Nikoli Blackman cops two gold medals at Canadian Swimming trials

Ace Trinidad and Tobago swimmer Nikoli Blackman sped to a pair of gold medals at the 2025 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials at the Victoria Saanich Commonwealth Place in British Columbia, Canada earlier this week.

On June 9, Blackman claimed gold in the men's "B" final of the 50-metre freestyle event in 22.54 seconds, just edging Ali Sayed (22.57) into second spot. Chris Weekes (22.78) and Paul Dardis (23.04) finished third and fourth respectively.

Blackman's time would have been good enough for fifth place in the "A" final which was won by Canadian record holder Joshua Liendo in 21.88 – well outside of his record pace of 21.48 which was set last May. Ilya Kharun (22.06) and Ruslan Gaziev (22.23) placed second and third respectively in the 50m freestyle "A" final.

The 19-year-old Blackman wasn't done there as he returned to the pool on June 10 to snatch gold in the 100m freestyle "B" final. Swimming out of lane four, Blackman stormed out to a significant lead by the halfway mark before hitting the wall first in 48.66. Aiden Norman finished more than a second slower than Blackman in a distant second in 49.92, with Dardis third in 50.45.

Blackman's time would have earned him fourth spot in the "A" final which was won by Gaziev in 48.37. Gaziev made up for his third-place finish in the 50m final and just edged Antoine Sauve (48.42) to second. Liendo was third in 48.62.

Blackman's 48.66 clocking was outside of the 100m free "A" standard of 48.34 for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.