BUDAPEST — Canadian swimming star Summer McIntosh smashed another short-course world record with a dominant victory in the women's 200-metre butterfly at the world championships on Thursday.
Minutes later, Ilya Kharun won the men's 200 butterfly to give Canada its third straight multi-medal day at the event.
The 18-year-old McIntosh, from Toronto, won her race in one minute 59.32 seconds, well ahead of silver medallist Regan Smith of the United States (2:01.00). Bronze medallist Elizabeth Dekkers of Australia was almost four seconds behind McIntosh in 2:02.91.
McIntosh’s time of took down a 10-year-old standard set by Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia (1:59.61). It’s the fifth career world record swim for McIntosh, who lowered the 400 freestyle mark Tuesday at the Duna Arena.
“Any time I can have the chance to hopefully get a crack at one or break one, it’s always a fun time. I just try to soak it up because they don’t come around super often,” said McIntosh, who captured her first long-course gold in the 200 butterfly at the same arena two years ago.
“I love Budapest overall. It’s an amazing place to be and swim and I love this pool as well. The crowd’s always amazing and electric, so feeding off that energy going into all my races definitely helps me get the best result.”
Kharun, a 19-year-old rising star from Montreal, won his race and set the Canadian record for the second time in one day in 1:48.24 to pick up his first career international gold medal. Alberto Razzetti of Italy was second (1:48.64) and Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski was third (1:49.26).
“I was so pumped with that, I really wanted to get first place and when I saw that No. 1 on that board I was very happy and wanted to express myself,” said Kharun, whose heat swim of 1:50.11 was a short-lived national record.
McIntosh has two gold and a bronze so far in Budapest. She is wrapping up a stellar season that included three gold and a silver at the Paris Olympics.
Kharun, who won two bronze medals in Paris, has a gold and two silver at these championships.
Thursday's results raised Canada's overall medal count to nine (three gold, two silver, four bronze).
In other results, Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., set a Canadian record (57.19) to advance to the 100 individual medley final as third seed. American Kate Douglass, a five-time Olympic medallist and 13-time world champion, was the only faster swimmer in their heat.
“First Canadian record in seven years. I feel young again,” said the 25-year-old, who has two bronze medals so far in Budapest. “Honestly I was pretty surprised with the time. I saw Kate and I was like, ‘Oh, I must be doing something good.’ So I’m really excited. Now I just need to clean up a little bit of stuff and try to go a little bit faster tomorrow night.”
Sydney Pickrem also advanced, getting the eighth seed in Friday's final with a time of 58.47.
Earlier in the evening, Calgary's Ingrid Wilm and Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., advanced to the women’s 50 backstroke final.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press