Summer McIntosh smashes 400m free record as Canadian swimming trials kick off
Surging 15-year-old rewrites own national record, Kylie Masse does her thing in the 100m backstroke as 552 swimmers begin competing for tickets to world championships.
Golden girl Summer McIntosh broke her own record in the women's 400-metre freestyle on the first day of the Canadian Swimming Trials on Tuesday (5 April).
The 15-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympian, tipped in Canada as a generational swimmer, axed almost two seconds off the old mark to win in 4 minutes, 1.59 seconds as the 5-10 April meet got under way in Saanich Commonwealth Place, Victoria.
Last month, McIntosh swam a 4:29.12 in the 400m individual medley - the fastest time clocked by someone not named Katinka Hosszu since Rio 2016.
Berths for this summer's FINA World Swimming Championships in Budapest are at stake. Jeremy Bagshaw took the men's race in 3:52.01
Four-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse comfortably won the 100m backstroke in 58.48 while in the men's, Javier Acevedo touched the wall in 54.37.
In the 200m IM, Finlay Knox broke his Canadian record to top the field in 1:57.50. Sydney Pickrem made the women's FINA A cut to win in 2:10.58.
On the cards for Wednesday are the 50m back, 100m butterfly and the women's 1,500m free along with the men's 800m.
Canada are coming off a Games where they won six medals in Tokyo. They followed up with another 15 at the short-course worlds in December in Abu Dhabi.