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Canada News.Net
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Canada News.Net
Summer McIntosh narrowly misses 200 fly WR at worlds
(Photo credit: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang) Canada's Summer McIntosh dominated the 200-meter butterfly on Thursday to claim her third gold medal in as many races at the world championships in Singapore. The 18-year-old's winning time of 2:01.99 was just shy of the world record of 2:01.81 set by China's Liu Zige in 2009, which stands as the oldest world record in women's swimming. As it stands, McIntosh set the second-fastest time in history and broke her personal best of 2:02.21 at last month's Canadian trials. It's her third straight worlds gold in the 200 fly, in which she also won gold at last year's Olympics. On Thursday, McIntosh easily outpaced American rival Regan Smith, who was never a threat despite taking silver with a time of 2:04.99. Smith's final split of 32.19 helped her move past Australia's Elizabeth Dekkers, who won bronze in 2:06.12. While McIntosh now owns three of the top four times in history, she admitted falling 0.18 short of the world record was disappointing. 'Going into tonight, my coach and I, our big goal was to break that world record,' McIntosh said, per Swimming World magazine. 'It's what I've been training for. To see that I missed it by that little, and I know that I messed up the last 15 meters of my race. 'Overall, happy with the time and a (personal best), but I didn't reach my goal tonight. Happy with the gold, happy with the win, just going to keep pushing forward.' McIntosh added the 200 freestyle to golds in the 400 freestyle and the 200 individual medley earlier in the meet as she attempts to equal American Michael Phelps' record of five individual golds in a single worlds. Next up is a highly anticipated showdown against six-time world champion Katie Ledecky in the 800 freestyle, where the finals are scheduled for Saturday. If she can claim gold in the 800, Phelps' record will be very much in reach. McIntosh's final race of the meet is Sunday's 400 IM, an event she has never lost during her international career and set the world record in yet again last month. On the men's side, French star Leon Marchand won gold in the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.68, coming just short of beating his own world record set the previous day. American Shaine Casas claimed silver with a personal best of 1:54.30.


The Sun
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Marchand returns to world stage after Olympic heroics
LEON MARCHAND will be swimming a reduced programme but the home hero of last year's Paris Olympics still intends to make a splash at the world championships starting in Singapore on Sunday. A year on from those Games, Europe's standout swimmer has dropped two of his four Olympic gold medal events to focus on the 200 and 400 metres individual medley (IM) with some possible relay action. With the next Los Angeles Games still three years away, the 23-year-old can take the luxury of racing the 200m without restraint. Having no races immediately before or after on the same day, the Frenchman can push to the limit and that could mean fireworks. As the swimmer's France-based coach Nicolas Castel observed this week, Marchand wanted to 'see what he was capable of'. The world already has a good idea of that: Last November Marchand broke the 200 IM short-course world record at a meet in Singapore and he can become a three-times world champion in the 200 and 400 IM after golds in both in 2022 and 2023. The 200 IM long course world record of 1:54.00 was set by American Ryan Lochte at the 2011 championships in Shanghai and Marchand clocked 1:54.06 in Paris. The Frenchman has held the 400 IM world record of 4:02.50 since the 2023 Fukuoka worlds in Japan and can become the first man to hold both at the same time since U.S. great Michael Phelps. Olympic champions David Popovici (200m freestyle) of Romania, Ireland's Daniel Wiffen (800m freestyle), Germany's Lukas Maertens (400m freestyle) and Italian Thomas Ceccon (100m backstroke) will also be chasing more gold. Wiffen, reigning world champion in the 800 and 1,500 freestyle, has said he wants Zhang Lin's 800m world record of 7:32.12 that was set in the era of now-banned super-suits in Rome in 2009 and is considered by many to be out of reach now. 'I think that this world record is definitely the hardest to break but I believe that all world records will be broken and I'm willing to push myself to that limit to get it,' Wiffen told Swimming World this month. Maertens, 23, has already done something similar -- last April in Stockholm smashing compatriot Paul Biedermann's 400m world record from 2009 with a time of 3:39.96. Ceccon is the world record holder in 100m backstroke. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, the most successful swimmer in world championship history with 23 medals and another European star of Paris with gold in the 50 and 100m freestyle, will be absent from the championships as she is expecting her first child in August - REUTERS


The Star
25-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Swimming-Marchand returns to world stage after Olympic heroics
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Swimming - Men's 200m Individual Medley Final - Paris La Defense Arena, Nanterre, France - August 02, 2024. Leon Marchand of France in action REUTERS/Marko Djurica/ File Photo (Reuters) -Leon Marchand will be swimming a reduced programme but the home hero of last year's Paris Olympics still intends to make a splash at the world championships starting in Singapore on Sunday. A year on from those Games, Europe's standout swimmer has dropped two of his four Olympic gold medal events to focus on the 200 and 400 metres individual medley (IM) with some possible relay action. With the next Los Angeles Games still three years away, the 23-year-old can take the luxury of racing the 200m without restraint. Having no races immediately before or after on the same day, the Frenchman can push to the limit and that could mean fireworks. As the swimmer's France-based coach Nicolas Castel observed this week, Marchand wanted to "see what he was capable of". The world already has a good idea of that: Last November Marchand broke the 200 IM short-course world record at a meet in Singapore and he can become a three-times world champion in the 200 and 400 IM after golds in both in 2022 and 2023. The 200 IM long course world record of 1:54.00 was set by American Ryan Lochte at the 2011 championships in Shanghai and Marchand clocked 1:54.06 in Paris. The Frenchman has held the 400 IM world record of 4:02.50 since the 2023 Fukuoka worlds in Japan and can become the first man to hold both at the same time since U.S. great Michael Phelps. Olympic champions David Popovici (200m freestyle) of Romania, Ireland's Daniel Wiffen (800m freestyle), Germany's Lukas Maertens (400m freestyle) and Italian Thomas Ceccon (100m backstroke) will also be chasing more gold. Wiffen, reigning world champion in the 800 and 1,500 freestyle, has said he wants Zhang Lin's 800m world record of 7:32.12 that was set in the era of now-banned super-suits in Rome in 2009 and is considered by many to be out of reach now. "I think that this world record is definitely the hardest to break but I believe that all world records will be broken and I'm willing to push myself to that limit to get it," Wiffen told Swimming World this month. Maertens, 23, has already done something similar -- last April in Stockholm smashing compatriot Paul Biedermann's 400m world record from 2009 with a time of 3:39.96. Ceccon is the world record holder in 100m backstroke. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, the most successful swimmer in world championship history with 23 medals and another European star of Paris with gold in the 50 and 100m freestyle, will be absent from the championships as she is expecting her first child in August. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)

Sydney Morning Herald
25-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why a dodgy Thai buffet could save the Australian swimming team's reputation
Swimming World has reported that US star and Olympic champion Torri Huske was one athlete struck down by illness. Huske is Mollie O'Callaghan's main rival in the 100m freestyle event and an important figure for the US in their 4x100m freestyle relay team on night one. That opening night in Japan — where Australia picked up four gold medals and two world records across five events — was arguably the most dominant two-hour stretch in Australian swimming history. Sam Short and Ariarne Titmus won their 400m freestyle finals, while the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay teams defeated the US in memorable fashion. Since the world championships began in 1973, Australia had never claimed four gold medals on the same day. However, fans tuning into Sunday's action in Singapore should temper expectations. A repeat of Fukuoka seems unlikely. Australia's 'crazy' start in Fukuoka, in the words of since-retired Olympic great Emma McKeon, set the Dolphins on the path to a record haul of 13 gold medals, six more than their American rivals. Even half that in Singapore would be considered a strong return. The reason? Australia and the US have taken different approaches since the Paris Olympics. Most of the USA's top swimmers had a shorter break after Paris. They swim more often at big meets, and many are entrenched in the college system. For them, posting fast times all year round is a non-negotiable. The USA narrowly beat Australia on the swimming medal tally at Paris 2024, eight golds to seven. Many of Australia's elite swimmers have taken a slower path, mindful of the long road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. On the whole, swimmers' times at last month's Australian trials in Adelaide were not spectacular. Titmus is the biggest name missing in Singapore — instead calling races for Channel Nine, the publisher of this masthead — though part of her will surely wish she was racing Ledecky and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh. McKeown, who swept the backstroke events in Fukuoka, is again Australia's leading gold medal hope in the 50m, 100m and 200m events. O'Callaghan is also hunting glory in the 100m and 200m freestyle after taking out both events two years ago. Short and Elijah Winnington, both world champions, are the best individual medal chances on night one in the men's 400m freestyle. Loading Cam McEvoy returns in the 50m freestyle after Olympic gold in Paris. Kyle Chalmers is chasing world championship gold in the 100m freestyle but will need to beat world record-holder Pan Zhanle, who took gold in Paris. There will be no shortage of global talent in Singapore. McIntosh is attempting to become the first swimmer since Michael Phelps to win five individual golds at a single world championships. And French star Leon Marchand — who trained with Australian coach Dean Boxall earlier this year and spent much of his downtime surfing — is eyeing world records in the 200m and 400m individual medley events after dropping the 200m butterfly and breaststroke events from his program. Marchand won four individual gold medals in front of his home French crowd last year - including two in one night. 'I think he needed a mental break,' said Marchand's coach Bob Bowman, who also looked after Phelps. 'I think he needed to go away to Australia to get out of France for a while.'

The Age
25-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Why a dodgy Thai buffet could save the Australian swimming team's reputation
Swimming World has reported that US star and Olympic champion Torri Huske was one athlete struck down by illness. Huske is Mollie O'Callaghan's main rival in the 100m freestyle event and an important figure for the US in their 4x100m freestyle relay team on night one. That opening night in Japan — where Australia picked up four gold medals and two world records across five events — was arguably the most dominant two-hour stretch in Australian swimming history. Sam Short and Ariarne Titmus won their 400m freestyle finals, while the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay teams defeated the US in memorable fashion. Since the world championships began in 1973, Australia had never claimed four gold medals on the same day. However, fans tuning into Sunday's action in Singapore should temper expectations. A repeat of Fukuoka seems unlikely. Australia's 'crazy' start in Fukuoka, in the words of since-retired Olympic great Emma McKeon, set the Dolphins on the path to a record haul of 13 gold medals, six more than their American rivals. Even half that in Singapore would be considered a strong return. The reason? Australia and the US have taken different approaches since the Paris Olympics. Most of the USA's top swimmers had a shorter break after Paris. They swim more often at big meets, and many are entrenched in the college system. For them, posting fast times all year round is a non-negotiable. The USA narrowly beat Australia on the swimming medal tally at Paris 2024, eight golds to seven. Many of Australia's elite swimmers have taken a slower path, mindful of the long road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. On the whole, swimmers' times at last month's Australian trials in Adelaide were not spectacular. Titmus is the biggest name missing in Singapore — instead calling races for Channel Nine, the publisher of this masthead — though part of her will surely wish she was racing Ledecky and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh. McKeown, who swept the backstroke events in Fukuoka, is again Australia's leading gold medal hope in the 50m, 100m and 200m events. O'Callaghan is also hunting glory in the 100m and 200m freestyle after taking out both events two years ago. Short and Elijah Winnington, both world champions, are the best individual medal chances on night one in the men's 400m freestyle. Loading Cam McEvoy returns in the 50m freestyle after Olympic gold in Paris. Kyle Chalmers is chasing world championship gold in the 100m freestyle but will need to beat world record-holder Pan Zhanle, who took gold in Paris. There will be no shortage of global talent in Singapore. McIntosh is attempting to become the first swimmer since Michael Phelps to win five individual golds at a single world championships. And French star Leon Marchand — who trained with Australian coach Dean Boxall earlier this year and spent much of his downtime surfing — is eyeing world records in the 200m and 400m individual medley events after dropping the 200m butterfly and breaststroke events from his program. Marchand won four individual gold medals in front of his home French crowd last year - including two in one night. 'I think he needed a mental break,' said Marchand's coach Bob Bowman, who also looked after Phelps. 'I think he needed to go away to Australia to get out of France for a while.'