Who is Javier Acevedo? Canadian swimmer wins second title of the week with national record

The 2023 Canadian swimming trials are underway, having begun on March 28th, culminating on April 2nd. There have been several intense competitive battles among the swimmers. The 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials are being held at the Toronto Pam Am Sports Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

One name that caught the attention of the swimming community was Javier Acevedo. On day two of the 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials, Javier Acevedo broke the Canadian record in the men's 50 meter backstroke. He clocked a time of 24.90. This shaved off 0.07 seconds off his former national record, which was 24.97 set in 2022.

Who is Javier Acevedo?

Acevedo is a Canadian swimmer. He was born in Ontario, Canada. So far, he has represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He was also the youngest male swimmer to represent Team Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

He first represented Canada at the 2015 World Championships. At the 2022 World Championships (Long Course) in Budapest, Javier Acevedo won the silver medal in the 4x100-meter mixed freestyle event. Following that, he competed in the 2022 World Championships (Short Course) in Melbourne. The Canadian swimmer claimed the silver medal in the 100 meter medley.

He also won a bronze medal in the 4x50-meter mixed medley event. 2022 was one of the best years of Javier's career. The Canadian swimmer also competed in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he claimed a silver medal in the 4x100-meter mixed medley and three bronze medals in the 4x100-meter mixed freestyle, 4x100-meter freestyle and 50 meter backstroke events.

Javier Acevedo won a total of seven medals in international competitions in 2022. He is one of the swimmers to watch out for in 2023.

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Javier Acevedo wins 50 meter backstroke and 100 meter backstroke

The finals for the men's 50 meter backstroke was held on 29th March. Acevedo clocked a time of 25.64 in the prelims of the men's 50 meter backstroke event. Competing in the finals, he clocked a time of 24.90 in the finals, thus winning the national title in the 50 meter backstroke event.

On day one of the competition, he clocked a time of 54.85 in the prelims of the 100 meter backstroke event. He put on a better performance in the finals than the one he swam in the prelims. In the finals of the 100 meter backstroke event, he emerged victorious with a time of 53.83. This has also earned him a spot on this year's World Championships team as per Swimswam.

Javier's performances for Canada will be crucial this year as Markus Thormeyer and Cole Pratt were the two key swimmers for Canada in backstrokes from 2019 to 2021 and are currently indisposed. They represented Canada at the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Olympics.

Last year, Markus Thormeyer was hit with a one-year doping ban and hasn't competed since then, according to Swimswam. Cole Pratt suffered an injury in 2021 and was out of competitive swimming for an extended period as per the aforementioned source. He is competing in the Trials but hasn't returned to his best form yet.

Hence, Javier Acevedo's performances in the upcoming international competitions will be extremely important for Canada.