Canadian swimming phenom Summer McIntosh beat American star Katie Ledecky to win gold in the women’s 400-metre freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Sunday.
The 18-year-old from Toronto clocked a time of three minutes 56.26 seconds to claim her ninth career long-course world title, tying Penny Oleksiak and Kylie Masse for the most by a Canadian.
China’s Li Bingjie edged Ledecky for silver, out-touching the decorated Olympian by 0.3 seconds in 3:58.21.
The Canadian swimmer picks up her first world championships win in the 400-metre.
McIntosh reclaimed the world record in the event at the Canadian trials last month with a time of 3:54.18, beating the mark of 3:55.38 set by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus at the 2023 worlds.
She won her semifinal in the women’s 200m individual medley later on Sunday — the second of her five individual events in Singapore. McIntosh is looking to become the second swimmer in history to win five solo titles at a single long-course world championships, after Michael Phelps in 2007.
In conversation with 🇨🇦 Summer McIntosh.
Who tells me she was so in control of the 400m freestyle. And is obviously very happy to get that tough double out of the way.
Here’s our poolside chat in Singapore after another golden performance from Canada’s Summer McIntosh. pic.twitter.com/B2gLIIKPEv
McIntosh, the reigning Olympic champ in the 200m medley, posted the fastest semifinal time of the day (2:07.39). Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., also qualified for Monday’s final after finishing one spot behind McIntosh in 2:10.19.
The Canadian pair punched their tickets to the 200-metre medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
McIntosh will face Ledecky again in the women’s 800m freestyle, with the final scheduled for Saturday.
In other Canadian results, Montreal’s Ilya Kharun and Toronto’s Josh Liendo failed to qualify for the men’s 50m butterfly final after finishing third and sixth, respectively, in the second semifinal.
Reporter Devin Heroux will be on site in Singapore speaking to Canadians following their races, and will join The Ready Room show live on YouTube every day after finals, with Brittany MacLean Campbell hosting from Toronto. The show will include Canadian highlights, athlete interviews and analysis.
Here are the 5 races that Olympic bronze medallist turned host of ‘The Ready Room’, Brittany MacLean Campbell wants you to watch at the swimming world championships. Finals begin Sunday July 27th at 7 AM ET on CBC Gem.
