By Jim Morris

Mary-Sophie Harvey flexed her muscles in Rome while Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil tried something a little different in Vancouver.

Harvey and Mac Neil were among several Olympic team members competing in tuneup meets 9,000 kilometres apart Friday.

Harvey, who trains with Montreal’s CAMO club, was second in the women’s 200-metre freestyle at the Sette Colli Trophy meet being held at Rome’s Foro Italico Stadium.

The 24-year-old from Trois-Rivieres, Que., finished in 1:56.38 seconds.  Siobban Haughey of Hong Kong won in 1:55.35 while Great Britian’s Freya Colbert was third in 1:56.58.

Mac Neil, competing at the Mel Zajac Jr. International Swim Meet at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre, won the 50-metre butterfly, breaking the meet record twice, then helped the Canada A 4×100-metre freestyle relay swim to a victory.

“It’s just kind of seeing where I am,” said the London, Ont., native who won the final in 26.44 seconds. “The 50 fly is not my favourite event, it’s still something I’m learning.

“I hadn’t heard about the relays until this morning.”

Mac Neil, who trains at Louisiana State University, joined fellow Olympians Taylor Ruck, Emma O’Croinin and Ella Jansen to win the 4×100 relay in 3:40.51.

“It was fun just getting up and racing,” said Mac Neil, who spent more than 24 hours flying from Baton Rouge to Vancouver because of flight delays. “I haven’t done a relay takeover since Pan Ams in October. I don’t think I was too great today but I’m working on making sure it’s right.”

Ilya Kharun, an Olympic team member who was born in Montreal but grew up in Nevada, also broke the meet record twice in winning the 50-fly in 23.58 seconds.

Harvey qualified for the Paris Olympics by finishing second in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.44 at the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Trials presented by Bell in Toronto. She was pleased with her time in Rome.

“It’s my second-best time this year,” she told media at the event. “We are on a very hard training because this was just a step before heading to the Olympics.”

The Sette Colli Trophy meet has attracted nearly 1,000 swimmers from 51 countries.

On Saturday both Harvey and Penny Oleksiak will compete in the 100-m freestyle in hopes of swimming an Olympic qualifying time.

Oleksiak, of Toronto, won the 100-m at the Toronto trials in 53.66 seconds while Harvey was second in 53.71. Both were over the Olympic A standard of 53.61.

The Zajac International has drawn more than 750 swimmers from around the world.

Canadians on the Olympic team are using the meet for training and preparation for Paris.

O’Croinin, an Edmonton  native who trains at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver, won the women’s 200-metre freestyle in 2:00.12.

“It’s an extra chance to practise racing,” she said. “It’s a good chance to see where we are at.

“We’re practising different race strategies and testing out different things.”

Alex Axon, of Newmarket, Ont., was satisfied with his second-place finish in the men’s 200-m freestyle. He touched the wall in 1:51.00 behind Christian Sztolcman of  Wolfpack Elite-NC.

“No complaints,” said Axon, who trained with the Markham Aquatic Club before moving to Ohio State University. “I’m just using it as a base point to see some things we can touch on in practice going into Paris.”

Results for the Zajac International can be found at:  https://results.swimzajac.com/.

Results for the Sette Colli Trophy can be found at : https://www.federnuoto.it/settecolli-2024.html.

In other races in Vancouver, Jansen of Burlington, Ont., who trains at the High Performance Centre – Ontario, won the women’s 400-metre individual medley in 4:41.48. She was second in the event at the Olympics trials finishing in 4:38.88. Summer McIntosh won that race in a world record time of 4:24.38.

“This is just a good practice opportunity,” said Jansen. “It’s working on strategies. The 400 IM is a very strategic race. I like working on those weaknesses that I have then hopefully perfecting them for my race.”

Lorne Wigginton of the High Performance Centre – Ontario won the men’s 400 IM in 4:19.95. He had qualified for the Olympics as a relay swimmer.

The team of Olympian Finlay Knox, joined by Filip Senc-Samardzic plus Olympic team members Josh Liendo and Javier Acevedo won the men’s 4×100-m freestyle relay in 3:15.28.

Mac Neil returns to the water Saturday to race the 100-m butterfly, the event she won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She wants to become the first woman to ever repeat as Olympic champion in the event.

“The goal is to put in a time that is faster than what I went at trials,” said Mac Neil, who swam 56.54 seconds in Toronto. “I know I’m capable of more.

“It’s about attacking the first 50, not being afraid, and seeing what happens on the second 50.”