 | Today, we’ll look ahead to the key races remaining at the swimming 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.
Up next, Canada may win as many as three solo medals on Saturday. 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.
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 800 freestyle 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 8:14.62 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: “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. | | |  | By Sunday, McIntosh could have five gold medals around her neck. (Francois-Xavier Marit/AFP via Getty Images) | | | Quickly… | | | Some other things to know:
The Canada-U.S. rivalry is coming to tennis with a pair of marquee matchups. Victoria Mboko, the 18-year-old Canadian sensation, beat 39th-ranked Marie Bouzkova in three sets on Thursday to reach the Round of 16 at the National Bank Open in Montreal, where she’ll face top-seeded American Coco Gauff. The Saturday contest is the second-ever meeting between the two, following a second-round match at May’s clay-court Rome Open. Mboko, who won four straight lower-level titles to start the year, gave Gauff a scare by taking the first set before the two-time major winner rallied for victory. Gauff called her Canadian counterpart “a great player” afterward: “I felt like I was playing myself. I think I move pretty well, and she moves very well,” she said. Read more about Mboko’s latest win here.
Gabriel Diallo — another breakout star — is the only other Canadian still in singles. And Diallo is also set to meet a marquee American when he takes on second-seeded Taylor Fritz on Friday night during the Round of 32 in Toronto. The 23-year-old Canadian, ranked 36th on the ATP Tour, has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season, including his first career title in June in the Netherlands. Shortly after, he ran into Fritz in the second round at Wimbledon, and like Mboko, gave his higher-seeded foe a legitimate jolt in a five-set thriller. Fritz went on to reach the semifinals. Diallo, though, left the match with growing confidence. Now, he’ll get his rematch.
Canada’s fastest man and woman will be determined at nationals. The 100-metre finals at the Canadian championships are slated for Friday night in Ottawa, and both promise to provide intrigue. The men’s race includes the usual faces — Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake, who combined to win Olympic gold in the 4x100 relay last summer. But there’s a twist in the usual pecking order after Blake broke the 10-second mark in June, posting a 9.97 for the fastest Canadian time of the year. Still, De Grasse has a 9.98 on his ledger this season, and the rest of Blake’s relay mates are sure to push him to his limits yet again. Meanwhile, the women’s race should also be fascinating, with a showdown between Canadian record-holder Audrey Leduc and Sade McCreath on tap. Both have broken 11 seconds this season, with McCreath matching Leduc’s national record of 10.95 in June before Leduc took it back at 10.94 just a few weeks later. Sarah Mitton, the reigning world silver medallist in shot put, will also take the field on Friday night. World champion Marco Arop will race the 800 on Saturday, while the men’s and women’s 200 finals go Sunday. The trials help determine Canada’s team for worlds, which begin Sept. 13 in Tokyo. You can watch all the action on AthleticsCanada.tv.
The new-look Blue Jays are set to start their unofficial second half. The AL East division leader beefed up during the trade deadline in deals with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins for a former Cy Young winner (starter Shane Bieber), two relievers (Seranthony Dominguez and Louis Varland) and one bench bat (Ty France). The trio of trades didn’t quite represent the big swing some fans were hoping the front office would take as the Blue Jays have surprisingly surged to the top of the standings. And the second-place New York Yankees loaded up on exact the type of top-end relievers Blue Jays fans were eyeing, to boot. Still, Toronto’s bullpen is in better shape now than it was last week and Bieber, who hasn’t pitched since April 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, could wind up the best starter moved at the deadline if he regains his old form. With 52 games to go, the Blue Jays’ final post-season push begins with a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals starting Friday. Read more about all the deadline moves across MLB here. | | | That's it for today. Have a great weekend. | | | | Not subscribed? Sign up here to get the Buzzer delivered to your inbox. Got an idea, question, comment or other feedback on the newsletter? Drop us a line at thebuzzer@cbc.ca. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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