(Toronto) The three Quebecers in the 100m freestyle bit the dust in the fastest final in the history of Canadian swimming, Thursday evening, at the Toronto Olympic Trials.
By finishing fifth, Édouard Fullum-Huot came closest to winning an Olympic ticket. Third at the corner, he was unable to resist the return of two rivals.
“I didn’t manage to bring him back,” regretted the 21-year-old Montrealer, with a black look and at a loss for words to express his disappointment.
His time of 49.06 seconds is nevertheless a personal best for the representative of the University of Florida Gators, who participated in his first NCAA national championships. The Trials represented his first competition in the 50 meter pool this year. “I had trained in 50,” said the man who took part in the relay at the 2023 Worlds.
It is not said that high performance director John Atkinson will not use his services for Paris. His presence would allow a teammate whose schedule is busy to rest in preliminaries.
For now, Fullum-Huot wants to “recover” in the 50 meters on Saturday.
“Momentum” for Paris
His Florida teammate Josh Liendo, winner in 47.55 seconds, planned to cheer him up.
“It’s tough, but he still has some left,” recalled the 21-year-old Torontonian.
Obviously, it’s a shame, but he shouldn’t let it get him down. It’s not over for him. He shouldn’t be sad.
Josh Liendo, about Édouard Fullum-Huot
Author of the second Canadian time in history, Liendo pulled the others to the top. Veteran Yuri Kisil was second in 48.19s, followed at 48.29s by all-rounder Finlay Knox. Javier Acevedo, another experienced athlete, completed the quartet with a time of 48.58 s. For the first time, the first four went under 49 seconds.
Liendo is looking forward to the future with appetite, having placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympics in a relay led by the old Brent Hayden, still holder of the national mark in the main event (47.27 s in 2009). At the 2023 Worlds, the Canadians finished fifth.
“We almost had three guys in the 47s,” noted the world vice-champion in the 100m butterfly. Yuri was close, Finlay was close. That’s great. I am convinced that we will continue this momentum by heading towards Paris. Last year, we didn’t even think we could finish fifth. We were in the battle for second place at one point in the race. I’m excited. »
PHOTO YANNICK LÉGARÉ, QUÉBEC SWIMMING FEDERATION
Antoine Sauvé and Javier Acevedo
After his silver medal the day before in the 200m freestyle, Patrick Hussey (Pointe-Claire) was not able to repeat the feat in an event that he is still learning to master, ranking seventh in 49, 32 seconds, an improvement of three quarters of a second.
For his part, the young Antoine Sauvé (CAMO), four hundredths from fourth position in the 200 m, this time had to settle for 10e and last place in the final (49.66 s).
Another victory, small disappointment for Rivard
PHOTO YANNICK LÉGARÉ, QUÉBEC SWIMMING FEDERATION
Aurélie Rivard in interview with Olympic swimmer Sandrine Mainville.
Freed from a weight after revealing the extent of her discomfort following her 400m freestyle the day before, Aurélie Rivard added another event to her program for the Paralympic Games with a victory in the 100m freestyle.
The reigning double Paralympic champion, however, regretted not having gone under the minute as in the morning, settling for a time of 1 min 00.19 sec in the final.
“I would have liked to swim faster than this morning,” admitted the 28-year-old athlete. This is what I was preparing for tonight. I really ran out of juice. I’m going to see what happened. I’d rather make a mistake here than in three months in Paris. »
Impressive rise from Barbeau
Timothé Barbeau (Neptune Natation) may not have qualified for the Olympics, but he ran a thunderous race to win the 800m freestyle. The 18-year-old Montrealer overtook Eric Brown, from Pointe-Claire, in the final length to set a personal best of 8 min 00.61 s.
“I didn’t know it was possible, but I saw that Eric Brown was having trouble and I really took advantage of it to give it my all,” said Barbeau, who missed the Olympic standard by less than nine seconds. “It’s one of the best finishes I’ve had. »
The protégé of coach Christèle Roy-Lécuyer at the Carabins academy had not set a plan. “At first, I said to myself: I’m going to follow the pack. When Eric took the lead, I went with him, but I didn’t expect to beat him in the end. It was a surprise. »
After a “slightly mediocre” start to the week, Barbeau has regained his confidence in anticipation of the 1500m on Sunday.
Masse continues its rise
Kylie Masse confirmed her return to excellent form by approaching her own national record in the 200 backstroke, which earned her silver in Tokyo. In Paris, the four-time Olympic medalist will be accompanied by young Regan Rathwell, from Ottawa, who is returning from two shoulder surgeries.