McIntosh wins world championship 200m IM gold, fellow Canadian Harvey takes bronze
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CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Can Ilya Kharun steal the Canadian swimming spotlight?
Social Sharing Ilya Kharun can handle the circus. Born in Montreal to a pair of Ukrainian Cirque du Soleil performers and raised in Las Vegas, Kharun nearly became a gymnast himself, but wound up in the pool instead due to its lower cost of entry. The 20-year-old then emerged onto the Canadian swimming scene just a few years ago both loudly and without much fanfare. He first competed for Canada at the 2022 short-course world championships, where he set three national records and won two medals. His next podium appearances came two years later at the Paris Olympics, bagging bronze in both the 100- and 200-metre butterfly. Somewhat quietly, Kharun's first Olympic medal was also the first for a Canadian male in 12 years. Of course, Kharun's rise has been nearly parallel to that of Summer McIntosh, who has mostly stolen the Canadian swimming show. That's again the case at these World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where McIntosh is pursuing five individual gold medals — a feat matched only by American great Michael Phelps in 2007. Canadian swimmer Ilya Kharun confident he can improve times at swimming worlds in Singapore 26 days ago Elsewhere, Kharun has taken second billing in his own races to international superstars and Canadian contenders alike. Kharun, however, might be the favourite to bring the second-most hardware home to Canada from the world championships in Singapore. The butterfly specialist entered in three solo events for this meet: the 50, 100 and 200. His best shot at gold seemed to be the 50 after he lowered the Canadian record in the 50 by nearly half a second to 22.68 at June's national trials, matching the eighth-best mark ever. But the ever-volatile splash-and-dash race reared its ugly head in Singapore. Despite placing third in his Sunday semi and cracking 23 seconds, Kharun missed the final by one one-hundredth of a second. The result was significant on two fronts — Kharun just completed a sophomore season at Arizona State University in which the sprint event was his main focus under new head coach Herbie Behm, who replaced the legendary Bob Bowman when the latter moved to Texas. It was Bowman who originally recruited Kharun to the desert. Also, the 50 butterfly will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028. Kharun was back in the pool Tuesday for the 200 semis — a discipline that was traditionally his strongest, despite Behm's newly implemented strategy — and faced yet another scare when he sat fifth in at the 150-metre mark. But he turned it on over the final 50, placing second in his semi and fifth overall at one minute 54.43 seconds. The medal race goes Wednesday at 7:50 a.m. ET, with live coverage on and CBC Gem. And many eyes will be on Kharun. Olympic champion Leon Marchand, the French superstar who won four gold medals in Paris last summer, scaled back his program for worlds and dropped this event. Hungary's Kristof Milak, the silver medallist, is skipping worlds entirely. WATCH | McIntosh, Harvey go 1 and 3 in 200m IM at worlds in Singapore: McIntosh & Harvey go 1 & 3 in 200m IM, Masse & Ruck make 100m backstroke final | THE READY ROOM 1 day ago Kharun, meanwhile, set the Canadian record in the distance in that Olympic race at 1:52.80 — which would have represented the fastest mark in today's qualifying. In June, he took top spot at national trials in 1:53.41, a time that would have been good enough for second overall today. If it wasn't for his shaky start to worlds, Kharun would likely be the favourite for gold. Instead, his chief competition comes in the form of American Luca Urlando, a breakout star who went from not even reaching the semifinals in Paris to posting the fourth-fastest mark all-time at 1:52.37 — trailing just Phelps, Milak and Marchand — in April. Urlando set the pace in qualifying at 1:52.84, while Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski — who placed fourth in Paris — was second. Kharun said he was saving gas for the medal race. "I can definitely go a lot quicker. My plan … was just to make it into the final. I hadn't really pushed myself until that final 50. It was alright, I've just got to be quicker [Wednesday]," he said. After a day off on Thursday, Kharun will be back at it for the 100 semifinals on Friday, where he'll face Canadian competition in the form of Josh Liendo. The two shared the Paris podium with Liendo taking silver and Kharun earning bronze as Milak won gold. Liendo owns the Canadian record at 49.99 seconds from that Paris race, but Kharun clapped back by beating him in June with a personal-best 50.37 seconds in what is quickly becoming a friendly rivalry. "I've been chasing Josh every time we race during trials or in college at NCAAs," Kharun said. "It just makes it fun." And so the stage is set for the son of acrobats to contort himself into a main character in Singapore. On deck * Two-time world champion Kylie Masse narrowly missed out on the women's 100 backstroke podium, placing fourth behind the same three medallists, in the same order, from Paris as Australia's Kaylee McKeown won gold ahead of Americans Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff. Canadian Taylor Ruck, swimming in the lane next to Masse, placed seventh. Watch the full race here Masse will be back in the pool quickly for 50 backstroke heats tonight at 10:16 p.m. ET. The semis go tomorrow at 7:36 a.m. ET. Fellow Canadian Ingrid Wilm will also compete in that event. * Katie Ledecky re-asserted her dominance once more, blowing away the field for a victory in her signature 1,500 freestyle event. The American's 800-metre split was 8:09.95 — a mark that McIntosh has only beaten once in the 800 itself when she put down an 8:05.07 at trials. The Canadian's best mark previously? 8:09.96. Ledecky's next event is that 800 in one of the most anticipated showdowns of the entire meet against McIntosh, with the final set for Saturday at 8:17 a.m. ET. * McIntosh, meanwhile, has a busy schedule before she reacquaints herself with Ledecky. Assuming she gets through heats, the 18-year-old is back in the pool Wednesday at 8:11 a.m. ET for the 200 butterfly semifinals, with the medal race set for Thursday. Watch The Ready Room's preview of that race here. How to watch You can stream live action from the World Aquatics Championships on and CBC Gem, with additional weekend coverage on CBC TV. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules for details. can be found here.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Canada's Masse finishes fourth in 100m backstroke at world swimming championships
Regan Smith of the United States, top, Kylie Masse of Canada and Taylor Ruck of Canada compete in the women's 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) SINGAPORE — Kylie Masse found herself in a familiar, and frustrating, spot at the world aquatics championships. The Canadian swimming star finished fourth in the women's 100-metre backstroke final Tuesday, narrowly missing the podium in an event she's owned in the past. Masse, a five-time Olympic medallist from LaSalle, Ont., touched the wall in 58.42 seconds -- just 0.27 behind American Katharine Berkoff, who took bronze. Australia's Kaylee McKeown won gold in a championship-record 57.16, followed by American Regan Smith (57.35). It was the same 1-2-3 podium as the Paris Olympics last summer, where Masse also placed fourth. The two-time world champion said she entered the meet with fewer races under her belt than in previous seasons. 'I really can't complain and I have to keep things in perspective,' said the 29-year-old Canadian. 'To be fourth in the world and still be up there, competitive with the top and with those girls who I know are incredible swimmers, it's something that I'm really proud of.' Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., placed seventh in 59.59 seconds. Ilya Kharun put himself in position to reach the podium in the men's 200-metre butterfly. The 20-year-old from Montreal advanced to Wednesday's final with the fifth-fastest semifinal time, clocking of 1:54.43. Kharun won bronze in the event at the Paris Olympics with a Canadian-record time of 1:52.80. 'I can definitely go a lot quicker,' he said. 'My plan going into tonight was just to make it into the final. 'I hadn't really pushed myself until that final 50. It was all right, I've just got to be quicker (Wednesday).' He rebounded after narrowly missing the 50-mete butterfly final earlier in the meet, placing ninth -- just 0.01 seconds shy of qualifying. 'I was really mad at myself and just mad at everything,' Kharun said. 'But I just had to turn it around and think of it as more experience.' Canada has won four medals at the world aquatics championships, including two gold medals from 18-year-old Summer McIntosh. The Toronto swimmer will be back in action Wednesday in the women's 200-metre butterfly. She's won gold in the 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley so far, and is aiming for five individual titles at the eight-day meet. Legendary U.S. Olympian Michael Phelps is the only swimmer to have won five individual gold medals at a world championships. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.
Toronto Star
7 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Katie Ledecky remains unbeatable in the 1,500 freestyle taking the title again at the worlds
Katie Ledecky of the United States reacts as she leaves after competing in the women's 1500-meter freestyle heats at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Monday, July 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) AR flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
