Canada at the 2025 AQUA World Aquatics Championships

Topicmaster1010 · July 26

Swimming at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships: Previewing every Canadian Swimmer and Relay

The swimming competition is just under 24 hours away and there's lots of excitement surrounding the Canadian team this year. With a nice mix of superstars and rising stars, veterans and youngsters, I thought it would be fun to go into a deep dive of every swimmer on the team as well as all the relays that Canada is competing in. If you have the time to spare, it is a very long article but if not, don't worry, I have saved most notable swimmers for the top of this post. So without further ado, let's get started.

Team Canada

The Medal Threats

Based on the results at trials this year, I would say there are 5 swimmers who have a great chance of reaching the podium

Mary-Sophie Harvey

Age: 25

Hometown: Montreal, QC

Events: 200m Freestyle, 200m Breaststroke, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley

The rise of Mary-Sophie Harvey has been truly incredible to watch. After only qualifying for the 2020 Olympics as a relay-only swimmer, Harvey had a breakout season last year posting world class best times in a multitude of events and qualifying for 2 Olympic events individually. Her Olympics were highlighted by a 4^th place finish in the 200m freestyle. This year, she has stepped up her game even more winning 3 events at trials (200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly) and going PB’s in the 200m breaststroke (2:23.40), 200m individual medley (2:08.78), and 400m individual medley (4:35.56). She is seeded 5^th in the 200m IM, 6^th in the 200m freestyle, 10^th in the 200m breaststroke, and 9^th in the 400m IM. She was reportedly untapered for trials meaning she could go even faster. On paper, she should be featured in all the women’s relays but with her busy schedule, it’s hard to say which ones she’ll feature in. MSH has never won an individual long course medal but that could very well change this year.

Ilya Kharun

Age: 20

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV, USA

Events: 50m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly

No swimmer has ever medaled in all 3 butterfly events at a World Championships but Ilya Kharun is aiming to be the first swimmer to accomplish that. With new sprint-renowned ASU coach Herbie Behm, Kharun has improved his sprint speed significantly and that showed at Trials where he scorched new PB’s of 22.68 and 50.37 in the 50m and 100m butterfly events. The 22.68 time smashed his Canadian record almost half a second. He was also close to his PB in the 200m butterfly going 1:53.41 to easily qualify. This year, he ranks #1 in the 50m butterfly, #3 in the 100m butterfly, and #2 in the 200m butterfly and is seeded 2^nd, 4^th and 3^rd in those events making him a strong medal contender in all 3 events. I would expect him to also swim the butterfly in the men’s medley relay and if he’s faster than Liendo in the 100m butterfly, also the butterfly leg in the mixed medley relay.

Josh Liendo

Age: 22

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Events: 50m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly

Josh Liendo had a dynamite NCAA season this year which saw him win 2 golds and a silver, many people thought he would take his game to another level at trials this year. However, he got ill before trials started and decided not to taper for the event and could be visibly seen with a fully grown beard. This saw him shockingly finish 3^rd in the 100m freestyle and finish over a second off his PB ultimately not qualifying individually in the event. Despite that, he was still produced a 21.88 swim in the 50m freestyle to rank 18^th in the world this year and in his signature 100m butterfly event, swam 50.46 which ranks 4^th in the world this year. Despite not swimming the 50m butterfly at trials, it was added to his event lineup after putting up a 50m split in his Olympic silver medal winning swim good enough to qualify. He is seeded 24^th in the 50m butterfly, 6^th in the 50m freestyle and 1^st in the 100m butterfly. Considering he was untapered for trials and still put up 50.46 along with being the only man in the field to have broken 50 seconds, he’ll easily be one of the gold medal favourites and should be in contention in the 50m freestyle as well. Expect him to reprise his usual roles in the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays as well.

Kylie Masse

Age: 29

Hometown: Lasalle, ON

Events: 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke

The ever-consistent Kylie Masse has been winning medals since 2016. She has won at least one medal in each major meet since then and looks to extend that streak this year. Now 29 years old, Masse opted to drop the 200m backstroke from her event lineup to focus on the sprint events and the results have seemed to pay off this year after she broke the Canadian record in the 50m backstroke going 27.13 at a Pro Swim Series. She produced good times at trials as well going 27.34 and 58.18. With Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith taking the backstroke events to another dimension, Masse will likely find herself, once again, in a battle with Katharine Berkoff for bronze in the 100m distance. She’ll have a better chance in the 50m event where it can be a crapshoot for medals, especially now with Kaylee McKeown’s withdrawal from the event. She’s seeded 3^rd in the 50m and 4^th in the 100m and you can expect her to be locked and loaded for the women’s medley and mixed medley relays.

Summer McIntosh

Age: 18

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Events: 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley

After swimming 4 events at 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Olympics, Summer McIntosh has decided to add a 5^th event to her schedule. She is looking to do something no other swimmer besides Michael Phelps has ever done before: win 5 individual gold medals at a World Championships. After having one of the greatest meets ever at Canadian Trials, many believe that she’s going to do it. At those Canadian trials, she broke an astonishing 3 world records in the 400m freestyle (3:54.18), 200m individual medley (2:05.70) and her own world record in the 400m individual medley (4:23.65). In her other 2 events, she swam the 2^nd fastest time ever in the 200m butterfly (2:02.26) and 3^rd fastest time ever in the 800m freestyle (8:05.07). On the entry lists, she’s the #1 seed in all of her events except the 800m freestyle where she is the #2 seed. 5 medals seems almost certain barring a disastrous swim or DQ. This is a feat that only Michael Phelps and Sarah Sjoestroem have ever accomplished so McIntosh winning 5 medals alone would already her meet among the all time rankings. The only thing that appears to stand in her way is a resurgent Katie Ledecky who is having the best year of her career since 2016. She’s gone 3:56 in the 400m freestyle for the first time since then and reset her 800m freestyle world. Part of the reason Summer chose the 800m freestyle as her 5^th event is because she wants the greatest challenge in beating Ledecky in her signature event so expect those two to put on some fireworks. In the other events, Summer has a considerable lead over the rest of the field. She’s 1.75 seconds clear of the 2^nd seeded swimmer in the 200m IM, 1.58 seconds clear in the 200m butterfly and a whopping 9.75 seconds clear in the 400m IM. No matter what happens, this should be a meet for the history books. In terms of relays, Summer’s talent would easily put her on all 3 women’s relays. However, given that the 4x100m freestyle relay falls on the same day she does both the 400m freestyle heats/finals and 200m IM heats/semis, it seems unlikely she’ll do that relay but should be on the 4x200m freestyle relay and likely do butterfly on the medley relay.

The 2024 World Championship Medallists

Despite the 2024 World Championships having a large asterisk due to the lack of high profile names attending, these Canadians still medaled at the event and if everything goes right for them, could have a chance at medaling.

Finlay Knox

Age: 24

Hometown: Okotoks, AB

Events: 100m Breaststroke, 200m Individual Medley

Now the oldest male swimmer on the Canadian team, Finlay Knox successfully made his 5^th consecutive senior team and will look to defend his 200m IM World Championships title from the sparsely attended 2024 World Championships. After having a career year in 2024 with his move to HPC Vancouver, Knox wasn’t quite as fast at trials this year but that can be largely attributed to a back injury he suffered earlier in the year. Despite that though, he still posted a time of 1:57.25 in the 200m IM to rank 8^th among entrants this year. He is seeded 6^th overall. If he’s in the final, you can’t count him out for a medal. He pulled off an upset once already and he could do it again. He also posted a 1:00.68 in the 100m breaststroke prelims before scratching the final which is right on his 1:00.66 PB. This helped him earn the individual spot in the 100m breaststroke event where he is seeded 30^th and will need a large drop to make the semis. Despite only finishing 7^th in the 100m freestyle at trials, Swimming Canada may elect to use him in the finals over the inexperienced Filip Senc-Samardzic who finished 4^th in the event at trials. Knox has a PB of 48.29 from Olympic trials last year and has split 47 before.

Ingrid Wilm

Age: 27

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Events: 50m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke

After getting beat out by Taylor Ruck for the 2^nd spot in the 100m backstroke at trials, there was a risk that Ingrid Wilm wouldn’t qualify for the World Championship team but she would lock in over the week getting 2^nd in the 50m backstroke and 200m backstroke and even qualifying for the 4x100m freestyle relay with her 4^th place finish where she set a PB of 55.15. She is seeded 11^th in the 50m backstroke and should comfortably make semis and has a good chance of making the final. If she does make the final, there is a greater than 0% chance of her medaling with the nature of that event. She was 4^th in 2022 and won a bronze medal at the 2024 edition although, of course, it was sparsely attended. Making the semis in the 200m backstroke will be much more difficult as she is seeded 25^th overall. In terms of relays, I would imagine that she’ll be put on the prelims for the 4x100m freestyle relay and maybe the final since she has no individual events that day. She could also be used on prelims for the medley relay.

The New Kids on the Block

Every year, there's always some new swimmer(s) that breaks through with Senior Team. However, with this being a post-Olympic year, there are more than usual (9 to be exact) with several prominent members of past teams having retired. Keep in mind I'm not counting 2024 World Championships as there was no selection meet for that.

Sienna Angove

Age: 18

Hometown: Kamloops, BC

Events: Relay-only swimmer

Angove earned her spot on the team on the last day of the meet by finishing 3^rd overall in the 200m freestyle. She initially missed a spot on the 4x100m freestyle relay finishing 5^th and missing 4^th place by 0.02 seconds but with Penny Oleksiak’s withdrawal, she has already been selected for that relay as well. I would imagine that she’ll swim both prelim races and will only get put in the finals if she’s fast enough. Her times of 55.17 and 1:59.07 were just off her PB’s of 54.89 and 1:58.53 from last year’s Olympic Trials so if she can approach those times again, that would very welcoming especially for the 4x200 free where she’s favoured to get one of the finals spots.

Ella Cosgrove

Age: 18

Hometown: Tucson, AZ, USA

Events: Relay-only swimmer

Despite missing the 800m freestyle cut by a second, Ella Cosgrove still had a fantastic Canadian trials going PB’s in 4 events and was rewarded with her first World Championship selection (excluding 2024) courtesy of her 5^th place in the 200m freestyle. She went a 1:59.57 to go under the 2 minute barrier for the first time in her career. She’ll feature on prelims where she’ll look to post a split fast enough to make the finals team.

Oliver Dawson

Age: 17

Hometown: Grande Prairie, AB

Events: 50m Breaststroke, 200m Breaststroke

Oliver Dawson already made some noise at the 2024 Olympic Trials when he unexpectedly won the 200m breaststroke (but failed to hit the Olympic A-cut). This year, he’s taken another step forward winning all 3 breaststroke events and going PB’s in all of them establishing himself as one of the top junior breaststrokers in the world. Despite the PB’s, his times were all outside of the AQUA A-cuts but his 200m time was good enough under the Canadian secondary standard and secure a spot on his first long course team. It’ll be tough to get out of prelims however as he is seeded 47^th in the 50m breaststroke and 26^th in the 200m breaststroke but it’ll still be a great experience for him. Most likely, Swimming Canada will turn to Finlay Knox for medley relay duties.

Ethan Ekk

Age: 18

Hometown: Tallahassee, FL, USA

Events: 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle, 200m Backstroke

Ethan Ekk was one of the biggest breakout performers at Canadian Trials winning 3 events including setting a new Canadian Record in the 200m Backstroke. He hit the A-cut in the 200m backstroke, the Canadian secondary standard in the 400m freestyle and despite not racing the 800m freestyle at trials, he’s raced it in the qualification period earning him a spot in that event. His best shot at advancing past the heats will be in the 200m backstroke where he is the 20^th seed and has the 17^th fastest time among entrants this year. He is seeded 29^th in the 400m freestyle and 23^rd in the 800m freestyle. He’ll also play a part in the 4x200m freestyle relay after winning the event at trials (but failing to go under the Canadian secondary standard).

Madison Kryger

Age: 16

Hometown: Niagara Falls, ON

Events: 200m Backstroke

Madison Kryger has been tracking as top junior swimmers in the country over the past few years and she finally had her breakout meet at Canadian Trials where she set 3 PB’s. The biggest of which came in the 200m backstroke where she put down a monster PB of 2:09.88 to get under the A cut and become the youngest Canadian swimmer to qualify for this year’s World Championships. As the 19^th seed in the event, going around her PB should put her in contention to qualify for the semifinals.

Alexanne Lepage

Age: 19

Hometown: Vernon, BC

Events: 50m Breaststroke, 100m Breaststroke

After a breakthrough meet at the 2023 World Junior Championships in which she become a double gold medallist in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events, Alexanne Lepage was predicted by many to be Canada’s breaststroker for the Paris Olympics. However, she was unable to replicate her times and ultimately missed the team. She found redemption at this year’s trials going 30.92 and 1:06.87 to win the 50m and 100m breaststroke events and qualifying for her first World Championships with the 100m breaststroke time exactly matching the A standard. She was close in the 200m breaststroke as well but ultimately finished in 3^rd still under the A standard. Her times in the 50 and 100 were her best times since World Juniors which bodes well for this event. She’s only seeded 25^th in the 50m event but is seeded higher in the 100m in 21^st position. Semifinals are possible but will require her to be at her trials times. If she maintains her form, she should also get the nod for the medley relay.

Antoine Sauve

Age: 19

Hometown: Montreal, QC

Events: 200m Freestyle

One of the biggest revelations of Canadian Trials was Antoine Sauve and he delivered one of the most shocking moments at any meet I’ve ever seen. After misjudging the field and missing the A-final in the 200m freestyle, Sauve delivered a 1:46.39 swim in the B-final to break Brent Hayden’s Canadian Record and drop his PB by almost 2 seconds. That swim was impressive enough to give him an individual event berth where he is seeded 20^th. If he’s right on his PB, that should be enough to get him into the semifinals. Thankfully for the selectors, Sauve had already been selected for the team earlier by finishing 2^nd in the 100m freestyle in 48.42. It was 0.08 seconds off the A standard but was a PB by over a second. He should be doing both prelims and finals of the 4x100m freestyle relay. Whether or not he’ll be on the 4x200m freestyle relay is still uncertain as he did not finish top 4 in the A final at trials. The 4^th place finisher, Lorne Wigginton, has an individual event and isn’t required to swim that relay so Sauve may end up taking his place.

Filip Senc-Samardzic

Age: 19

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Events: Relay-only swimmer

Senc-Samardzic is yet another swimmer who’s making his senior team debut. His most impressive swim was in the 100m freestyle where he went a 49.13 PB to finish 4^th in the event and qualify as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay beating out the likes of Yuri Kisil and Finlay Knox. A couple of days later, he would finish 2^nd in the A-final of the 200m freestyle in 1:48.83 which was just 0.13 off his PB from last year’s trials. He is already tabbed to swim prelims in both relays and while it is unlikely the 4x200m relay will make the final, it’s likely the 4x100m one will. If Senc-Samardzic can split 48-low, the coaches may keep him for the final. Otherwise, Finlay Knox could get the nod over him.

Jordi Vilchez

Age: 19

Hometown: Barrie, ON

Events: Relay-only swimmer

After a narrow loss to Ethan Ekk in the 400m freestyle at Canadian Trials, Vilchez rebounded in the 200m freestyle to finish 3^rd in 1:48.83, a new PB for him. He also had a PB in the 200m butterfly to finish 2^nd but was well short of the qualifying time. In Singapore, he should be swimming in the prelims of the 4x200m freestyle relay where he’ll hope to produce a good split.

The College/University standouts

Brooklyn Douthwright

Age: 22

Hometown: Rivierview, NB

Events: 100m Butterfly

Brooklyn Douthwright has been a regular on the freestyle relays over the past two years and that’ll continue in Singapore after she finished 3^rd in the 100m freestyle (54.74) and 4^th in the 200m freestyle (1:59.44). She has been as fast as 54.33 and 1:58.49 from last year so since she was off those times, she’ll likely be featured in both of the relay prelims to see what her form is like. In addition, she also earned an individual berth in the 100m butterfly after going a PB (59.40). It was only 3^rd in the final but both MSH and Jansen, who finished ahead of her have events on the same day as the 100m butterfly heats. She is seeded 33^rd so semis are probably out of reach.

Tristan Jankovics

Age: 21

Hometown: Guelph, ON

Events: 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley

After a shocking Olympic qualification in the 400m IM last year, Tristan Jankovics has been even better this year. He already looked great at short course worlds last year and had a great NCAA season finishing second in the 400 yard IM. At trials he smashed his PB in the 200m IM going a new PB of 1:58.01 ranking him 10^th in the world this year. He was a bit off his PB in the 400m IM but still comfortably qualified going 4:13.15 to rank 11^th in the world this year. Overall, he is seeded 15^th in the 200m IM and 16^th in the 400m IM putting him in a great position to make the semi-final and final respectively. Look for him to possibly challenge Brian Johns Canadian Record in the 400m IM.

Ella Jansen

Age: 19

Hometown: Burlington, ON

Events: 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle

After a down 2024 year for her standards, the now NCAA trained Ella Jansen had a nice bounce back showing at Canadian Trials setting PB’s in the 200m freestyle (1:57.33) and 200m butterfly (2:09.68) and neared her PB’s in the 400m freestyle and 400m IM. She’s qualified individually in both the 200m and 400m freestyle events where she ranks as the 17^th and 16^th seeds respectively while just missing the A standard in the 200m butterfly. Jansen has never advanced past heats at a major competition yet and while the 400m freestyle final seems out of reach, she’ll have a good shot to make the 200m freestyle semis for the 1^st time in her career. She should also be a lock for the 200m freestyle final with her PB and will likely be relied on to anchor the relay team in the heats with MSH and Summer both having big schedules.

Blake Tierney

Age: 23

Hometown: Saskatoon, SK

Events: 50m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke

It was an up and down trials for Blake Tierney. After going what looked like an easy 54.02 in prelims of the 100m backstroke, he slipped on the starting wedge and it cost him the win and getting the A-standard ultimately preventing him from swimming this individually at World Championships. He would rebound the next day winning the 50m backstroke, arguably his worst distance, in a new PB of 25.23. In the 200m backstroke, he was less than 0.3 away from his PB placing 2^nd but getting under the A-standard. He is seeded all the way down in 38^th in the 50m backstroke and 22^nd in the 20m backstroke. He has by far the better chance of making the semis in the 200m backstroke. I still think he’s the better backstroker to use for the medley relay over Cole Pratt but who knows who’ll be in better form and what the coaches will decide.

Lorne Wigginton

Age: 19

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Events: 400m Individual Medley

After failing to qualify for the 400m IM at the 2024 Olympic Trials, Wigginton bounced back this year to qualify for this event at his 3^rd straight World Championships. The Worlds standard is significantly easier than the Olympic Standard but he still churned out the 2^nd fastest time of his career. In 2023, he just missed the final finishing in 9^th place so he’ll look to improve on that result. He’ll have some work to do as he is currently seeded 19^th overall. He could also get a morning prelims swim in the 4x200m freestyle relay after finishing 4^th in this event at Canadian Trials where he was unfortunately more than a second slower than his PB.

The Veterans

Sophie Angus

Age: 26

Hometown: Weston, CT, USA

Events: 200m Breaststroke

This is Angus’s 4^th consecutive year on the senior team but it didn’t go quite as she would’ve expected. She swam a huge PB of 2:24.84 in the 200m breaststroke to finish 2^nd, get under the AQUA A standard and qualify in the event for the first time. However, she failed to reach the A-standards in her more familiar sprint breaststroke events and failed to qualify for those events. She is entered as the 21^st seed in the 200m breaststroke and has the 18^th fastest time this year among all entrants which means she could make the semis. She could also be used for the medley relay if she is in better form than Alexanne Lepage.

Ruslan Gaziev

Age: 25

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Events: 100m Freestyle

After an 18^th month suspension for a whereabouts failure, Ruslan Gaziev came back in a big way winning his specialty 100m freestyle event in a time of 48.37 and setting a new PB in the process. This was especially impressive as he had only been training since April. Despite not reaching the A standard, he’s still entered in the individual 100m freestyle courtesy of reaching the secondary standard and will of course, play a major role in the 4x100m freestyle relay. The men’s 100m freestyle is incredibly deep right now making him only the 27^th seed but with some more training under his belt, some more impressive times could be on the way and he could make the semifinals and post some impressive relay splits.

Taylor Ruck

Age: 25

Hometown: Kelowna, BC

Events: 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly

Despite being a far cry from her 2018 form, Taylor Ruck somehow managed to qualify for 4 events which, assuming she swims all of them, will be the most events she’s ever swum at a Worlds or Olympic Games. Part of this is due to Penny Oleksiak’s withdrawal where she was the runner up to her in the 50m and 100m freestyles and not hitting the A standard in either event. Although her 50m freestyle has been off at the last two trials, she’s shown great form at it in international competition. She was made the final at the 2024 World Championships and was 24.57 in the heats at the Olympics ultimately seeding her 14^th in this event. If she goes 24.8 like at trials, she’ll likely be out in heats but 24.5 should get her through to the semis and even the finals if semis are slow. In the 100m freestyle, she hasn’t been under 54 seconds in the event individually since 2022 and is thus seeded 26^th in the event. However, with Oleksiak’s withdrawal, she’ll be counted on for the 4x100m freestyle relay and will be a candidate to swim freestyle for the medley relay. At the 2024 World Championships, she had splits of 53.26 and 52.96 in her relay appearances showing she can still produce good splits. The 100m backstroke seems to be the event where she’s in the best form and where she’ll have the strongest chance of making the final. At trials, she produced 58.93 to get under 59 seconds for the first time since 2019 and making her the 6^th seed in this event. The 50m butterfly is an event she’s hardly raced and won it in a PB at trials in 26.47. However, it’s far from competitive compared to the rest of the world and she’s only seeded 28^th.

Comeback Swimmer of the Year

Cole Pratt

Age: 22

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Events: 100m Backstroke

Cole Pratt has had an incredible comeback this year. After injuring his shoulder in 2021, he was held out of competition in 2022 and struggled the next two years. In the 100m backstroke final at trials this year, he upset the field to win in 54.27. Despite being off the A-standard, it was his fastest time since 2021 Olympic Trials. He also had a good showing in the 200m backstroke finishing in 3^rd and missing the A standard by less than a second. Unfortunately, in an incredibly loaded backstroke field, he’s only seeded 32^nd so it’ll be surprising if he makes it out of heats but it’s nice to see him back on the senior team. Whether or not he’ll get the medley relay spot is still uncertain as Blake Tierney has proven to the more consistent backstroker over the last year.

Relays

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Based on top 4 time this year:

Mary-Sophie Harvey (54.34)
Taylor Ruck (54.41)
Brooklyn Douthwright (54.74)
Ingrid Wilm (55.15)

Likely relay lineup: Ruck, Douthwright, Wilm, Angove

The add-up times rank 8^th in the world among nations this year. If you substitute Angove for Harvey, then Canada would drop to 10^th and potentially miss the final. Summer McIntosh and Mary-Sophie Harvey would for sure play into this relay but both have busy schedules and will both have events that day so it would be best not to use them for this relay and let some others have a crack at it to see what they could do.

Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Based on top 4 times this year:

Summer McIntosh (1:56.17)
Mary-Sophie Harvey (1:56.46)
Ella Jansen (1:57.33)
Sienna Angove (1:59.07)

Likely relay lineup: McIntosh, Harvey, Jansen, Angove/Douthwright/Cosgrove

Based on the added up times, Canada ranks 4^th in the world this year but are almost 4 seconds back of China. There is definitely room to drop time though. The obvious one here is Summer McIntosh who’s 1:56.17 time is actually her 200m split from her 400m freestyle. If she swims this relay, she’ll almost certainly go at least 2.5 seconds faster. MSH has also been as fast as 1:55.29, Angove has been as fast as 1:58.53, and Douthwright has been as fast as 1:58.49.

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay