Games-Canada, Brazil ready to take on US giants in swimming

July 8 (Reuters) - The United States have dominated swimming at every Pan American Games, but hosts Canada hope to steal some of that thunder while Brazil will be keen to shine ahead of next year's Rio Olympics. The American team will be without several of its biggest names, notably Michael Phelps, but will still send a formidable team to Toronto for the July 10-26 Pan Am Games. No nation can match the depth of the United States, who won 46 of 102 swimming medals at the 2011 Pan Ams, but the Americans will certainly not have the pool to themselves. Leading the way for Canada will be Ryan Cochrane, a two-time Olympic medallist in the lung-busting 1,500 metres. Cochrane is ranked ninth in the world in the 1,500m and a gold medal is far from assured given the presence of Brazilian teen Brandonn Almeida, who recently set a national record. On the women's front, Jamaica's Alia Atkinson will be one to watch. Last December she became the first black woman and the first Jamaican to win a world swim title - the 100 breaststroke at the world short course championships, where she tied the world record. At 26, she already is a three-time Olympian, with a best finish of fourth in the 100 breaststroke at the 2012 London Games. She is ranked fifth in the world and is likely to have a close battle with American Katie Meili, who is ranked fourth. Meili is part of an American team that includes triple Olympic champions Natalie Coughlin and Allison Schmitt. Coughlin, 32, will swim the 50m and 100m freestyle. Schmitt will swim the 200m freestyle. Brazil, meanwhile, will offer some clues about what to expect next year in Rio. While 50m freestyle and butterfly world champion Cesar Cielo will skip Toronto to focus on the worlds in August, Brazil are not short of rising talent. Apart from distance swimmer Almeida, another youngster to watch will be 100m freestyle junior world record holder Matheus Santana, who has already broken 49 seconds this year. Nobody from the Pan American region has swum faster in 2015 than the 19-year-old. Brazilian veteran Thiago Pereira will attempt to add to his Pan Am haul of 12 gold medals, a Brazilian record, after winning six each in 2007 and 2011. The 29-year-old will be a busy man, contesting eight events over five days. He needs four more medals to match the Games record of 22 by Cuban gymnast Eric Lopez. "I know it will be a lot of races. I've done that in 2007 and 2011. It's not that easy," Pereira said recently. "If I put my name up there, I represent the whole country. That's what motivates us to keep going." (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)