Canadians to watch on Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games

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The opening ceremony in Birmingham, England happened today (read about it here). Canada's flag-bearers were weightlifter Maude Charron, who's the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion in her weight class, and wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy, a three-time Paralympian who has won the Boston Marathon.

Competition starts early Friday morning in Canadian time zones and runs for 10 days. Here are the top Canadians to watch on Day 1:

Summer McIntosh (swimming)

Coming off her sensational performance at the world championships in Budapest a few weeks ago, the 15-year-old phenom begins her first Commonwealth Games with the women's 400-metre individual medley. McIntosh won gold in this event and the 200m butterfly in Budapest to become Canada's youngest-ever swimming world champion and the first Canadian swimmer to capture multiple gold medals at the same worlds. She also took silver in the 400m freestyle and helped the Canadian 4x200m freestyle relay team to bronze.

McIntosh dropped out of the 200m butterfly yesterday but will still be busy in Birmingham. In addition to Friday's 400m individual medley (heats at 5:47 a.m. ET, final at 2:15 p.m. ET), she's also scheduled to swim the 200m IM, 400m freestyle and relays.

Canadian swimming stars Josh Liendo and Maggie Mac Neil are also competing on Friday, but not for medals. The 19-year-old Liendo, who won a pair of individual bronze medals and a relay silver at worlds, is in the men's 50m butterfly heats at 6:24 a.m. ET and, assuming all goes well, the semifinals at 3:08 p.m. ET. The final goes Saturday. Mac Neil, who won Olympic gold last summer in the women's 100m butterfly, opted not to defend her world title in that event in Budapest to give herself a physical and mental break, but she still helped Canada to three relay medals. She's returning to solo competition at the Commonwealth Games and will be in the 100m butterfly heats at 7:02 a.m. ET. The semis are at 3:56 p.m. ET, and the final goes Saturday.

Canada should also contend for a medal in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay on Friday (heats at 7:30 a.m. ET, final at 4:15 p.m. ET) after taking silver in this event at the world championships. Liendo was part of that team, but the two women — Penny Oleksiak and Kayla Sanchez — are not in Birmingham. Oleksiak elected to skip the Commonwealth Games, while Sanchez left to join the Philippines' national team.

Kelsey Mitchell and Laurianne Genest (track cycling)

The Tokyo Olympic gold medallist in the women's sprint and the bronze medallist in the women's keirin, respectively, are expected to join up for the women's team sprint on Friday. World Cup medallist Sarah Orban could also slot in for Canada in this event, where teams are made up of two riders.

Qualifying is at 6:42 a.m. ET, and the finals at 12:55 p.m. ET.

Other Canadians to watch:

*Canada's top athlete in the men's triathlon at 6 a.m. ET is Tyler Mislawchuk. In the women's race at 9:30 a.m. ET it's Amélie Kretz. Both are two-time Olympians who finished 15th in Tokyo. Mislawchuk, who has reached the World Cup podium five times, is probably Canada's best hope for a medal. The triathlon events in Birmingham are being held over the "sprint" distance, which is half as long as the Olympic races. Athletes will complete a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.

*Most of the world's best gymnasts are from non-Commonwealth countries, opening the door for Canadians to contend for a medal. In 2018, Canada took silver in the men's team event, which starts Friday at 4 a.m. ET, alongside qualifying for the individual event finals. Canada's athletes are Felix Dolci, Mathys Jalbert, Chris Kaji, Jayson Rampersad and Kenji Tamane. René Cournoyer, Canada's lone men's gymnast at the Tokyo Olympics, is out with an injury.

How to watch:

Starting Friday at 3:30 a.m. ET, you can stream six different feeds of live events daily on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. Also, the CBC TV network will carry 10 hours of weekend broadcast coverage hosted by Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo. See the full CBC Sports broadcast and streaming schedule here for more details.