A duo of Canadian swimmers progressed to the men’s 100-meter butterfly final at the swimming world championships in Singapore following impressive performances in the semifinals on Friday. Josh Liendo from Toronto and Ilya Kharun from Montreal secured the second and fourth spots overall, respectively.
Liendo, who claimed silver in the same event at Paris 2024, clocked a time of 50.24 seconds, finishing second in the second semifinal just behind Switzerland’s Noe Ponti. Initially sixth at the turn, Liendo surged down the stretch, narrowly missing catching up to Ponti.
Kharun, aged 20, ended up in second place in the first semifinal with a time of 50.39, slightly behind France’s Maxime Grousset. Kharun expressed his determination for success, stating, “I’m putting everything on the line here for this event. I wanted to win, but this is a pretty good step towards winning.” Previously, Kharun earned Olympic bronze in both the 100 and 200 butterfly events in Paris.
The final for the men’s 100m butterfly is set for Saturday at 7:43 a.m. ET. Additionally, Summer McIntosh returned to the pool on Friday morning, winning her women’s 800m freestyle heat and setting up a showdown with American rival Katie Ledecky on Saturday at 8:21 a.m. ET.
McIntosh secured victory in the second heat with a time of 8:19.88, placing third overall behind Lani Pallister from Australia and Ledecky. Ledecky, a four-time Olympic champion in the event, also holds the world record.
In pursuit of her goal of five individual gold medals at the championships, the 18-year-old Toronto prodigy has already claimed three gold medals, including a win against Ledecky in the 400m freestyle. McIntosh, who also triumphed in the 200m individual medley, is gearing up for the 400 medley heats on Saturday night.
Michael Phelps, the legendary U.S. Olympian, remains the only swimmer to have clinched five solo titles at a single long-course world championship.