The Paris 2024 Olympics will be Josh Liendo’s shot at redemption, marking his return to the Games after his Tokyo 2020 debut. This year, Liendo has been named one of Canada’s Olympic swimming team captains alongside Kylie Masse, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Jeremy Bagshaw. Here is what you need to know:
Hometown: Toronto
Sport: Swimming
Background: Liendo first joined Team Canada at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, competing in four individual events. He was a finalist with the men’s and mixed 4 x 100-metre medley relays. Earlier in the year, Liendo won bronze in men’s 4 x 100-metre medley relay at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships and was a finalist in the 100-metre butterfly and 50-metre freestyle events.
At the Canadian Trials in 2019, Liendo won silver in the 100-metre butterfly, breaking a national record in the 15-17 age group. This qualified him for his first senior national team competing at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, where he was within the top 10 finish with the men’s 4 x 100-metre medley relay.
Soon after, Liendo competed in the 2019 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships where he won silver in the 100-metre freestyle, breaking his Canadian age group record. He also earned bronze medals with both the men’s and mixed 4 x 100-metre medley relays.
In 2021, on the opening day of the Canadian Olympic trials, Liendo broke the national record in the men’s 100-metre butterfly. Later that evening, he won gold, earning him a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He then won gold in the 100-metre freestyle and silver in the 50-metre freestyle.
At Tokyo 2020, Liendo placed seventh in the men’s 4 x 100-metre medley relay and was a semifinalist in both the men’s 100-metre freestyle relay and the 100-metre butterfly. He swam the second leg of the men’s 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay, placing fourth, just missing the podium by 0.6 seconds.
Liendo earned gold in the 100-metre butterfly and bronze in the 50-metre freestyle at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also won bronze with the men’s 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay and the mixed 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay.
At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Liendo won bronze in the men’s 100-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly and silver in the mixed 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay. In 2023, he won silver in the men’s 100-metre butterfly where he broke a Canadian record with a time of 50.34 seconds.
Liendo currently competes for the University of Florida Gators. This year, he won the finals for the 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly in the NCAA Championships.
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Career highlights: In 2019, Liendo was named the Male Junior Swimmer of the Year by Swimming Canada.
Josh Liendo is the first Black Canadian swimmer to win gold and an individual medal at any major international championship. He was a part of Canada’s victory in the mixed 4 x 50-metre freestyle relay and winning bronze in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events at the 2021 World Swimming Championships.
Where it all started: Liendo has been swimming since the age of three for water safety. By the time he was 10, Liendo was swimming competitively.
Fun fact: Outside of swimming, Liendo enjoys music and plays three instruments; guitar, cello, and bass.
Olympic event dates: Men’s 4 x 100-metre freestyle relay (July 27), men’s 100-metre freestyle (July 30), men’s 50-metre freestyle (Aug. 1) and men’s 100-metre butterfly (Aug. 2).
Social media: Instagram
We’ll be profiling more athletes ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics; refer here for more coverage.
