Canadians have had plenty to celebrate in the swimming pool at recent Olympic Games – and Paris 2024 is shaping up to be no different.
Team Canada captured six medals in swimming in each of the past two summer Games. Many of those medallists will make the trip to Paris looking to add to their collections while a strong contingent of world class swimmers will try to reach an Olympic podium for the first time.
Swimming pool events will take place July 27 to August 4 (Days 1-9) at the Paris La Défense Arena while the women’s 10km marathon is planned for August 8 (Day 13) in the Seine at the Pont Alexandre III venue.
With swimming set to be a key focus point for Canadian fans early in the Games, here are a few storylines to keep an eye on.
If not already, Summer McIntosh is likely to become a familiar name for Canadians during these Games.
For starters, she’s competing in four individual events and could see more action with the various relays. As her past results have shown, she has the potential to be a major multi-medallist.
The 17-year-old is the world record holder in the women’s 400m individual medley. At the Canadian Olympic Trials in May, she took 1.5 seconds off the world standard she set last year. She won gold in the women’s 200m butterfly and 400m IM at both the 2022 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships, solidifying herself as a star in the sport. McIntosh’s four world championship gold medals are the most ever by a Canadian swimmer.
But it’s her opening event — the 400m freestyle — that is the subject of great anticipation, with many expecting a showdown for the ages between McIntosh, American Katie Ledecky, and Australian Ariarne Titmus. Ledecky, the 2016 Olympic champion and four-time world champion, held the world record from 2016 until Titmus, the 2020 Olympic champion and two-time world champion, claimed it in 2022. McIntosh then broke the world record at the 2023 Canadian Trials, but Titmus took it back in winning gold at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
As the youngest member (14-years-old at the time) of Team Canada at Tokyo 2020, McIntosh swam in four events but came up short of the podium, which included a fourth place finish in both the 400m freestyle and women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
The women’s 400m freestyle heats and final are on the first full day of competition, July 27. The heats and final of the women’s 400m IM are on July 29. The final of the women’s 200m butterfly takes place August 1 and the final of the women’s 200m IM is on August 3.
Can Canada’s most decorated Olympian add another medal to her collection?
Penny Oleksiak is set to compete in her third Olympic Games for which she is qualified as a relay-only athlete. The women’s 4x100m freestyle on July 27 is likely to be her first event. Oleksiak has won two Olympic medals in the event, helping Canada capture bronze at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020.
The 23-year-old already has one Olympic gold medal along with two silvers and four bronzes. Despite her extensive experience, it hasn’t been an easy road to Paris for Oleksiak.
Shortly after helping Canada win four relay medals at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Oleksiak underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in her left knee. She opted to continue rehabbing through much of 2023 and did not compete at the worlds that year. Then last November, she suffered another setback – a knee injury that once again required surgery.
Now, Oleksiak will look to put her injury troubles from the past year behind her and help Canada reach the podium again.
The Canadian women have dominated the pool in recent years – but the men could make their own waves in Paris.
Josh Liendo is certainly in the medal conversation following an impressive Olympic Swimming Trials, which saw him break his own national record in the 100m butterfly with a time of 50.06 – the fastest in the world this year. This came after winning silver in the event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Liendo won bronze in both the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. He’s also set to compete in the 50m freestyle in Paris, in which his national record set at the Trials puts him into the top 10 in the world this year. The 100m freestyle will take place July 30-31 with the 100m butterfly on August 2-3.
Finlay Knox already has a World Aquatics Championships gold medal – and now he’ll look to add to that in Paris. Knox was the first Canadian man to win a swimming world title in 17 years when he won the 200m IM this past February. Not long before that, Knox won gold in the same event at the 2023 Pan American Games. He has come a long way since missing the semifinals in the 200m IM by one spot in his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. The 200m IM will be held August 1-2.
Yuri Kisil, who finished second to Liendo in the 100m freestyle at Trials, and Javier Acevedo will both be swimming in their third Olympic Games. They’re expected to form the core of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay with Liendo and Knox. The quartet has been clear about their podium goals after Canada finished fourth in the event by six-tenths of a second at Tokyo 2020. That event will be on July 27.
One youngster to keep an eye on is 19-year-old Ilya Kharun who will make his Olympic debut in Paris. He was fourth in his specialty event, the men’s 200m butterfly, at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Although they’ve come close on a few occasions, Canadian men have not won an Olympic medal in swimming since London 2012.
While Team Canada is bringing a star-studded group of swimmers to Paris, Maggie Mac Neil is the only reigning Olympic champion among them.
Mac Neil captured gold in the women’s 100m butterfly at Tokyo 2020 and will try to defend her title in Paris on July 27-28. Since Tokyo, MacNeil has captured gold in the event at both the 2023 Pan American Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games to go along with a silver at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
The 24-year-old’s recent success comes after she opted to take a break from individual events in 2022 to prioritize her mental health.
Backstroker Kylie Masse will look to win a medal for a third straight Olympic Games.
The 28-year-old won three medals at Tokyo 2020, winning silver in both the women’s 100m and 200m backstroke events to go along with a bronze in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. She also won a bronze in the 100m backstroke at Rio 2016.
A former star swimmer at the University of Toronto, Masse enters the Games in fine form, having posted her best times in years in the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the Olympic Swimming Trials in May.
Now an Olympic veteran, Masse will be one of the team’s four captains in Paris where she’ll not only look to push herself but also her fellow Canadian swimmers.
While the likes of McIntosh, Oleksiak, Mac Neil, and Masse take up many of the headlines, there are a few other veterans on the women’s side who will look to make some noise in Paris.
Mary-Sophie Harvey is set to compete in her first individual Olympic events, having qualified in the 200m and 400m freestyle. The 24-year-old isn’t a stranger to the Olympic Games, having been part of Canada’s 4x200m freestyle relay team in Tokyo. Harvey, who will be one of Canada’s four team captains, won gold in the 200m freestyle at the 2023 Pan American Games.
At 27, Sydney Pickrem will be making her third Olympic appearance and will be looking to add to the women’s 4x100m medley relay bronze she won in Tokyo. At the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, she won silver in the 200m IM and bronze in the 200m breaststroke, the two individual events in which she will compete in Paris. Pickrem won gold medals in both the 200m IM and 200m breaststroke at last year’s Pan American Games.
Four-time Olympic medallist Taylor Ruck will also be taking part in a third Games. Ruck has been a key member of the women’s relay squads, with three of her Olympic medals coming in the freestyle relays and one in the women’s medley relay. She helped Canada win two relay bronze medals at this year’s World Aquatics Championships.
Team Canada has had quite a bit of success with first-time Olympic swimmers in recent Games – and this year could be no different.
Masse will be joined in the 100m backstroke by Ingrid Wilm, who is set to make her Olympic debut after winning a bronze medal in the event at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. At that same meet, the 26-year-old won bronze in the 50m backstroke (which is not an Olympic event) and the 4x100m medley relay. Wilm missed qualifying for Tokyo 2020 by one spot.
25-year-old Sophie Angus has recently stepped into a key role with the Canadian women’s 4x100m medley relay team. Angus swam the breaststroke leg at the 2023 and 2024 World Aquatics Championships, helping Canada capture a bronze medal both years.
After missing out on qualifying for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 by extremely slim margins, Jeremy Bagshaw grabbed a Paris 2024 spot by finishing fourth in the men’s 200m freestyle at Trials, putting him in line for the 4x200m freestyle relay. At 32 and recently graduated from medical school, Bagshaw has competed for Canada at a number of international events over the past decade – and will finally get his shot at an Olympic Games.
Apollo Hess will be making his first Olympic appearance after starring on the Canadian university sport scene with the University of Lethbridge. The 22-year-old qualified for Paris by finishing second in the men’s 100m breaststroke at the Olympic Swimming Trials. Hess is a member of the Kainai First Nation.
