...

by Rick Madge 14-year old Faith Knelson of Ladysmith, BC qualified for both the 100 and 200 Breaststroke as well as the 200 IM at these Trials. And while youngsters qualifying for big meets isn't all that unusual, in her case Faith took it up a notch. Her Personal Best of 1:11.01 in the 100 Breast h...

By Rick Madge We might as well make a recording of this and play it at every big Canadian meet. Audrey Lacroix wins the 200 Fly! Yes, Audrey won the Trials 200 Fly here with a 2:08.58, easily beating the Olympic Qualifying time, and one of the few Canadian events where only 1 women made the time. To...

By Rick Madge Javier Acevedo of the Markham Aquatic Club had just finished becoming the first Canadian male to beat the Olympic Qualifying time at these trials (100 Back). And while he was celebrating, you could also tell in the post-race interviews that he was having trouble keeping the emotion out...

Commentary by Rick Madge I think it's now official. The Canadian women are on fire. 5 Canadian women went under the 1:58.96 Olympic qualifying time for the 200 Free, and while only 2 of them can swim the 200 event, the four fastest qualified their relay for the Olympics. In fact, the 4 women qualifi...

By Rick Madge Dominique Bouchard of the Oakville Aquatic Club still remembers the 2012 Olympic Trials. In the 200 backstroke, she did a personal best and beat the tough FINA qualifying time by more than a second. But that was only good enough for 4th in a ridiculously strong field. In fact, her 2:09...

Commentary by Rick Madge. It's evident from just a few days of these Olympic Trials that something's up with Canadian para-swimmers. In 10 para events over 2 days we've already seen 4 top times in the world this year, as well as a 2nd and two 3rds. These athletes are on fire. I asked James Hood, Sen...

Commentary by Rick Madge. The women's 100 Fly final was everything we hoped it would be.  It was crazy fast and crazy close. The morning heats saw three women beat the Olympic qualifying time by more than a second, with 15-year old Penny Oleksiak of Toronto leading the way with 57.38, Noemie Thomas ...

Commentary by Rick Madge. Every meet has its own rhythm and energy. And for Olympic Trials, it's all about contained energy and tension.  Years have been dedicated to this moment, and months spent in restless anticipation.  And right with the whistle for that first heat, reality sets in. It's all bu...