sa国际传媒’s starry generation of female swimmers stormed to the wall Thursday night at Saanich Commonwealth Place Pool in a riveting 200-metre freesytle final that featured seven Olympians.
Teenage prodigy Summer McIntosh, introduced to Canadians last year as a 14-year-old fourth-place finisher in the Tokyo Olympics, won in 1:55:39 over runner-up and seven-time Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak (1:57.01) and third-place Taylor Ruck (1:57.60).
The Oleksiak pedigree did not intimidate the emerging sensation McIntosh in the Bell Canadian trials for the FINA world championships at Budapest in June and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July. It could be the summer of Summer.
“It’s surreal racing people I have looked up to. But I try not to focus on who it is I’m trying to beat but just on getting my hand on the wall first,” said McIntosh.
“I love racing people better than me and to be pushed by others. All these girls are really fast and I’m so happy to be a part of Team sa国际传媒.”
The Canadian women won 12 medals, six at Rio and six at Tokyo, over the past two Olympics. But with that comes the weight of expectation with Tokyo Olympics 100-metre butterfly gold-medallist Maggie Mac Neil telling CBC Sports this week in Saanich that she will not race individual events this summer in Budapest or Birmingham. She will race only the relays, citing pressure and the need to concentrate on her mental health.
“It’s important to lean on teammates,” Mac Neil told the sa国际传媒 after winning the 100 fly this week.
“Kylie [Masse] and I talk about things and she has always been great support.”
Oleksiak said she can empathize: “There was not a lot of help for me after 2016 [dealing with the pressure following becoming an Olympic star at Rio] and hopefully Maggie gets through this and pulls it out.”
Oleksiak said personally she herself is now “really in a good place, finding that motivation, and listening to my body.”
Masse, a three-time Olympic medallist and two-time world champion in the backstroke, displayed her versatility by winning the women’s 50-metre butterfly in 26:96 Thursday evening.
“It’s great to switch up things and do something different and change the stimulus,” she said.
“It’s great to win at the national level in an event I don’t normally compete in. It’s a great technique for providing a foundation for all the strokes.”
The trials began Tuesday and will run through Sunday. Qualifying races are in the mornings beginning at 9:30 a.m. and the finals in the evenings at 6 p.m. All sessions are being streamed live on CBC Sports and CBC Gem.
