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Oliver Dawson competes at 2026 Speedo Canadian Swimming Open in Edmonton on April 10, 2026. (Image Credit: Swimming Canada Facebook/Matthew James/Michael P. Hall)
By Erika Rolling
Swimming

Dawson breaks multiple records at 2026 Canadian Swimming Open

Apr 14, 2026 | 1:41 PM

The Grande Prairie Piranhas are beaming with pride after club member Oliver Dawson dominated the competition at the 2026 Speedo Canadian Swimming Open in Edmonton on April 9-11, 2026.

Dawson completed a breaststroke sweep at the pool, while winning gold and setting new provincial and Canadian records.

In the 50m breaststroke event, the 18-year-old swam a time of 27.46 seconds, setting new marks for the Canadian Swimming Open record, Canadian Age Group record, and Alberta Provincial Senior record. His time was just 0.01 seconds off Scott Dickens’s 2009 Canadian record.

In the 100m breaststroke event, Dawson broke a meet record with a time of 1:00.20. He had already lowered the record to 1:00.42 in the morning preliminaries. The time from the final is also the new record for the Alberta Provincial Senior category.

In the 200m breaststroke, Dawson’s personal best of 2:09.52 was the fastest clocking in the final, after he had gone 2:12.82 in his morning heat. He is now the second-fastest Canadian all-time in the event, behind Olympian Mike Brown, whose 2:08.84 was good for fourth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Dawson has already been named to the Canadian Commonwealth Games team and is hoping to qualify for the Pan Pacific Championships at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Montreal this July.

Grande Prairie's Oliver Dawson (middle) wears one of his gold medals after competing in the 2026 Speedo Canadian Swimming Open in Edmonton on April 10, 2026.
Grande Prairie’s Oliver Dawson (middle) wears one of his gold medals after competing in the 2026 Speedo Canadian Swimming Open in Edmonton on April 10, 2026. (Image Credit: Swimming Canada Facebook/Matthew James/Michael P. Hall)
by Erika Rolling