There have been three more Canadian records set at the 2025 Canadian National Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia. In addition to Summer McIntosh’s phenomenal week where she set five Canadian records and three world records, there were three Canadian records set on the men’s side.
Where the national records were set were in men’s swimming. Ethan Ekk (whose parents hail from Burnaby, British Columbia) broke the Canadian record in the men’s 200 metre backstroke on Wednesday, Antoine Sauve of Montreal, Quebec broke the Canadian record in the men’s 200 metre freestyle on Thursday, and two-time Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Ilya Kharun of Montreal set the Canadian record in the men’s 50 metre butterfly on Thursday. Kharun won the bronze medal in the men’s 100 metre butterfly and men’s 200 metre butterfly at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Ekk posted a time of 1:56.54 in the men’s 200 metre backstroke. He was two tenths of a second faster than Blake Tierney of Mississauga, Ontario, who had a time of 1:56.74, at the 2024 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials.
Sauve posted a time of 1:46.39 in the men’s 200 metre freestyle. He was one one-hundredth of a second faster than Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Brent Hayden of Mission, British Columbia. Hayden had a time of 1:46.40 in the sixth heat of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, before going on to win a bronze medal in the men’s 100 metre freestyle at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. However, Sauve’s national record only came in the B Final, which makes it questionable whether or not he will represent Canada at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Kharun posted a time of 22.68 seconds in the men’s 50 mete butterfly, an event making its debut at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Kharun had the previous Canadian time of 23.09 seconds set at the 2025 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 2. The Canadian record time for Kharun, Sauve and Ekk will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.