Summer McIntosh of Canada celebrates after winning the women's 400m medley final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

TORONTO - Summer McIntosh finished the inaugural Speedo Canadian Open on Saturday with her fourth win in as many nights.

The 17-year-old Olympian and four-time world champion from Toronto won the women’s 200-metre individual medley in 2:08.19. That capped a six-event program at the meet, which serves as a tune-up to next month’s Olympic and Paralympic Trials.

“I’m continuing to work on back-to-back races and more races on the sprintier side of things. I’m more of a mid-distance swimmer overall, but kind of developing my speed and finishing off races as well as possible is something that I learned a lot at this meet,” McIntosh said. Ashley McMillan of the Ontario High Performance Centre was second in 2:12.85. On the Para swimming side, Yang Tan of Oakville Aquatic Club swam a Canadian S7 record 32.82 in the 50-metre freestyle. That was good enough to win the multi-class race, as she knocked down a more than two-year-old mark by Danielle Dorris. Jessica Tinney of Ajax Aquatic Club added a new national record of her own (SM5) with a 4:30.46 in the 200-m IM. In other action Saturday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Kelsey Wog of the Manitoba Bisons won the women’s 200-metre breaststroke in 2:24.91, just off the time she will need to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at next month’s trials. Wog had mixed feelings about her win. “I’ve done a lot of good training and practice. It’s good to come here to practise racing and refine a few skills leading into trials,” said the 25-year-old Olympian.

With the inaugural edition of the four-day long course meet in the books, the focus now turns to the trials. The dramatic seven-day event, scheduled for May 13-19 at TPASC, serves as Swimming Canada’s selection meet to nominate the teams that will represent Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“It’s nice that we’re getting to come back here and race in the familiar pool,” Wog said. “I definitely know what I need to do now leading into trials.”

“The first Canadian Open has provided exactly what we wanted, a quality racing opportunity in Canada that is part of the national program. There have been some world class performances with great racing that is perfect for this point before trials,” said High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson.

“Our athletes can all build upon their swims at TPASC, with their coaches, for their final preparation to the trials. The Canadian Open is part of the Swimming Canada ‘Canadian Way’ competition strategy for 2025 to 2028 and can build year on year.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024