Deep pool of Canadian female swimmers will challenge Lou Marsh voters

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This article was published 03/12/2021 (1402 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the last two Summer Olympics and Paralympics, Canadian women made their mark in the pool.

And success in Tokyo will lead to more than one swimmer vying for the title when the Lou Marsh committee convenes next Wednesday to select Canada’s athlete of the year.

There’s no forgetting Canada’s first gold medal this past summer, won by London-raised Maggie Mac Neil in the 100-metre butterfly. The 21-year-old’s “Oh. My. God” reaction resonated across the country, particularly endearing because of the slight delay before he realized she’d won — needing time for her eyes to adjust without glasses.

Mac Neil, whose clocking of 55.59 seconds also broke the Canadian record, finished with a complete set of Olympic medals, adding silver in the 4×100 freestyle relay and bronze in the 4×100 medley relay. The Association of National Olympic Committees went on to select her as the top female athlete of the Tokyo Games, from any nation.

The Olympic gold — Canada won seven in all — may give Mac Neil the edge over two teammates in the Lou Marsh vote. LaSalle, Ont.-born Kylie Masse, 25, and Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak, 21, took home three medals each, but neither reached the top of the podium.

Masse earned silver in the 100- and 200-metre backstroke, as well as bronze in that 4×100 medley relay. She also claimed three bronze medals on the World Cup circuit, and rewrote the Canadian record in the 200-metre backstroke at an International Swimming League meet last month.

Oleksiak trio of medals in Tokyo — 4×100 freestyle relay silver, plus bronze in the 200 free and 4×100 medley relay — after four in Rio in 2016 made her the most decorated Olympian in Canadian history. She won the Lou Marsh after her Rio performance. The question this time will be how to weigh her historic achievement in a calendar year when she wasn’t the most dominant Canadian swimmer.

That would be Paralympian Aurélie Rivard.

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The 25-year-old from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. brought home five medals from Japan, matching her total from London 2012 and Rio 2016 combined.

The swimmer, born with an underdeveloped left hand, collected gold in the 100-metre freestyle S10 and 400 freestyle S10, both in world record time. Her lone silver came in the 100-metre backstroke S10, along with bronze in the 50-metre freestyle and the 4×100 freestyle relay. She finished fourth in her final event, the 200-metre medley S10, but still set a Canadian record.

Rivard authored quite a turnaround after starting with bronze in the 50 free, where she was the favourite and defending champion. In the aftermath, she said she’d let everyone down. Now the 2016 Lou Marsh finalist is once again a contender for Canadian athlete of the year.

Whoever winds up taking the honour will have faced stiff challenges from the pool.

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy