Click on the video player above to watch live coverage of Monday’s finals session at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Summer McIntosh returns to the spotlight in her pursuit of five individual gold medals at these world championships for the women’s 200-metre butterfly final at 7:02 a.m. ET on Thursday.
McIntosh won her race but placed second behind Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers in the overall semifinal standings on Wednesday morning, recording a subdued time of 2 minutes 6.22 seconds.
“Going into tonight I [knew] I just needed to get through to the final and use the least amount of energy possible,” McIntosh told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux after the semifinal.
“I really just did not try the first hundred [metres] and then gave a little bit of a kick just to get my hand on the wall,” she added.
On Day 4, French phenom Leon Marchand set a world record in his semifinal of the men’s 200 fly, which had The Ready Room host Brittany MacLean Campbell wondering why Summer McIntosh didn’t push for the same in her women’s 200 fly semi?
The women’s long course world record in the event is held by China’s Liu Zige, who set the mark of 2:01.81 at the Chinese National Games in 2009. The time was achieved with the use of the now-banned Speedo LZR Racer supersuit.
In June, however, McIntosh threatened Liu’s mark with the second-fastest time ever of 2:02.26. And then she said she had more left to give.
“I think my last stroke was just a little bit wonky, so I think I have at least point-one, point-two in that alone. I can definitely find the other little bits and pieces throughout the race,” McIntosh told Heroux at the time.
“The fact that I’m knocking on the door on that world record is really, really encouraging because that’s the world record that I never thought I would even come close to.”
Watch live coverage of every race at the swimming worlds on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with finals beginning at 7 a.m. ET each day. The full competition schedule is available here.
Later, Canadians Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm will compete in the women’s 50m backstroke at 7:56 a.m. ET.
The 29-year-old Masse placed fourth in the 100m backstroke final on Tuesday before landing on the podium Wednesday morning as part of the mixed 4×100 medley relay team that won bronze.
Overall, Canada has captured a total of five medals thus far in Singapore.
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.
The men’s backstroke semifinals get underway on Thursday with a pair of Canadians vying for a chance at medals in Friday morning’s final.
2024 Olympian Blake Tierney, 23, of Saskatoon and American-born Ethan Ekk take to the pool at at 8:26 a.m. ET.
The 18-year-old Ekk, who competes for Stanford University, became a breakout name at national trials in June after establishing the Canadian record in the 200m backstroke, punching his ticket to Singapore.
On Day 4 of the world swimming trials Canada’s 4×100 medley mixed relay squad charged to a bronze medal giving Kylie Masse her 10th world long course medal. Frenchman Leon Marchand set a new world record in the men’s 200 fly semi and we tell you what to look forward to on Day 5 of swimming worlds.
