Olympic Swimming Trials | Oleksiak returns to the Olympics through the back door

(Toronto) Behind the curtain, before the presentation of the 100m freestyle finalists, Mary-Sophie Harvey relaxed the atmosphere by moving to the rhythm of the music chosen by the DJ.

Penultimate in the line of 10 swimmers, the 24-year-old Montrealer particularly reacted to one of the songs, turning around to make Penny Oleksiak laugh, who was following her as the best in the morning preliminaries.

Unlike Harvey, who had already qualified in two events, the most decorated Canadian Olympian in history was playing big. Neither more nor less its place at the Paris Games.

The tall Torontonian slapped her thighs violently to wake up her body which had betrayed her for two years. Ankle injury, two knee operations, the most recent four months ago. She went through depression. She’s “come back from hell,” the 23-year-old athlete told CBC, her preferred medium aside from social media.

Oleksiak and Harvey cheered each other on after their playoff performance. Their wish: to reach the Olympic qualification standard of 53.61 s giving access to an individual start in Paris.

The Ontarian had done it 18 times in her career, but never since the 2021 Olympics, where she finished fourth in 52.59 s, her personal best. The Quebecer came within a little more than half a second during a competition in Nice in March.

Oleksiak had an excellent initial length, turning first with a quarter of a second ahead of her closest pursuer. Unsurprisingly, Harvey, who was swimming in an adjacent lane, was a little further away: fifth, half a second behind the leader.

The CAMO swimmer gradually came back to match her rival, to the point where victory was possible. By her own admission, she tensed up and missed her touch. Oleksiak narrowly won. His time: 53.66 s, five hundredths ahead of Harvey, but above all five hundredths from the standard. Stab.

Even though she had just broken the 54-second barrier for the first time, Harvey quickly realized that it wouldn’t be enough to swim the 100 at the Games. She dropped her head against the timing plate to acknowledge the slight disappointment. She then turned to offer a rueful smile to her neighbor.

Oleksiak therefore qualified for her third Olympic Games, but she did so through the back door. After answering two questions from host Sandrine Mainville, she stormed through the mixed zone, refusing to stop in front of the journalists.

The 23-year-old returned an hour later for the medal ceremony. Smiling, she signed as many autographs as possible to the young girls who were throwing helmets, boards and signs from the stands. One of them had tied a rope to a large bag to make it easier to return the items.

With a sad face, she answered a few questions from CBC. She then shunned Radio-Canada, holder of the broadcasting rights. The Swimming Canada publicist practically begged her to give some time to the print media. “A question,” said a young man apparently responsible for his social media.

Oleksiak complied somewhat reluctantly, offering some half-hearted comments.

“I’m excited to go [aux Olympiques] and to be part of the team, she said with a smile. Obviously, I really want this individual place. I will do everything to try to achieve this. But I’m excited to be on the team right now. It takes the weight off my shoulders knowing now that I’m going! »

The 2016 Olympic gold medalist lowered her time by three-quarters of a second compared to her last outing at the Toronto Open a month earlier.

Oleksiak has until June 23 to pass the standard. She was evasive about where and when she planned to achieve this. It is not impossible that she will join Harvey to try her luck at the Trophy of the Seven Hills, in Rome, from June 21 to 23.

Coach Greg Arkhurst contacted his American counterpart Jeff Julian, who has been training the Canadian star in California since the fall, to ask him to join his small group. The latter will be occupied by the American Olympic selections during the same period.

Happy Harvey

For his part, Harvey had only positives to draw from his silver medal which practically guarantees him a place in the final of the 4 x 100 relay. His time of 53.71 s allows him to establish another provincial record. She improved by six hundredths the benchmark held by Mainville since the 2017 Worlds.

All he lacked was individual qualification. “I won’t hide it, it’s a little pinching knowing that I was that close,” she admitted. I started swimming the 100 free last year at the Trials. I won in 55.0. There, it’s 1.3 seconds faster. It’s going in the right direction. »

For some time, she had been “titillating” her coach by making him dangle the 53 seconds. “He was kidding me a bit by saying: “Oh yeah, I think you’re going to do 54.0!” I’m happy to say I did. There is so much potential for improvement. I’m just going to find out. It should get better and better. »

Harvey does not close the door to passing the standard in Italy, a prospect which does not move Arkhurst, calculating that she will then be in a phase of high volume in training. “If she had, it would have been a bonus, but I’m not even sure she would have swum it at the Games,” he said.

The coach was especially excited for his protégé’s 200 meters, who has just demonstrated that she has the speed to take off better in the first half. The relay “could surprise many countries,” he predicted. By “exploding” Summer McIntosh’s personal best (53.9 s), the Quebecer also puts her foot on the ground, which was one of the duo’s objectives.

New Brunswick’s Brooklyn Doutwright (54.33 seconds) and four-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck (54.47 seconds), second fastest in Canadian history, finished third and fourth and also guaranteed themselves a place in the relay.

They can thank Summer McIntosh and Maggie Mac Neil, who withdrew from the main event the day before. These will certainly be put to use in Paris.

“We are in a very good position with Summer and Maggie,” Harvey analyzed. We will continue to improve and be faster in preparation for the Games. »

She is convinced that Oleksiak will continue her progress, to the point where she would not be surprised to see her finish like in 2021 when Canada won silver behind Australia.

“Penny has the gift of shining at the Games. She proved it in 2016 and in 2021 and I have no doubt that she will prove it to us again in 2024. She has had difficult last years, but when it’s time and we need ‘she, she is there. I couldn’t ask for a better person to finish a relay. »

One thing is certain, Mary-Sophie Harvey will volunteer to lighten the atmosphere in Paris.