McIntosh and Kharun take bronze on penultimate day of World Aquatics Championships
The duel between American distance legend Katie Ledecky and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh in the women’s 800m freestyle was one of the most highly anticipated races of the World Aquatics Championships, and it did not disappoint.
The last six iterations of the women’s 800m world record—dating back to 2013—have belonged to Ledecky. McIntosh is the only swimmer to ruin Ledecky’s hold on the top 10 times ever in the event, clocking in third fastest all time at this year’s Trials in June.
The veteran Ledecky took the race out on world record pace and led all the way through 700 metres. Heading into the final 100 metres, McIntosh made a move for the lead, but Ledecky had the legs to respond. Australian Lani Pallister had the fastest final 50 metres of the field. Ledecky touched first with a time of 8:05.62, Pallister took silver in 8:05.98, followed by McIntosh with bronze in 8:07.29.
Ledecky’s world record of 8:04.12, set in May of this year, remains standing. McIntosh came dangerously close to it in June, swimming 8:05.07 at the Canadian Trials. Ledecky remains undefeated in the event over 13 years.
The medal marks McIntosh’s 12th career World Aquatics medal, further cementing her as the most decorated Canadian across all World Aquatics disciplines. Swimmer Kylie Masse and diver Jennifer Abel each have 10 medals to their name. This is McIntosh’s fourth medal at this edition of the World Aquatics Championships, having already secured three gold medals at the event in the 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
McIntosh wasn’t the only Canadian to snag a spot on the podium at the pool today. Ilya Kharun found his way onto the podium in the men’s 100m butterfly at Paris 2024, and now he has done it at the World Aquatics Championships.
Kharun swam to a time of 50.07 to take bronze, joining French gold medallist Maxime Grousset (49.62) and Swiss silver medallist Noe Ponti (49.83) on the podium. Fellow Canadian and Paris 2024 silver medallist Josh Liendo narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth with a time of 50.09.
READ: Double Olympic medallist Ilya Kharun is learning more and swimming faster
The world championships continue in Singapore until August 3. You can watch Team Canada compete on CBC.
Team Canada’s medal count in the swimming events stands at seven, with three gold medals (all delivered by McIntosh) and four bronzes. In addition to McIntosh and Kharun’s bronze medal performances, Mary-Sophie Harvey found the third spot on the podium in the women’s 200m individual medley, as did the Canadian 4x100m mixed medley relay team.
