Mary-Sophie Harvey (born 11 August 1999) is a Canadianswimmer who competes primarily infreestyle andindividual medley events. A three-timeWorld Aquatics medallist, seven-timeWorld Swimming Championships medallist, and three-timePan American Games champion, Harvey represented Canada at the2020 and2024 Summer Olympics.[1]
Harvey first appeared on the international junior swimming circuit, representing Canada at two editions of theFINA World Junior Swimming Championships, achieving her best results at the2015 edition inSingapore, where she won the silver medal in the 200 m freestyle and collected two medals as part of the Canadian girls' teams in the 4×100 and 4×200 m freestyle relays.[1] She competed at the Canadian swimming trials for the2016 Olympic team, but did not qualify. The following year she qualified for the2017 World Aquatics Championships, competing in thewomen's 200 metre freestyle event.[2][3] Shortly afterward in September 2017, Harvey was named inthe Canadian team for the2018 Commonwealth Games.[4][5] Her most notable feat at the Commonwealth Games was reaching the final of the400 m individual medley, where she finished eighth.[1]
In the midst of struggles witheating disorder and a lingering shoulder injury, Harvey was not chosen for the Canadian team for the2019 World Aquatics Championships, which prompted her to consider retiring from competitive swimming. She was assigned to the2019 Pan American Games inLima, which Harvey would later say "I thought I'd be happy about that but afterwards I still felt empty." A month before the Pan American Games, she attempted suicide, but after hospitalization and recovery was able to attend the event. She won four medals, three of them silver. Speaking years later, she credited this as a turning point in her life, explaining: "It was not like everything was great and everything was fixed but I could get excited about future teams."[6] In the autumn of 2019, Harvey was member of the inauguralInternational Swimming League swimming for the Energy Standard International Swim Club, who won the team title in Las Vegas, Nevada in December.[7] During the first stop of the tour in Indianapolis, USA, Harvey raced the most metres (1,400m) of any athlete. At the second stop in Naples, ITA she raced 1,200m which was equal furthest racing distance with 3 other athletes.[8] Across these two stops Harvey (2,600m) and team mate,Kregor Zirk (2,250m), had raced more than all other swimmers.[8]
In June 2021, Harvey qualified to represent Canada at the2020 Summer Olympics, which had been delayed a year because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[9] Harvey competed in the heats of the4×200 m freestyle relay, helping the team qualify to the final, where she was replaced byKayla Sanchez. The Canadian team finished fourth.[1]
Competing at the2022 World Aquatics Championships, Harvey qualified for her first ever individual World final, finishing eighth in the200 m individual medley. Of the result she said "I can't really be mad because it was my first final at the Worlds. It was a step in the right direction but not the time and placing I was aiming for."[10] Harvey competed in the heats of the4×200 m freestyle relay for the Canadian team, helping to the event final, where she was replaced bySummer McIntosh. She shared in the team's bronze medal win.[11][12] Harvey later reported that she had been drugged on the final night of the World Championships, and woke up with a rib sprain and a "small" concussion, as well as with numerous bruises. She said she had no memory of a period of approximately four to six hours that night.[13]
Later in the summer, Harvey joined hersecond Commonwealth Games team, for the2022 edition inBirmingham. She swam in the heats of themixed 4×100 m freestyle relay for the Canadian team, being replaced in the event final byMaggie Mac Neil, and shared in the team's bronze medal win.[14] On the second day of competition, Harvey finished sixth in both the heats and semi-finals of the100 m backstroke.[15] Harvey won a silver medal with the4×200 m freestyle relay team on the third day of competition.[16][17] She went on to place sixth in the 100 m backstroke final.[18]
WithPenny Oleksiak absent from the2023 World Aquatics Championships, Harvey was part of the Canadian4×100 metre freestyle relay team; the team finished seventh.[19] That same day she finished eleventh in the semi-finals of the200 m individual medley, missing the final, which she admitted was a disappointment.[20] In her other individual event, Harvey was nineteenth in the heats of the200 m freestyle.[21] She went on to appear in the finals of two other relay events, as part of Canadian teams that came fifth in the4×200 m freestyle relay and fourth in themixed 4×100 m freestyle relay.[22][23] She swam the freestyle segment of the4×100 m medley relay, being replaced by McIntosh in the final, sharing in the eventual bronze medal win, her second World Aquatics medal.[24] Later in the year, Harvey attended her second Pan American Games, competing at the2023 edition inSantiago. She won seven medals at the event, including three gold medals, her first of that colour at the senior level. Two gold medals came in relays, with an individual gold in the200 m freestyle, which she called "a long time coming."[25]
Harvey qualified for her secondCanadian Olympic team, for the2024 Summer Olympics inParis.[26] In her lone individual event, she qualified to the final of the200 m freestyle, finishing narrowly eighth among the semi-finalists for the last berth, 0.09 seconds of ninth-place AmericanErin Gemmell.[27] She went on to finish an unexpected fourth in the final, 0.79 seconds behind bronze medalistSiobhán Haughey of Hong Kong.[28] Harvey was also part of the Canadian women's relay teams, swimming in the final of the4×200 m freestyle relay and the heats of both the4×100 m freestyle and4×100 m medley events. The Canadian teams came fourth in all three, giving Harvey four fourth-place finishes in Paris. She commented that she was "leaving Paris with no medals around my neck but with a smile on my face and a luggage full of memories that I'll cherish for the rest of my life."[29] At the end of the year, Harvey competed at the2024 World Swimming Championships inBudapest. There she won a bronze medal in the400 m freestyle, and then a silver in the200 m freestyle, her first individual medals from a majorWorld Aquatics championship. She also claimed another silver and two bronze medals in relay events. At the conclusion of the championship, World Aquatics named her its Female Breakout Athlete of the Year.[30]
At the2025 World Aquatics Championships inSingapore, Harvey won the bronze medal in the200 m individual medley. She finished 0.06 seconds ahead of 12-year-old Chinese prodigyYu Zidi, who came fourth. This was Harvey's first individual medal at the World Aquatics Championships. Canadian teammateSummer McIntosh won gold in the same event, and invited Harvey atop the podium for the performance of "O Canada" at the award ceremony, remarking afterwards that "the highlight for me tonight was Mary getting on the podium. That's absolutely incredible, and she's worked so hard for this."[31]
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