Canada earns relay bronze at world swimming championship as McIntosh eyes third gold

SINGAPORE — Canada claimed a mixed relay bronze medal and Summer McIntosh put herself in contention for a third straight gold medal at the world swimming championship Wednesday.

Kylie Masse, of LaSalle, Ont., Oliver Dawson, of Grande Prairie, Alta., Toronto’s Josh Liendo and Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., finished third in the 4×100-metre medley relay, which was Masse’s 10th career medal at the long-course world championship.

The Canadians finished in a time of three minutes 40.90 seconds and just seven hundredths of a second faster than the Netherlands for the podium.

Canada was eighth after the backstroke leg and seventh after breaststroke when Liendo’s 49.64-second butterfly split, which was his fastest ever, pulled the team to fourth.

Ruck then overtook Milla Jansen of Australia before the turn of the freestyle leg and held off a furious charge by Duchwoman Marrit Steenbergen.

“I didn’t see the Netherlands coming up, so maybe that was a good thing, but we’re very happy with how we all pulled together,” said Ruck, whose freestyle relay time of 52.94 seconds was her fastest in three years.

“I definitely was feeling all the emotions. Having my teammates go through it, and then the roar of the crowd and all that kind of stuff. The intensity and energy was there, so I just wanted to not go too, too fast and make sure you’re executing the race. It can be kind of tempting to just spend all the energy in the first 50.”

Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm and Brooklyn Douthwright of Moncton, N.B., swam in the morning heats to help Canada qualify for the final, and also received medals.

Neutral Athletes B — a team of Russian swimmers competing under a neutral flag — won gold in a meet-record 3:37.97, with China taking silver in 3:39.99.

Russia is competing under a neutral banner due to ongoing international sanctions following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, McIntosh reached Thursday’s 200-metre butterfly final with the second-fastest semifinal time of 2:06.22 behind Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers (2:06.13).

The 18-year-old McIntosh is chasing her third gold medal of the meet after winning the 400 freestyle and 200 IM.

“I just needed to make the final using the least amount of energy: mental, emotional, physical, all the things,” said McIntosh, who is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 fly.

“I’m just going to rest, recover tomorrow morning and then get ready for the final tomorrow night, which I’m really excited about.”

The Toronto swimmer aims for five individual titles at the eight-day meet — a feat only U.S. great Michael Phelps has achieved at a single world championship.

Yu Zidi, the 12-year-old Chinese phenom, swam 2:07.95 to join McIntosh in the final eight.

Both Masse and McIntosh have won a career 10 medals in long-course world championships. Masse will pursue another Thursday in the women’s 50-metre backstroke final.

Earlier Wednesday, Ilya Kharun of Montreal placed fourth in the men’s 200 butterfly, finishing in 1:54.34 — just 0.17 seconds off the podium after winning Olympic bronze last summer in Paris.

Kharun, known for his back-end speed, led after the first 50 metres before falling back. “I just need to move on to the next race. I’ve got to do more training in that and that’s it,” said the 20-year-old.

American Luca Urlando claimed gold in a dominant performance with a time of 1:51.87, followed by Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:52.64) and Australia’s Harrison Turner (1:54.17).

Kharun is still seeking his first world championship podium after missing the 50 butterfly final earlier in the meet by just 0.01 seconds.

Tristan Jankovics of Puslinch, Ont., placed 13th in the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:59.13 in a semifinal. French superstar Leon Marchand set a world record of 1:52.69 in the other semifinal.

Wednesday’s relay bronze and Marie-Sophie Harvey’s bronze medal in the women’s 200 IM behind McIntosh gave Canada four swimming medals with four more days of racing in Singapore.

Montreal’s Simone Leathead earned a silver medal in women’s 20-metre high diving.

— with a file from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.

The Canadian Press