Team Britain, Team Canada and Team Hungary swim in the men's 4 x 100m freestyle relay final in Paris on Saturday,Marko Djurica/Reuters
The Canadian men’s swim team will have to wait for the long-awaited breakthrough they are hoping to achieve in Paris, after placing sixth in the 4x100 freestyle relay.
In a program dominated by successful female swimmers such as Maggie Mac Neil and Summer McIntosh, the men’s side went into Saturday’s relay having not won a medal in 12 years.
They narrowly missed the podium three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, where they placed fourth in the same relay, and had marked this event on their calendars since.
But the team of Josh Liendo, Finlay Knox, Yuri Kisil and Javier Acevedo struggled to keep pace with the powerhouse U.S. and Australian teams, finishing in a time of 3 minutes 12.18 seconds.
The United States won gold in 3.09.28, Australia claimed the silver medal in 3.10.35, and Italy took bronze in 3.10.70.
“We definitely wanted it for sure,” Liendo said. “We definitely wanted to just give it our all and be in the fight. And obviously we’re always racing for medals when it’s that close.”
Canada entered Saturday night’s final ranked fifth after the semi-finals in the morning.
The men have not reached the podium since the 2012 London Olympics, when Ryan Cochrane won silver in the 1,500-metre freestyle and Brent Hayden took home bronze in the 100-metre freestyle.
Having watched women’s swimming win all of Canada’s medals since, Liendo said recently that it was something the men think about often.
Going into Paris, the women had won 12 medals over the previous two Summer Games and are pushing for more in Paris.
“The guys always talk about it. Watching the success of the women, we want that,” Liendo said before the competition began.
“We’ve seen the women do it year in, year out,” Knox added. “For us it’s really just like, they’re not doing anything different than what we’re doing – so why can’t we do it?”
After Saturday’s relay, Knox said he hopes the team has left a legacy for future Canadian men’s swimmers to improve upon, particularly as Acevedo and Kisil prepare to retire.
“This is my first Olympic final in the 4x100 free. I gave it everything tonight,” Knox said. “We might not have Yuri or Javy, seeing as they’re going to retire for the next Olympics. But it just paves the way for other athletes to come up and show what’s possible on the national stage.”
Battling the tension of racing one of their last relays together, Kisil said the team tried to keep the mood light heading in.
“I just tried to make sure everyone was in the right headspace and no one was too stressed out,” Kisil said.
The quest for a medal on the men’s side should inspire future swimmers coming up, Acevedo said. He recalled taking inspiration from the men’s relay swimmers who came before him.
“I hope future Canadian swimmers remember these moments because it comes and goes, but the people that come before you paved the way for your future as well,” Acevedo said.
As the Olympic swimming competition gets going, the men will be hoping to snap that streak in other events. Liendo represents the men’s best chance at a medal. He is ranked first in the 100-metre butterfly, which takes place on Aug. 3.
Liendo said he likes the mood inside Paris La Défense Arena, a full-size stadium in which a pool has been installed for the Olympics. It’s a bigger venue, with larger crowds than many swimmers are used to competing in front of – especially after the Tokyo Olympics had no spectators because of the pandemic.
“It’s nice, it’s sick,” Liendo said of the atmosphere. “Those stands are huge, there’s tons of people, there’s a crowd. My first Olympics was Tokyo, so this definitely feels a lot better.”