Canadian Olympic Trials: 16-year-old Katrina Bellio hits 1,500 A Cut
At age 16, Katrina Bellio can’t lay claim to the title of the next young star on the Canadian distance block. In a world with 14-year-old Summer McIntosh dropping time like it’s going out of style, Bellio is almost aged.
But just like her long-time Etobicoke swim club teammate, Bellio sent a message that she’s one to watch for the future.
Bellio won the 1,500 freestyle at Canadian Olympic Trials Wednesday night, a time of 16:29.67. That is more than two seconds under the FINA A standard, which mean Bellio is headed to the Tokyo Olympics.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Bellio said. “I’m still in shock. It’s incredible to be 16 years old and be nominated for the Olympics.”
Bellio has had a quietly stellar meet to cap an eventful spring. She dropped 3.5 seconds in the 800 free on Monday, finishing second to McIntosh with a swim that she credits with giving her the confidence heading into the meet’s final day.
- Live Results
- Day 1 prelims: Joshua Liendo Kicks off Canadian Olympic Trials with National Record in 100 Fly
- Day 1 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Katerine Savard Books Third Olympic Trip in 100 Fly
- Day 1 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Kylie Masse Makes Statement with 57.70 100 Back
- Day 2 prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Penny Oleksiak, Kelsey Wog Earn Top Seeds
- Day 2 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Summer McIntosh Rallies Past Penny Oleksiak to Win 200 Free
- Day 3 Prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Joshua Liendo Adds 50 Free A Cut in Prelims
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Summer McIntosh Adds A Cut in 800 Free
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Sydney Pickrem Outduels Kelsey Wog in 200 IM
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Brent Hayden Sprints Into Fourth Olympics in 50
- Day 4 Prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Yuri Kisil Nabs 100 Free A Cut; Brent Hayden Scratches Final
- Day 4 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Kelsey Wog Adds Second Win in 200 Breast
- Day 4 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Reigning Olympic Champ Penny Oleksiak Rips 52.89 100 Free
- Day 5 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Tessa Cieplucha to Join Sydney Pickrem in 400 IM in Tokyo
She separated from the field early and kept them at bay. Entering three seconds shy of the A cut, she got that and more to dip under 16:30 and book a spot in Tokyo.
Bellio and McIntosh had been teammates for several years at Etobicoke, one of the top teams in Canada, before McIntosh made the jump to the Toronto High Performance Centre this year. You sense it’s a move Bellio could make sooner rather than later.
“She puts in so much hard work,” Bellio said of her connection with McIntosh. “We used to do every single distance set together, and she was always my training partners and pushed me every single day. We’re both so young and we still have so much left in our swimming careers. I can’t wait for the things that we can do.”
Bellio’s status as Canadian swimming’s future includes a tie to the past: Brittany MacLean, the national record holder in the event and two-time Olympian. When MacLean made it to Rio five years ago, as Bellio recounted on the national broadcast of Trials, she bequeathed to Bellio a bag that included racing suits and gear from the Games.
In retrospect, it feels like an anointing of the next one. But the connection didn’t stop there, as Bellio and MacLean remain in contact, Bellio relying on her for advice in and out of the pool.
“She’s a phenomenal swimmer, she’s a phenomenal person and she’s been such a big role model for me my entire life, and not just for swimming,” Bellio said.
Second was Abby Dunford, who is just 15 years old, in 16:38.75. Alyson Ackman took home third.
For Bellio, who has been watching MacLean since she was seven and recalled watching Trials in 2016, to be on the Olympic stage so quickly is almost unfathomable.
“If you had told me when I was 12 years old that I would be there in five years, I would not believe you,” she said. “It’s crazy to believe that so much has changed since then.”
Event 27 Women 1500 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 15:57.15 2014-08-24Brittany MacLean, ESWIM
OLYMPIC A: A 16:32.04
Name Year Team Seed Finals
==================================================================
1 Bellio, Katrina 04 ESWIM 16:34.99 16:29.67A
r:+0.73 29.79 1:01.72 (31.93)
1:34.36 (32.64) 2:06.99 (32.63)
2:39.76 (32.77) 3:12.69 (32.93)
3:45.69 (33.00) 4:18.62 (32.93)
4:51.75 (33.13) 5:24.54 (32.79)
5:57.68 (33.14) 6:30.76 (33.08)
7:03.73 (32.97) 7:36.66 (32.93)
8:09.82 (33.16) 8:43.04 (33.22)
9:16.20 (33.16) 9:49.34 (33.14)
10:22.51 (33.17) 10:56.13 (33.62)
11:29.78 (33.65) 12:03.22 (33.44)
12:36.76 (33.54) 13:10.19 (33.43)
13:43.52 (33.33) 14:16.85 (33.33)
14:50.10 (33.25) 15:23.82 (33.72)
15:57.05 (33.23) 16:29.67 (32.62)
2 Dunford, Abby 06 CASC 16:39.54 16:38.75
r:+0.80 30.23 1:02.88 (32.65)
1:35.26 (32.38) 2:08.27 (33.01)
2:40.89 (32.62) 3:13.93 (33.04)
3:46.56 (32.63) 4:19.71 (33.15)
4:52.11 (32.40) 5:25.19 (33.08)
5:57.73 (32.54) 6:31.10 (33.37)
7:03.66 (32.56) 7:36.93 (33.27)
8:09.88 (32.95) 8:43.43 (33.55)
9:16.38 (32.95) 9:50.26 (33.88)
10:23.72 (33.46) 10:57.88 (34.16)
11:31.43 (33.55) 12:05.78 (34.35)
12:39.56 (33.78) 13:14.10 (34.54)
13:48.15 (34.05) 14:22.65 (34.50)
14:56.56 (33.91) 15:31.13 (34.57)
16:05.00 (33.87) 16:38.75 (33.75)
3 Ackman, Alyson 93 PCSC 16:54.53 16:46.32
r:+0.65 29.67 1:02.03 (32.36)
1:34.93 (32.90) 2:07.97 (33.04)
2:41.42 (33.45) 3:14.70 (33.28)
3:48.09 (33.39) 4:21.40 (33.31)
4:54.94 (33.54) 5:28.38 (33.44)
6:01.99 (33.61) 6:35.50 (33.51)
7:09.33 (33.83) 7:43.04 (33.71)
8:16.78 (33.74) 8:50.32 (33.54)
9:24.33 (34.01) 9:58.41 (34.08)
10:32.42 (34.01) 11:06.44 (34.02)
11:40.57 (34.13) 12:14.65 (34.08)
12:48.84 (34.19) 13:23.08 (34.24)
13:57.31 (34.23) 14:31.31 (34.00)
15:05.65 (34.34) 15:39.76 (34.11)
16:13.43 (33.67) 16:46.32 (32.89)
4 Jansen, Ella 05 ESWIM 16:49.30 16:56.37
r:+0.84 30.78 1:04.09 (33.31)
1:37.88 (33.79) 2:11.73 (33.85)
2:45.34 (33.61) 3:19.03 (33.69)
3:52.68 (33.65) 4:26.41 (33.73)
5:00.06 (33.65) 5:33.84 (33.78)
6:07.50 (33.66) 6:41.37 (33.87)
7:14.99 (33.62) 7:49.10 (34.11)
8:22.85 (33.75) 8:56.99 (34.14)
9:30.77 (33.78) 10:04.62 (33.85)
10:38.67 (34.05) 11:12.77 (34.10)
11:46.52 (33.75) 12:20.92 (34.40)
12:54.97 (34.05) 13:29.45 (34.48)
14:03.97 (34.52) 14:38.79 (34.82)
15:13.40 (34.61) 15:47.89 (34.49)
16:22.27 (34.38) 16:56.37 (34.10)
5 Anderson, Olivia 99 ESWIM 16:40.40 16:58.41
r:+0.71 29.96 1:02.21 (32.25)
1:34.89 (32.68) 2:07.83 (32.94)
2:41.12 (33.29) 3:14.50 (33.38)
3:48.20 (33.70) 4:22.07 (33.87)
4:55.83 (33.76) 5:29.68 (33.85)
6:03.47 (33.79) 6:37.63 (34.16)
7:11.86 (34.23) 7:46.07 (34.21)
8:20.44 (34.37) 8:54.82 (34.38)
9:29.24 (34.42) 10:03.56 (34.32)
10:38.20 (34.64) 11:13.15 (34.95)
11:47.72 (34.57) 12:22.46 (34.74)
12:57.31 (34.85) 13:32.17 (34.86)
14:06.76 (34.59) 14:41.23 (34.47)
15:16.05 (34.82) 15:50.50 (34.45)
16:25.09 (34.59) 16:58.41 (33.32)
6 O'Croinin, Emma 03 EKSC 16:30.46 17:05.37
r:+0.77 30.51 1:03.59 (33.08)
1:36.94 (33.35) 2:10.27 (33.33)
2:43.72 (33.45) 3:17.26 (33.54)
3:50.89 (33.63) 4:24.51 (33.62)
4:58.30 (33.79) 5:32.19 (33.89)
6:06.14 (33.95) 6:40.07 (33.93)
7:14.09 (34.02) 7:48.35 (34.26)
8:22.66 (34.31) 8:57.11 (34.45)
9:31.59 (34.48) 10:06.13 (34.54)
10:41.19 (35.06) 11:15.89 (34.70)
11:50.59 (34.70) 12:25.54 (34.95)
13:00.44 (34.90) 13:35.49 (35.05)
14:10.71 (35.22) 14:45.83 (35.12)
15:21.00 (35.17) 15:56.43 (35.43)
16:31.49 (35.06) 17:05.37 (33.88)
7 Smallegange, Kenna 03 BAD 16:54.54 17:20.29
r:+0.84 30.64 1:03.41 (32.77)
1:36.69 (33.28) 2:10.07 (33.38)
2:43.20 (33.13) 3:16.66 (33.46)
3:50.25 (33.59) 4:23.95 (33.70)
4:57.93 (33.98) 5:32.35 (34.42)
6:06.48 (34.13) 6:40.87 (34.39)
7:15.43 (34.56) 7:50.02 (34.59)
8:24.98 (34.96) 9:00.13 (35.15)
9:35.95 (35.82) 10:11.65 (35.70)
10:47.56 (35.91) 11:23.41 (35.85)
11:59.66 (36.25) 12:35.25 (35.59)
13:11.00 (35.75) 13:46.87 (35.87)
14:22.98 (36.11) 14:59.05 (36.07)
15:34.99 (35.94) 16:10.91 (35.92)
16:46.77 (35.86) 17:20.29 (33.52)
8 Gage, Kyla 04 PCSC 17:28.02 17:23.26
r:+0.78 31.21 1:04.72 (33.51)
1:38.89 (34.17) 2:13.08 (34.19)
2:47.53 (34.45) 3:22.16 (34.63)
3:56.69 (34.53) 4:31.22 (34.53)
5:06.08 (34.86) 5:40.78 (34.70)
6:15.73 (34.95) 6:50.63 (34.90)
7:25.73 (35.10) 8:00.68 (34.95)
8:35.52 (34.84) 9:10.35 (34.83)
9:45.39 (35.04) 10:20.49 (35.10)
10:55.90 (35.41) 11:31.17 (35.27)
12:06.88 (35.71) 12:42.09 (35.21)
13:17.69 (35.60) 13:52.75 (35.06)
14:28.34 (35.59) 15:03.62 (35.28)
15:39.10 (35.48) 16:14.32 (35.22)
16:49.31 (34.99) 17:23.26 (33.95)
Men’s 800 Freestyle
The Canadians don’t have an A cut, but they do have a sub-8-minute finisher in Eric Brown, who lopped 12 seconds off his time to finish in 7:59.87. It’s 5.5 seconds shy of the Olympic A cut.
Second was Alexander Axon in 8:04.19. Both are teenagers. Veteran Jeremy Bagshaw was third.
Event 28 Men 800 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 7:41.86 2011-07-27Ryan Cochrane, IS
OLYMPIC A: A 7:54.31
Name Year Team Seed Finals
==================================================================
1 Brown, Eric 02 PCSC 8:12.39 7:59.87
r:+0.75 27.52 57.03 (29.51)
1:27.01 (29.98) 1:57.07 (30.06)
2:27.27 (30.20) 2:57.55 (30.28)
3:27.93 (30.38) 3:58.22 (30.29)
4:28.72 (30.50) 4:59.14 (30.42)
5:29.88 (30.74) 6:00.15 (30.27)
6:30.28 (30.13) 7:00.24 (29.96)
7:30.35 (30.11) 7:59.87 (29.52)
2 Axon, Alexander 03 MAC 8:05.76 8:04.19
r:+0.69 27.31 57.31 (30.00)
1:27.54 (30.23) 1:57.84 (30.30)
2:28.29 (30.45) 2:58.58 (30.29)
3:29.11 (30.53) 3:59.69 (30.58)
4:29.96 (30.27) 5:00.88 (30.92)
5:31.71 (30.83) 6:02.35 (30.64)
6:32.90 (30.55) 7:03.94 (31.04)
7:34.99 (31.05) 8:04.19 (29.20)
3 Bagshaw, Jeremy 92 ISC 8:05.77 8:04.94
r:+0.70 27.36 56.96 (29.60)
1:27.37 (30.41) 1:57.62 (30.25)
2:27.97 (30.35) 2:58.42 (30.45)
3:28.80 (30.38) 3:59.29 (30.49)
4:29.51 (30.22) 5:00.09 (30.58)
5:30.55 (30.46) 6:01.05 (30.50)
6:32.31 (31.26) 7:03.60 (31.29)
7:34.81 (31.21) 8:04.94 (30.13)
4 Pratt, Alexander 00 UBCT 8:13.59 8:05.95
r:+0.77 27.23 57.26 (30.03)
1:27.60 (30.34) 1:58.46 (30.86)
2:29.39 (30.93) 3:00.29 (30.90)
3:31.23 (30.94) 4:02.27 (31.04)
4:32.73 (30.46) 5:03.76 (31.03)
5:34.76 (31.00) 6:05.47 (30.71)
6:36.26 (30.79) 7:06.95 (30.69)
7:37.47 (30.52) 8:05.95 (28.48)
5 Brothers, Peter 96 UCSC 8:02.40 8:10.96
r:+0.74 27.48 57.05 (29.57)
1:27.14 (30.09) 1:57.29 (30.15)
2:27.56 (30.27) 2:57.90 (30.34)
3:28.52 (30.62) 3:59.12 (30.60)
4:29.64 (30.52) 5:00.70 (31.06)
5:32.33 (31.63) 6:04.12 (31.79)
6:36.09 (31.97) 7:07.85 (31.76)
7:39.89 (32.04) 8:10.96 (31.07)
6 Beaudin-Bolduc, Natha 99 UL 8:18.09 8:12.37
r:+0.72 27.96 58.38 (30.42)
1:29.32 (30.94) 2:00.50 (31.18)
2:31.50 (31.00) 3:02.92 (31.42)
3:34.29 (31.37) 4:05.70 (31.41)
4:36.56 (30.86) 5:07.92 (31.36)
5:39.02 (31.10) 6:10.46 (31.44)
6:41.37 (30.91) 7:12.38 (31.01)
7:42.48 (30.10) 8:12.37 (29.89)
