What to watch this weekend: McIntosh's drive for 5 and other key races
Canadian teen faces showdown against Katie Ledecky on Saturday
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Today, we'll look ahead to the key races remaining at the swim world championships, including Summer McIntosh's drive for five gold medals and an all-Canadian showdown. Plus, a pair of intriguing Canada-U.S. matchups are on deck at the National Bank Open.
McIntosh's path to five, and other key duels at swim worlds
It was a quiet day in the pool for Canada at the world championships in Singapore. The weekend, however, could get quite noisy.
Friday's top result was a fourth-place finish for Blake Tierney in the 200-metre backstroke — an excellent showing for the 23-year-old, who did not even advance through heats at last summer's Paris Olympics. Tierney also broke the Canadian record, then did it again, in heats and semis on Thursday.
Canada may win as many as three solo medals on Saturday at the swimming world championships. And Sunday could be a coronation.
Here are the three key duels to watch:
Josh Liendo vs. Ilya Kharun in the men's 100 butterfly, Saturday, 7:53 a.m. ET
A friendly (of course) Canadian rivalry is budding between Liendo and Kharun, who both won medals in this event at last year's Olympics, with Liendo taking silver and Kharun grabbing bronze. Now, gold medallist Kristof Milak is out of the picture — and the top step of the podium appears up for grabs.
For Liendo, even after snagging bronze as part of the 4x100 mixed medley relay team, the entire meet is down to this one event. He failed to advance through the 50 freestyle heats on Friday, then told CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux that he's "all in" on the 100 fly. The 22-year-old owns the Canadian record at 49.99 seconds from Paris, when he became the first Black Canadian to win an Olympic swimming medal.
Kharun's focus entering Singapore was not as solely squared on this event. But after missing the 50 fly final by one one-hundredth of a second, then placing fourth in the 200 fly, all of his eggs are in the 100 fly basket, too.
And so both Canadians will be hungry to reach the podium — but it's anyone's guess who will come out on top. Liendo and Kharun have gone directly head-to-head in this event twice this season: Liendo won NCAAs in a short-course pool (Kharun placed second) before Kharun clipped Liendo at national trials with a personal-best 50.37 seconds in an Olympic-sized pool.
"I've been chasing Josh every time we race during trials or in college at NCAAs," Kharun said. "It just makes it fun."
During Friday's semifinals, they each placed second in their heat. Liendo posted the second-fastest time at 50.24 seconds, and Kharun was close behind in fourth at 50.39. They'll line up next to each other in Lanes 5 and 6 for the medal race. Read more about today's action here.
WATCH | McIntosh vs Ledecky:
Summer McIntosh vs. Katie Ledecky in the women's 800 freestyle, Saturday, 8:21 a.m. ET
There is little left to say to tee up this event. It's been dubbed 'The Race of the Century' — a rising superstar in Canada's McIntosh going up against American legend Ledecky in her strongest discipline. History is at stake for both — McIntosh is three-fifths of the way to matching Michael Phelps' record feat of five solo golds at one worlds, while Ledecky is just four wins away from matching Phelps' all-time mark at worlds.
McIntosh vs. Ledecky isn't quite a rivalry — they haven't competed against each other in a major final yet — but to use a cross-sport analogy, it reminds me a bit of Patrick Mahomes taking on Tom Brady in the 2021 Super Bowl, the young star being hailed as a future great vs. the GOAT. Brady won that battle, and now he'll always have that notch on his belt. Can Ledecky do the same?
On Friday night, both athletes easily advanced through heats, with Ledecky touching in eight minutes 14.62 seconds and McIntosh in 8:19.88. But you can throw those numbers out: "It was a little boring, I'm not going to lie," McIntosh said in her post-race interview. Watch her full heat here.
The times you should know: Ledecky set the world record in May at 8:04.79, and McIntosh cracked the Canadian mark in June at 8:05.07. Australia's Lani Pallister, who also set a national record in June at 8:10.84, is expected to set the pace early, providing a strategic wild card for McIntosh whose biggest weakness against Ledecky is experience. Italian record-holder Simona Quadarella could also be in the mix.
But all eyes will be on McIntosh vs. Ledecky. Take it from McIntosh herself: "I'm super hyped for the final. The final definitely won't be boring." Check out a numbers-based look at the race here. We broke down the tale of the tape in yesterday's newsletter. And CBC Sports' The Ready Room show also previewed the event here.
McIntosh vs. Michael Phelps in the women's 400 individual medley, Sunday, 8:15 a.m. ET
OK, so we took some creative liberties in calling this a duel. But if McIntosh is indeed able to take down Ledecky in the 800 freestyle, she will be racing against the American icon Phelps' mark as much as any competitor in the pool during Sunday's 400 IM — the final individual race of the championship.
Thanks to McIntosh's quiet competitiveness, it appears unlikely she'll melt under the moment — after all, she won her first three gold medals without much sweat, and barely even smiled after her 200 butterfly victory because her time was not a world record.
Plus, the 400 IM is arguably McIntosh's most dominant event. She broke the world record at last year's trials, won Olympic gold by nearly six seconds weeks later, then lowered her standard again in June to 4:23.65. For context, the silver medal-winning time in Paris by American Katie Grimes was nearly 10 seconds slower at 4:33.40. McIntosh has the three fastest times ever in the race, and six of the top 10.
Her main competition at worlds is once again Grimes, whose personal best is still well behind McIntosh at 4:31.41. One other factor to watch: disqualifications can be prevalent in this event thanks to tricky turns between strokes. In Paris, American Alex Walsh was knocked off the podium for an illegal turn.
Still, in its race preview, top-notch swimming website SwimSwam put it succinctly: "It's not a question of if [McIntosh] wins, but rather by how much."
How to watch
You can stream live action from the World Aquatics Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, with additional weekend coverage on CBC TV. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules for details.
Reporter Devin Heroux is 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 show page can be found here.
