Quick answer
The 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials used Swimming Canada's 2026-2028 standards, long course only. A Senior woman needed 26.30 in the 50 Free and a Senior man 23.27. The Junior cuts, for swimmers born 2008 to 2013, were 26.88 and 24.34. Times counted from September 1, 2024. The full Senior, Junior and U SPORTS tables are below.
Trials is the meet every Canadian age group swimmer eventually looks at. It is also where many families first see Swimming Canada's national standards sheet and wonder which column applies to their kid.
This page puts the whole sheet in plain tables: Senior and Junior (long course metres), plus the U SPORTS short course route. It also explains who counts as Junior and which swims were eligible. Every number comes from Swimming Canada's official documents, linked at the bottom. For what happened in Montreal (winners, records and the teams picked), read 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials results.
See every 2026 Trials result in Gophin. All times, heats, finals and time trials from Montreal are in Gophin, next to each swimmer's history: open the 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials. If you are not signed in, Gophin asks you to sign in (free) and takes you straight to the meet.
2026 Trials at a glance
| Meet | 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials |
| Dates | July 5 to 9, 2026 |
| Venue | Montreal Olympic Pool (10-lane 50 m pool) |
| Course | Long course metres (LCM) |
| Selected | Canadian teams for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, Junior Pan Pacific Championships and Para Pan Pacific Championships |
| Standards | Swimming Canada 2026-2028 standards |
| Qualifying window | Long course swims since September 1, 2024 |
| Entry deadline | June 15, 2026 |
| Junior age group | Born 2008 to 2013 |
| Bonus swims | None |
Source: 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials meet information package (PDF).
Women: 2026 Trials standards
| Event | Senior (LCM) | Junior (LCM) | U SPORTS (SCM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 Free | 26.30 | 26.88 | 25.50 |
| 100 Free | 56.79 | 58.30 | 55.19 |
| 200 Free | 2:03.73 | 2:06.68 | 2:00.39 |
| 400 Free | 4:22.57 | 4:26.87 | 4:16.17 |
| 800 Free | 9:06.54 | 9:14.67 | 8:53.74 |
| 1500 Free | 17:41.18 | 17:48.37 | n/a |
| 50 Back | 30.16 | 30.58 | 28.96 |
| 100 Back | 1:03.80 | 1:05.39 | 1:01.40 |
| 200 Back | 2:19.21 | 2:21.82 | 2:14.41 |
| 50 Breast | 33.48 | 33.95 | 32.48 |
| 100 Breast | 1:12.46 | 1:14.37 | 1:10.46 |
| 200 Breast | 2:37.81 | 2:41.47 | 2:33.74 |
| 50 Fly | 28.13 | 28.68 | 27.43 |
| 100 Fly | 1:02.26 | 1:03.43 | 1:00.54 |
| 200 Fly | 2:19.43 | 2:21.61 | 2:16.63 |
| 200 IM | 2:19.92 | 2:23.27 | 2:16.72 |
| 400 IM | 5:00.92 | 5:05.36 | 4:54.23 |
Source: Swimming Canada 2026-2028 standards (female Trials standards updated September 24, 2025).
Men: 2026 Trials standards
| Event | Senior (LCM) | Junior (LCM) | U SPORTS (SCM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 Free | 23.27 | 24.34 | 22.59 |
| 100 Free | 51.09 | 53.09 | 49.60 |
| 200 Free | 1:53.00 | 1:56.47 | 1:49.71 |
| 400 Free | 4:01.69 | 4:08.73 | 3:54.65 |
| 800 Free | 8:26.89 | 8:39.36 | n/a |
| 1500 Free | 16:18.02 | 16:31.79 | 15:49.53 |
| 50 Back | 27.22 | 27.88 | 26.43 |
| 100 Back | 57.91 | 59.80 | 56.22 |
| 200 Back | 2:07.75 | 2:11.31 | 2:04.03 |
| 50 Breast | 29.38 | 30.36 | 28.52 |
| 100 Breast | 1:04.42 | 1:06.86 | 1:02.54 |
| 200 Breast | 2:22.10 | 2:26.22 | 2:17.96 |
| 50 Fly | 25.19 | 26.05 | 24.46 |
| 100 Fly | 55.28 | 57.29 | 53.67 |
| 200 Fly | 2:06.39 | 2:09.70 | 2:02.71 |
| 200 IM | 2:07.63 | 2:12.20 | 2:03.91 |
| 400 IM | 4:36.96 | 4:44.47 | 4:28.89 |
Source: Swimming Canada 2026-2028 standards (male Trials standards updated September 8, 2025).
"n/a" means the sheet has no U SPORTS standard for that event (the women's 1500 and the men's 800).
Which column applies to your swimmer
Senior is the open cut. Any eligible swimmer can enter with it, whatever their age.
Junior is a slower cut for younger swimmers. For 2026, it covered swimmers born 2008 to 2013, meaning 13 to 18 on December 31, 2026. That is the same age range used to select the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific team. Swimming Canada sets the Junior birth years each year in the meet package, so check the next package before you count on it.
U SPORTS (SCM) is a short course route for university swimmers. It can only be earned at the U SPORTS Championships. SCM entry times are seeded after all the LCM times. For everyone else, only long course swims count.
Age is the swimmer's age on December 31 of the Trials year, not on race day.
Only long course counts (for almost everyone)
This is the part that trips up Canadian families. Most of the fall and winter season is swum in 25 m pools, but Trials entries need an LCM time, except for the U SPORTS route. A fast SCM swim in December does not get your swimmer in, even if it "converts" under the cut.
A conversion is still useful to know how close your swimmer is before the long course season. Use it as an estimate, never as an entry time:
Free tool
Convert a swim time between pools
Same conversion factors the Gophin app uses. Conversions are estimates: turns and underwater skill change the real gap for each swimmer.
How close is your swimmer?
Reading two columns across seventeen events takes a while. In Gophin you open Comparisons â Standards and pick the Swimming Canada set. Your swimmer's best official times appear next to each Trials cut with the gap in seconds, so you can see which events are realistic this long course season. It is free.
Sign in free and open Comparisons â Standards
Rules that decided a 2026 entry
- Window: long course swims from September 1, 2024 counted. That is almost two full seasons, not just the current one.
- Deadline: June 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Swimmers who got their first cut between June 15 and July 4, 2026 could still be added for the base fee.
- No bonus swims: a swimmer entered only the events they had a standard for.
- Foreign swimmers could enter but could not advance to the Junior or A finals in Olympic program events.
Is there a separate Trials AG cut?
The current 2026-2028 sheet has three Trials columns: Senior, Junior and U SPORTS SCM. It has no separate age group Trials column. Younger swimmers use the Junior cut, within the birth years set in the meet package.
The same sheet also has Canadian Open standards in SCM and LCM. They are a different meet, so we left them out of the tables above.
What changes next
The standards are labelled 2026-2028. Swimming Canada says it reviews them every August and changes them only if needed, to keep the meets at the right size. The January 2026 update changed open water standards only. The pool cuts above did not change.
For the next Trials, three things will be in the new meet information package: the dates, the qualifying window and the Junior birth years. Check the Swimming Canada time standards page when it comes out.
For the provincial and age group standards on the way to Trials, see our Swimming Canada standards guide.
Using the table well
- Born 2008 to 2013? Compare to the Junior column first. It is the realistic first Trials cut for most teenagers.
- Only fast in SCM? Plan the long course meets with the coach. The LCM swim is what counts.
- Close in one event? Trials has no bonus swims, so one strong event is the whole entry. Focus there.
- Far off? Use the provincial standards as the next step. Trials is a multi-year goal for most swimmers.
Sign in and see your swimmer's gap to each Trials cut
Sources
- Swimming Canada. 2026-2028 Swimming Canada standards (PDF, September 24, 2025). Trials Senior, Junior and U SPORTS SCM standards.
- Swimming Canada. 2026-2028 Swimming Canada standards (PDF, January 29, 2026 update). Same pool standards; the update changed open water only.
- Swimming Canada. 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials meet information package (PDF). Dates, venue, teams selected, Junior birth years, qualifying window, entry deadline and bonus rule.
- Swimming Canada. Time standards and preliminary competition information. Where updated standards are posted.
