Bell 2022 Canadian Swimming Trials
June 7, 2022
Tuesday, April 5th through Sunday, April 10th, 2022
We had 19 Edmonton Keyano and/or University of Alberta swimmers at Canada's Trials selection event. (Note: the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas varsity teams are a part of the Keyano senior national program). This is where Canada's absolute best swimmers from around the country compete for a chance to represent Canada on the national team. Teams being selected at this trials include the Junior Pan Pacific Games, Junior World Open Water, Commonwealth Games and World Championships national squads.
Competition ran Tue Apr 5 through Sun Apr 11, 2022, with Team Selection announced after Finals on Sunday evening.
Final Meet Report: 5 Swimmers named to Team Canada - Finlin to Senior Team!
There is nothing like the drama of a Trials. After a week of racing your heart out a few swimmers, like Olympic medalists Penny Oleksiak and Kylie Masse, are pretty sure they have made the team if they've won their events. And then there's the rest of the swimmers who placed 1st or 2nd in either the overall or under-18 categories, who sit waiting at the end of the night for swimming Canada to make their full team announcement. Due to technical difficulties and a need to get the announcement right, Swimming Canada held off announcing the teams until first thing Monday morning - leaving some swimmers with a long jittery sleep wondering if they had made a team or not.
When the teams were announced Monday morning, Keyano / University of Alberta had 5 swimmers named to Team Canada for 2022 - the most swimmers announced in a single summer in all recent memory!
Senior International Team Swimmers:
| Emma Finlin | World Championships (5km - Open Water) |
| Paul Birmingham | Coach - World Championships Open Water |
Junior International Team Swimmers:
| Emma Finlin | Jr Pan Pacific Games (400, 800, 1500 Freestyle) |
| Teagan Vander Leek | Jr Pan Pacific Games (50, 100 Freestyle) |
| Christey Liang | Jr Pan Pacific Games (100, 200 Freestyle) |
| Naomi Slee | Jr Open Water World Championships |
| Diego Paz | Jr Open Water World Championships |
Congratulations to all of Keyano's 19 swimmers competing this week in Victoria!
Go Bears!
We kept a tally of our top swim results over the course of the 6-day competition...
Here is what our 19 swimmers were able to accomplish at the Bell 2022 Canadian Swimming Trials:
| Tally - Overall Results (up to Day 3): |
| Medals | Top 10's * | Top 24's ** |
| 3 | 11 | 34 |
* Top 10 = One of the top 10 times swum overall in the event.
** Top 24 = Any of the following: A final is Top 8 overall, B final is Next 8 19&over, C Final is Next 8 18&under
You can also watch the action starting nightly at 7pm MDT on the CBC Gem app.
Day 6: Medal for Finlin, big Jr placing for Vander Leek, Ten Top-24 swims in one Day!
The Final day of competition at the Bell 2022 Canadian Swimming Trials wrapped up with some of the biggest excitement of the week. Big Keyano events (200 Breaststroke, 50 Freestyle and women's 800 / men's 1500 Freestyle) led to Keyano's biggest day at the selection trials event for World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and the Jr Open Water Worls and Jr Pan Pacific Games teams.
In the women's 200 Breaststroke, Meghan Berrigan qualified for her first 18&under Final of the week with a strong morning swim and finished 7th in the 18&under Final in a time of 2:41.79.
In the women's 50 Freestyle, Teagan Vander Leek qualified for the top A Final and Christey Liang qualified for the 18&under Final. Teagan, also a 18&under (Junior-age) swimmer, was one of only 3 junior women in the A Final. In that A Final, Teagan had her highest ever placing at a Trials event with a best time of 26.11 for 7th place overall and 2nd of all the 18&unders - adding to her contention for a spot on the Jr Pan Pacific Games team. Christey also swam a best ever time of 26.32 to finish 2nd in the 18&under Final. Both girls finish the weekend displaying that they are amongst the top up and coming sprint freestyle women in Canada.
In the men's 50 Freestyle, Kier Przyswitt was in for what seemed like a nightly appearance at the Trials Finals. Kier finished with a time of 24.01 and 6th in the 19&over Final.
In the women's 1500 Freestyle, the top 8 would swim in the finals session once again with Emma Finlin taking center stage for Keyano. Emma fought her way to a huge best time in her last race of the week, finishing for a Bronze Medal and an 8-second best time of 8:42.54 - Emma was also the second ranked junior in this event polishing off a big competition where time and again she not only placed in the top 2-3 Juniors but also as one of the top women in the country.
In the preliminaries session of the women's 800 Freestyle, Keyano had three more athletes crack the top 24 overall. Naomi Slee got even closer to breaking the 9-minute barrier with a best time of 9:01.20 and 11th overall. Shayne Bowie made a big jump of 8-seconds to drop her new personal best time to 9:09.52 and 15th overall. And, Gabi Dunn finished with another 4-second best time of 9:10.42 and 16th overall, thus putting 4 Keyano swimmers within the top 16 positions overall at the Canadian Trials - way to go Bears!
In the preliminaries of the men's 1500 Freestyle, two Bears were once again setting personal best times and best placings at a Trials event. University of Alberta Golden Bear Diego Paz dropped another astounding amount of time, this time 23 seconds to finish in a time of 15:49.45 and 6th overall. Joshua Baldwin had a big swim of his own dropping nearly 10 seconds to finish in a time of 16:19.60 and 22nd overall.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had an additional great swim from Elizabeth Harper (200 Breast, 9th 19&over).
Day 5: 2 Keyano women in the 400 IM Finals - near-record swim for Finlin!
The Finals were simple on Day 5, with all of Keyano's eggs in one big 400 IM basket. Often described as swimming's ultimate all-around event, this is one of Keyano's traditional strong events.
In the women's 400 IM, Emma Finlin qualified for the A Final and swam yet another personal best time of 4:50.59 for 7th place overall. In the process, she closed within 0.25 seconds of one of the all-time great Keyano swimmers Donna McGinnis' 1984 club record.
In the 19&over Final of the women's 400 IM, Olivia Brendzan achieved her highest ever placing in a Canadian Trials event placing 4th in the 19&over Final in a time of 4:58.63.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had additional great swims from Olivia Brendzan (200 Back, 7th 19&over), Alyanna Garcia (200 Back, 38th 18&under), Josh Baldwin (400 IM, 3rd 18&under).
Day 4: Christey Liang & Teagan Vander Leek make a play for Jr National Team!
Four Finals swims on Day 4, including another Top-10 and two junior swimmers making a big splash towards a junior national team selection.
First swim of the night was in the men's 200 Butterfly, with Diego Paz back under the Finals spotlights. Diego has had a tremendous week thusfar in the Freestyle events, and tonight added a big 2-second best time in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:03.58 for 7th place overall.
The most Keyano-loaded event of the night was the women's 100 Freestyle, where two Keyano swimmers qualified for the 18&under Final. The interesting thing about the 100 Freestyle is that there is the potential for more than 2 athletes to be selected due to the 4x100 Freestyle Relay events at International competitions. Christey Liang finished 2nd in the 18&under Final, improving from her preliminaries swim with a time of 56.72. And, Teagan Vander Leek was right with her teammate finishing 3rd in the 18&under Final, breaking the 57-second barrier for the first time in both of her swims today and a Finals swim time of 56.97. With two 18&unders in the overall A final, this puts our girls 4th and 5th for 18&unders in this event and will have them waiting on pins and needles for team selection on Sunday night. No matter what happens Sunday, congratulations to these two amazing swimmers for rising up in a big moment tonight and put their names in the hat as two of Canada's top up-and-coming sprint freestylers.
And, in the men's 100 Freestyle, Kier Przyswitt was back in action for a third straight night. Kier swam in the 19&over final and finished with the second-fastest closing 50 in the heat, finishing 5th in the 19&over Final with a best time of 51.50.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had additional great swims from Josh Baldwin (200 Fly, 10th 18&under), Cameron Chan (200 Fly, 17th 18&under), Kier Vander Leek (50 Breast, 27th overall), Elizabeth Harper (50 Breast, 36th overall), Garrett Brendzan (50 Breast, 12th overall).
Day 3: More close finishes, two more Top-10's!
Three more Top-10 finishes highlighted Day 3 Finals, with some new faces making their first mark of the competition.
In the women's 50 Butterfly, Teagan Vander Leek qualified out of the morning for her first ever A Final at a Canadian Trials and swam even faster in the evening dropping nearly a full second off of her previous best for a time of 28.11 and an 8th overall finish.
In the men's 50 Butterfly, Kier Przyswitt also qualified for the A Final and moved up with a best time of 24.85 to finish in 4th overall. Similarly to his 100 Butterfly on Day 2, Kier out-touched two more swimmers by less than 0.09 of a second for his placing, and was only 0.01 away from the bronze medal - the absolute smallest of margins. He will take that as motivation towards his next events as he continues a great competition.
And, in the women's 200 Freestyle, Christey Liang raced in one of Canada's deepest and world-competitive events. She qualified for the 18&under Final with a best time of nearly 1 second and a time of 2:02.14 and 6th place in the 18&under Final.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had additional great swims from Jaden Debruijn (50 Fly, 16th overall), Meaghan Berrigan (100 Breast, 33rd 18&under), Kier Vander Leek (100 Breast, 11th 19&over), Elizabeth Harper (100 Breast, 12th 19&over), Cohen Chan (100 Breast, 35th 18&under), Spencer Mackenzie (100 Breast, 18&under), Naomi Slee (200 Free, 15th 18&under), Gabrielle Dunn (200 Free, 30th 18&under), Kier Przyswitt (200 Free, 12th 19&over).
Day 2: Finlin earns Keyano's first medal & three Top-10's for Keyano!
The top swim of the Finals session belonged to Emma Finlin, who won a Bronze Medal and staked her claim as one of Canada's top up and coming distance women, also putting herself in the running for one of the team selections at the Trials. More on her swim below in the night's recap.
Keyano's first swim of the Finals session belonged to Keyano and University of Alberta swimmer Kier Przyswitt. He managed a best time and very good touch in his 100 Butterfly to place 2nd in the 19&over Final in a time of 55.35. He out-touched the next 5 competitors by less than 0.40 of a second! A great finish and great swim for Kier.
In the women's 1500 Freestyle, Keyano had two competitors in the top 8 Final (Emma Finlin and Naomi Slee) and two more in the top 24 (Shayne Bowie and Gabrielle Dunn). Emma Finlin would overcome a brief goggle malfunction on her dive (it can happen to anyone, kids!) and quickly recovered to climb past most of the field on her way to her Bronze Medal in a best time of 16:42.09. This was a 7-second best time for Emma in her best event. Naomi joined in the top 8 Final on the biggest stage in her young career so far, this time putting up a 9-second personal best time of 17:04.21 and finishing 6th overall - her best ever placing. And, swimming up from the preliminaries session, Shayne Bowie landed the biggest best time of the meet so far for our women with a 27-second personal best in a time of 17:30.63, good for 12th overall - her best ever finish at a Trials event. Gabrielle Dunn added to the best time trend with a 2-second personal best time of 17:37.15 in an 18th overall finish. Exceptional swimming girls!
In the men's 800 Freestyle, Golden Bears swimmer Diego Paz made a massive 21-second improvement to drop down to a 8:13.78. This drop is so massive for a 19-year-old swimmer that I had to go to the glasses and look that one up... it's official and a heck of a swim that moved Diego up to 5th overall from a pre-meet ranking of 35th! His teammate Josh Baldwin was also in for another big swim with a 10-second personal best time of 8:26.39 for 18th overall.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had additional great swims from Alyanna Garcia (50 Back, 21st 18&under), Cameron Chan (100 Fly, 18th 18&under), and Eddie Molloy (800 Free, 40th overall).
Day 1: Four Keyano / University of Alberta swimmers in top 24!
All four of our top 16 swims came in the 400 Freestyle on day 1.
Top finisher for Keyano was Emma Finlin in 6th place overall in Canada with a 2-second best time of 4:16.27. This was a great swim - her best ever placing so far at a senior trials event, and a great kick-off to her competition while her better events (800 Free, 1500 Free) are still to come. Naomi Slee would also make her first ever Finals swim at a Trials event, finishing 5th in the 18&under Final with a super 5-second best time of 4:19.83. Amazing best times!
On the men's side, Diego Paz added to the best times with a 2-second best time in preliminaries to advance into Finals. In finals he finished with a time of 4:01.09 in for 3rd in the 19&over Final. Josh Baldwin rounded out the Finals session with a time of 4:03.59 in 3rd in the 18&under Final, yet another 5-second personal best performance in the Finals.
In the preliminaries, Keyano had additional great swims from Meghan Berrigan (200 IM - 24th 18&under), Alyanna Garcia (100 Back, 26th 18&under), Shayne Bowie (400 Free, 13th 18&under) and Gabrielle Dunn (400 Free, 14th 18&under).