Swimming

Doha 2024, North America Day 2 Recap: Angus Adds to Canada’s Newfound Breaststroke Depth

February 13, 2024

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 11th – February 18th
Doha, Qatar
LCM (50m)
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Live Results (Omega)
Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap

With young Canadian breaststrokers breaking out over the past year, 24-year-old Sophie Angus proved she could keep up in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke at the 2024 World Championships on Monday.

Angus shaved almost a second off her lifetime best with a personal-best 1:06.66 that snuck her into Tuesday’s 100 breast final as the No. 8 seed. Her previous best stood at 1:07.34 from last year’s World Championships, where she placed 22nd in prelims. However, Angus hinted that she had more left in the tank in Fukuoka when she split 1:06.21 on Canada’s 400 medley relay to help them win a bronze medal last year.

Her big time drop in the semifinals made her the 7th-fastest Canadian ever in the event, right behind Shona Branton (1:06.59) and Alexanne Lepage (1:06.58). Both Branton and Lepage clocked their best times over the past five months, with the 21-year-old Branton posting her personal-best 1:06.59 last month and the 18-year-old Lepage winning the world junior title in 1:06.58 last September.

FASTEST CANADIAN WOMEN EVER, 100 LCM BREASTSTROKE:

Annamay Pierse – 1:05.74 (2009)
Kelsey Wog – 1:06.44 (2020)
Amanda Reason – 1:06.53 (2009)
Kierra Smith – 1:06.54 (2019)
Alexanne Lepage – 1:06.58 (2023)
Shona Branton – 1:06.59 (2024)
Sophie Angus – 1:06.66 (2024)
Rachel Nicol – 1:06.68 (2016)
Jillian Tyler – 1:07.18 (2012)
Sydney Pickrem – 1:07.20 (2019)

All of a sudden, Canada is brimming with depth in the 100 breast heading into the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer. While Angus brings the most international racing experience to the table, it’s Lepage who’s on the steepest improvement trajectory, having dropped 2.49 seconds in the 100 breast over the course of the 2023 World Junior Championships. Angus will likely have to keep dropping time at May’s Canadian Trials in order to hold off the surging Lepage and Branton.

On the other medley relay legs, Canada is expected to feature Kylie Masse, Maggie MacNeil, and Summer McIntosh. They’ve also got Ingrid Wilm as another top-tier backstroke option, and on freestyle, it’s possible we see Penny Oleksiak and/or Taylor Ruck back on top form this year.

Those swimmers make Canada’s medley relay a consistent podium threat, but the addition of an elite breaststroker could put them into contention with the Americans and Australians this summer in Paris — especially with the Aussies experiencing breaststroke troubles of their own. Now Canada has a new, better problem on its hands: not finding a breaststroker, but picking between three solid options.

Other Day 2 Highlights:

Kate Douglass defended her world title in the 200 IM with a personal-best 2:07.05, slicing .04 seconds off her previous best (2:07.09) from the 2023 U.S. Trials. The 22-year-old American was slightly faster than her winning time from last year’s Worlds (2:07.17). Douglass remains the sixth-fastest 200 IMer of all time.
At 26 years old, Sydney Pickrem ripped a personal-best 2:08.56 en route to the silver medal in the 200 IM behind Douglass. Pickrem is the 2nd-fastest Canadian of all time in the event behind Summer McIntosh (2:06.89).
The Americans earned a pair of silver medals on Monday courtesy of Michael Andrew in the 50 fly (23.07) and Claire Curzan in the 100 fly (58.73). Andrew’s 22.94 from Sunday’s semifinals would have won gold over Portugal’s Diogo Ribeiro in the final (22.97).