Javier Carlos Acevedo (born 28 January 1998) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. He competes primarily in the backstroke events. Acevedo won two bronze medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships as part of both the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay and the 4×100 m mixed medley relay. He has also won a gold medal at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in the 4×100 m mixed freestyle relay and a silver in the 50 m backstroke. Acevado was a former Junior world record holder in the 100 m backstroke event.

Javier Acevedo
Acevedo in 2018
Personal information
Full nameJavier Carlos Acevedo
National team Canada
Born (1998-01-28) 28 January 1998 (age 26)[1]
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight78.1 kg (172 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke
College teamUniversity of Georgia
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Canada
World Championships (LC)
Silver medal – second place 2022 Budapest 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Budapest 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Budapest 4×100 m mixed medley
World Championships (SC)
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m mixed medley
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed medley
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham 50 m backstroke
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2019 Lima 4×100 m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m mixed medley
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 4×200 m freestyle
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Singapore 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2015 Singapore 50 m backstroke

Career

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The 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships were Acevedo's first opportunity to compete for the national team on a world stage. At the junior championships he won the silver medal in the 50 m metre backstroke, while setting a personal best. This was his first individual international medal, Acevedo said that "I touched the wall properly which helped get the silver in a very tight race. It was very important because I know that I will have more out speed the next time I do it. I made sure I was mentally prepared before the race. I was confident."[2] As part of Canada's mixed 4×100 m relay team at the junior worlds, he was the gold medal winner and world junior champ. He swam in that final together with Markus Thormeyer, Penny Oleksiak, and Taylor Ruck.

He set the Junior world record in the 100 m backstroke on his way to qualifying for the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Canadian Olympic Trials.[3] In 2016, he was named to Canada's Olympic team for the 2016 Summer Olympics where he swam to a 17th place finish in the 100 m backstroke, failing to qualify for the semi-finals.[4] He was the youngest male swimmer on Canada's Olympic team at these games, competing at the age of 18.[5]

Acevedo was next named to Canada's 2017 World Aquatics Championships team in Budapest, Hungary.[6][7] He made it through to the semi-finals but finished with the 14th best time and out of the finals. On the same day he would compete in the 4×100 m mixed freestyle relay helping the team to a bronze. In regard to racing twice in the same night and still performing well enough to medal, Acevedo said that "It was pretty difficult, but I've done a lot of work in my training to be able to do that kind of stuff...I just had to work hard and get through it."[8] Acevedo also competed in the 50 m backstroke, but once again failed to qualify for the finals finishing 16th in the semi-finals.

In June 2021, Acevedo was named to his second Canadian Olympic team.[9][10][11] He competed in the Olympic debut of the mixed medley relay, but the Canadian team finished thirteenth in the heats and did not advance to the final.[12]

At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Acevedo was part of the Canadian team for the 4×100 m mixed freestyle relay, winning the silver medal. He was the lone member of the Canadian team to participate in both the heats and the event final. He did not advance out of the heats of either the 50 or 100 m backstroke.[13]

Named to Canada's team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Acevedo began the first day of the championships by winning the bronze medal in the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay.[14] The following day he won a bronze with the men's team in the 4×100 m freestyle. This was the first men's relay medal for Canada at a major event since the 2015 Pan American Games, and the first at the Commonwealth Games since 2006. Acevedo said on the occasion "this team is so strong and it gives us hope we can improve in the future."[15] He went on to win an individual bronze medal in the 50 m backstroke in 24.97 seconds, lowering his own Canadian record from five years earlier.[16] Acevedo swam the backstroke segment for Canada in the heats of the 4×100 m mixed medley. He was replaced by Kylie Masse in the final, but received a silver medal after the team finished second there.[17][18]

Personal bests

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As of 11 October 2024
Long course
Event Time Meet Date Note(s)
100 m freestyle 48.50 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials 31 March 2023
50 m backstroke 24.90 2023 Canadian Trials 29 March 2023 NR
100 m backstroke 53.55 2024 Canadian Swimming Trials 14 May 2024
200 m backstroke 1:58.36 2018 Pan Pacific Championships 12 August 2018
Short course
Event Time Meet Date Note(s)
50 m freestyle 21.85 Age Group International SC 11 November 2023
100 m backstroke 49.71 FINA World Cup 2022 No 3 5 November 2022

References

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  1. ^ "COC Profile". Canadian Olympic Committee. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Ajax's Javier Acevedo wins swimming silver at junior worlds". DurhamRegion.com. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  3. ^ Bowmile, Mitch (6 April 2016). "Javier Acevedo Smashes 100m Backstroke Junior World Record". www.swimswam.com/. Swim Swam Partners, LLC. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Olympic Team Nominated for Rio 2016". Swimming Canada. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Javier's Bio". Swimming Canada. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  6. ^ Sutherland, James (9 April 2017). "Canada To Send 26 Pool, 6 Open Water Swimmers To World Championships". www.swimswam.com. Swim Swam. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Sydney Pickrem Sets Canadian Record, Team Canada Named on Exciting Final Night at Trials". www.swimming.ca/. Swimming Canada. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Canadian mixed relay team swims to bronze at aquatics worlds". CBC Sports. 29 July 2017.
  9. ^ "26 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic swimming team". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Canada's Tokyo 2020 Swimming Team Announced". www.swimming.ca/. Swimming Canada. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  11. ^ Nichols, Paula (24 June 2021). "Team Canada to have 26 swimmers at Tokyo 2020". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  12. ^ Spencer, Donna (29 July 2021). "Canada short of Olympic relay podium in the pool". Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Two more medals make for Canada's best ever Worlds". Swimming Canada. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Summer McIntosh wins gold, Canada adds relay bronze to open Commonwealth Games". Swimming Canada. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Maggie Mac Neil and Nicolas-Guy Turbide win thrilling races on four-medal night". Swimming Canada. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Summer McIntosh triumphs again to highlight four-medal day for Canada". Swimming Canada. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  17. ^ Rieder, David (2 August 2022). "Emma McKeon Anchors Australian Mixed Medley Relay to Gold; Record-Setting 19 Commonwealth Medals". Swimming World. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Joshua Liendo golden to lead three-medal night". Swimming Canada. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
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