It was a strong morning for Canadian swimmers at the World Aquatics Championships on Friday in Fukuoka, Japan, with four advancing to the semifinals in their respective events.
The fifth day of swimming at the Marine Messe Fukuoka kicked off with a pair of Canadians qualifying for the men’s 100-metre butterfly semifinals.
Ilya Kharun, 18, was the first Canadian to hit the pool, posting a personal-best time of 51.33 seconds to finish fifth in the penultimate seventh heat. The son of Cirque du Soleil acrobats had the seventh-fastest time among the 16 qualifiers.
Canadian Olympian Josh Liendo won the eighth and final heat with a time of 50.98, the third-fastest time of the morning. The 20-year-old from Markham, Ont., won bronze in the event at last year’s world championships in Budapest. He is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion.
Kharun and Liendo will compete in the semifinals on Friday at 7:14 a.m. ET, with the final scheduled for Saturday at 7:42 a.m. ET.
Fellow Canadian Kylie Masse followed it up by reaching the women’s 200m backstroke semifinals as the sixth-fastest qualifier (2:09.31).
Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm failed to advance after finishing just outside the top-16, with her time of 2:12.67 leaving her 19th.
Masse won silver in the event at last year’s worlds and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The 27-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., fell just short of the 100m backstroke podium in Fukuoka with a fourth-place finish on Day 3.
The semifinals are set for Friday at 7:20 a.m. ET, with the final taking place Saturday at 7:57 a.m. ET.
WATCH | Summer McIntosh repeats as 200m butterfly world champion:
Summer McIntosh of Toronto captured the gold medal in the 200m Butterfly final setting a new Junior World Record with the time of 2:04.06.
The event also features reigning Olympic and world champion Kaylee McKeown of Australia, who finished one spot ahead of Masse in qualifying (2:09.30).
Liendo’s strong day continued in the men’s 50m freestyle heats, with his time of 21.97 securing a spot in the semifinals, scheduled for Friday at 7:44 a.m. ET. The final is Saturday at 7:09 a.m. ET.
He finished fourth in the 11th heat and 13th overall out of 119 competitors.
London, Ont., native Maggie Mac Neil, who won silver in the women’s 100m butterfly on Day 3, narrowly missed the cut in the 50m butterfly after finishing 19th in the heats with a time of 26.33.
WATCH | Olympic champion Mac Neil claims 100m butterfly silver:
The Canadian swimmer led down the stretch but had to settle for silver in the 100-metre butterfly.
Fellow Canadian Olympian Katerine Savard qualified for the semifinals in 15th place, touching the wall just .10 seconds faster than her teammate.
Canada failed to reach the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final later in the day, as Ruslan Gaziev, Patrick Hussey, Finlay Knox and Javier Acevado finished seventh in their heat and 12th overall with a time of 7:10.67. The top eight teams advanced to the final, which gets underway on Friday at 8:40 a.m. ET.
The morning session was capped with the women’s 800m freestyle heats, which saw Canada’s Emma Finlin finish 18th with a time of 8:36.47, eight spots outside qualification. World record holder Katie Ledecky of the United States swam the fastest time (8:15.60).
WATCH | Replay of Day 6 prelims:
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Watch day six of the swimming preliminaries at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
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