SwimSwam McIntosh Shatters 400 IM World Record To Highlight Canadian Olympic Trials

McIntosh Crushes 400 IM World Record: Summer McIntosh put on a dominant display at the Canadian Olympic Trials in Toronto, going five-for-five in event wins with a headlining world record in the 400 IM.

Also: Dressel and Ledecky shine at Atlanta Classic, Ben Loorz takes over at Arizona and Texas A&M unveils new staff as Jay Holmes announces upcoming retirement.

McIntosh Breaks 400 IM World Record, Qualifies For Paris In Five Events

As expected, Summer McIntosh ran the table at last week's Canadian Olympic Trials, soaring to victory in all five of her events while smashing her world record in the 400 IM.

After opening the meet with a victory in the 400 free, clocking 3:59.06 to take over #1 in the world—though she wasn't thrilled with the performance—McIntosh followed up by claiming the 200 free in a time of 1:53.69, narrowly missing her Canadian and World Junior Record of 1:53.65 set last summer.

On Thursday, the 17-year-old obliterated her world record in the 400 IM by nearly a second and a half, touching in 4:24.38 to erase her mark of 4:25.87 set at the 2023 Canadian Trials last April. The swim makes McIntosh the fastest performer in history by nearly two seconds, with former record holder Katinka Hosszu ranked #2 all-time at 4:26.36.

McIntosh rolled the rest of the meet, winning the 200 fly in 2:04.33 (just off her best of 2:04.06) and the 200 IM in 2:07.06 (just off her best of 2:06.89) to lock in a qualifying spot in five events at the Paris Olympics.

“I’m pretty happy to be able to qualify in my top five events, so going into Paris I’m super excited,” McIntosh said. “I think it’s going to be an amazing meet, and not just for me but for all of Team Canada."

Swimming Canada Names 29 To 2024 Olympic Roster

Following the conclusion of the Canadian Olympic Trials on Sunday, Swimming Canada unveiled its roster for the Paris Games, naming 29 swimmers to the team that will compete on the sport's biggest stage this summer.

McIntosh was the headlining performer of the meet, but several others had standout swims, led by Josh Liendo, who reset Canadian Records in two events and matched his personal best time in another.

Liendo blasted his way to a time of 50.06 in the men's 100 fly, lowering his National Record of 50.33 set in the prelims to rank #1 in the world this season and #5 all-time.

He followed up by breaking his Canadian Record in the 50 free, touching in 21.48 to erase the 21.61 mark he set in 2022, and in the 100 free, he matched his PB in 47.55 to lead a confident Canadian men's team heading to Paris in the 400 free relay.

We also saw new Canadian Records fall on the men's side from Blake Tierney in the 200 back (1:56.74) and Finlay Knox in the 200 IM (1:56.07).

Maggie MacNeil punched her ticket in the women's 100 fly as she aims to become the first repeat Olympic champion in the event, while another staple on the Canadian National Team, Kylie Masse, had a strong performance that included her fastest swims in the 100 back (57.94) and 200 back (2:06.24) since the Tokyo Games.

For MacNeil, she won't have her coach Rick Bishop in Paris after he was not named to the Canadian staff despite a lobbying effort from MacNeil.

• Also Read: About Half of Canada's Olympic Roster Doesn't Train In Canada

Penny Oleksiak, the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all-time, won the women's 50 free (25.06) and 100 free (53.66), but only earned a roster spot on the women's 400 free relay after not hitting the Olympic 'A' cut in either race. She has plans to swim the 100 free again prior to the qualification deadline to get under the standard (53.61).

Among the first-time Olympians (Tierney is also a first-timer), Ilya Kharun made noise when he won the men's 200 fly, clocking 1:54.41 and subsequently declaring he's coming for former Arizona State teammate Leon Marchand in Paris. Kharun went on to qualify in the 100 fly as well.

See the full Canadian Olympic roster here.

Dressel Logs Fastest 100 Free In Two Years, Ledecky Impresses At Atlanta Classic

Caeleb Dressel continued his return to top form over the weekend at the Atlanta Classic with less than one month to go until the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Dressel produced his fastest time in the 100 freestyle since 2022, clocking 48.30 to tie for 5th this season among Americans, matching what Ryan Held did at the Sun Devil Open on Sunday.

Dressel also swam the 200 free for the first time this season, placing 4th in the final in 1:47.38 with Kieran Smith winning in 1:47.10, and Dressel also topped the 100 fly (51.38) and went 22.62 in the prelims of the 50 free before scratching the final.

Katie Ledecky was on impressive form in Atlanta, setting new season-bests in the 400 free (3:59.44) and 1500 free (15:38.25) while also winning the 200 free (1:55.71) and setting a lifetime best in the 200 IM (2:12.67).

In the men's 100 breaststroke, former Louisville Cardinal Evgenii Somov surprised by breaking the Russian Record in a time of 58.72, cracking 1:00 for the first time to knock off Anton Chupkov's 2020 mark of 58.83. The swim ranks Somov 5th in the world this season.

See full Atlanta Classic coverage here.

University of Arizona Names Ben Loorz New Head Coach

Ben Loorz has been tabbed as the new head coach at the University of Arizona, coming over from UNLV to lead the Wildcat swim & dive programs into a new chapter.

Loorz comes to Tucson after an eight-year run in Las Vegas, leaving the Rebels with a decorated resume after numerous conference titles and Coach of the Year honors.

“I want to thank the search committee, Desireé Reed-Francois, University leadership and the entire Arizona Athletics Department for the opportunity to continue the storied legacy of this program while growing and developing our student-athletes to become champions,” Loorz said.

“The University of Arizona is a special place, and my family and I can’t wait to get to campus and begin this exciting journey together.”

Loorz takes the reins at Arizona from Augie Busch, who was fired in early May after seven seasons with the Wildcats in which the swim & dive teams largely struggled.

Most recently, Loorz has led the UNLV men's team to four consecutive WAC titles, while the women's team won the Mountain West title in 2021, their first in 16 years.

In bringing on Loorz as the new head coach, Arizona begins a new era as it enters the Big 12 Conference next season after the disbanding of the Pac-12 last summer.

Quick Hits

• Texas A&M has continued to reshape its swimming & diving staff after the appointment of Blaire Anderson (Bachman) as the new Director of Swimming earlier this month, naming Wes Foltz as an associate head coach and Allyson Sweeney and Duncan Sherrard as assistant coaches.
• The longtime Texas A&M men's head coach, Jay Holmes, has announced he will retire from coaching after the U.S. Olympic Trials.
• Purdue's Adam Soldati, one of the greatest American diving coaches of all-time, will step down from his role as head diving coach following his recent diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Purdue announced Thursday.
• David Boudia, a four-time Olympic medalist training under Soldati, will take over as the head diving coach at Purdue after spending the last three years as an assistant.
• The University of Virginia has promoted Tyler Fenwick to senior associate head coach and Jake Shrum to associate head coach, with Fenwick previously an associate head coach and Shrum an assistant.
• Australia's Iona Anderson put up a time of 58.53 in the women's 100 back at the Swimming WA Season Opener, ranking her 4th all-time among Australians and 6th in the world this season.
• Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil had a pair of exciting battles at the Southern California Invitational, with Huske edging out wins in the 50 free (24.41) and 100 free (53.33).
• The previously retired Blake Pieroni had some notable swims at the Indianapolis Spring Cup, clocking 1:47.02 in the men's 200 free and then going 48.74 in the 100 free, placing 2nd in the latter to the fastest American this season, Chris Guiliano (48.70/48.52 prelims).
• At the Longhorn Elite Invite, some of the highlights included time trial swims from Erin Gemmell in the women's 200 free (1:57.26) and Carson Foster in the men's 400 IM (4:10.79).
• Take a look at an estimated timeline of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, set to kick off next month in Indianapolis.
• When asked about how realistic a comeback to competitive swimming would be, Michael Phelps told NBC's Kristen Welker "it would take five years."
• Bhutan has opened its first-ever competition pool, an eight-lane 25-meter facility that is the highest pool in the world at an altitude of 8200 feet or 2400 meters.

Canada Unveils Roster of 29 Swimmers Headed to Paris 2024 Olympics

Watch Summer McIntosh Shatter Her World Record in the 400 IM at Canadian Trials (Race Video)

WATCH: Caeleb Dressel Swims Season Best 48.30 100 Free at the 2024 Speedo ATL Classic

University of Arizona Names Ben Loorz New Head Swim & Dive Coach

Texas A&M Adds Wes Foltz, Allyson Sweeney, Duncan Sherrard To Coaching Staff

Legendary Purdue Diving Coach Adam Soldati To Step Down After ALS Diagnosis

About Half of Canada’s Paris 2024 Olympic Swim Team Does Not Train in Canada