McIntosh’s silver medal highlights Day 1 in the pool for Team Canada
Summer McIntosh‘s silver medal swim highlighted Day 1 for Team Canada at Paris La Défense Arena.
McIntosh won her first Olympic medal – and Canada’s first medal of Paris 2024 – by placing second in the women’s 400m freestyle. The 17-year-old finished with a time of 3:58.37, finishing behind world record holder Ariarne Titmus of Australia who had a time of 3:57.49.
Titmus and McIntosh were first and second, respectively, for the entirety of the race. Swimming legend Katie Ledecky of the United States won bronze with a time of 4:00.86.
READ: Summer McIntosh wins silver for Canada’s first medal of Paris 2024
In her morning heat, McIntosh led early in the race but was caught by New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather. McIntosh, who spoke before the Games about the importance of preserving energy, had a strong final lap and finished just a tenth of a second behind Fairweather with a time of 4:02.65. The time placed the Canadian fourth overall heading into the final.
As a 14-year-old, she competed in the 400m freestyle at Tokyo 2020 and finished just shy of the podium, placing fourth.
There is potential for McIntosh to win more medals in Paris as this was the first of her four individual events.
Maggie Mac Neil, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to defend her Olympic gold medal in the women’s 100m butterfly. Mac Neil earned a spot in the final by placing in a tie for fourth in Saturday’s semifinals with a time of 56.55. American Gretchen Walsh, the world record holder in the event, finished in top spot.
The final will take place Sunday at 2:40 p.m. EST.
Mac Neil was among the first swimmers in the water Saturday when she raced in the morning heats. Competing in the third heat, Mac Neil finished second behind American Torri Huske with a time of 57.00, placing her seventh overall heading into the evening’s semifinals.
Canada’s Rebecca Smith also swam in the 100m butterfly but, with a time of 58.85, did not qualify for the semifinals.
Mac Neil and McIntosh also competed in the final of the women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay where Canada finished fourth with a time of 3:32.99. Mac Neil swam the first leg of the race followed by veteran Taylor Ruck. Canada was in fifth spot at the halfway point but McIntosh and Penny Oleksiak, who swam the anchor leg, pushed the squad into fourth.
Australia won gold in the event followed by the United States and China.
Canada advanced to the final after placing sixth in the morning heats with a time of 3:35.29. Oleksiak swam the first leg followed by Mary-Sophie Harvey and Brooklyn Douthwright. Ruck swam the anchor portion, securing a fifth-place finish for Canada in their heat.
Canada also qualified for the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay final after finishing with the fifth fastest time in the morning qualifiers. The Canadians were as far back as seventh in their heat but gradually inched up the leader board. Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo had strong final legs to secure third place and a spot in the final.
The Canadian squad went with the same lineup for the final but a different order. Liendo led off followed by Yuri Kisil, Finlay Knox and Acevedo. Canada had to settle for sixth in the event with a time of 3:12.18. The United States won gold with Australia taking silver and Italy bronze.
Swimming pool events at Paris 2024 continue daily until August 4 (Day 9).
