ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Canada's Summer McIntosh and Joshua Liendo captured their first medals at a major international swimming event on Sunday.
McIntosh, a 15-year-old from Toronto, raced to silver in the 400-metre freestyle at the world short-course championships, while Liendo, a 19-year-old from Markham, Ont., set a Canadian record en route to winning bronze in the 50 freestyle.
Canada has eight medals -- three gold, four silver and a bronze -- through four days of competition. With two days remaining of competition, the Canadians have already matched the record medal hauls set in 1999 and 2016.
McIntosh was just shy of her Canadian record on Sunday, touching the wall in three minutes 57.87 seconds.
Binjie Li of China won the gold in 3:55.83, while Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong was third (3:58.12).
"I'm so grateful for the medal," McIntosh said. "Even though I’m not happy with the time I’m still happy that I tried my best and raced my best. I knew there was a medal possibility if I did that."
Liendo set a Canadian record in the preliminaries then smashed it again in the final, with a time of 20.76. Benjamin Proud of Britain took the gold in 20.45 and American Ryan Held was second in (20.70).
"I knew from the swims before it would be a good race," said Liendo, who also won gold in the mixed 4x50 freestyle relay on Friday. “It's just crazy, I'm just here to learn. There were some nerves but I was super focused and I knew what I had to do."
Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., reclaimed the Canadian record in a fifth-place finish in the men's 100 individual medley. His time of 51.70 eclipsed the previous mark of 51.76 set earlier this month by Javier Acevedo.
Nine women and three men, all of whom represented Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, are competing. The short-course championships are held in a 25-metre pool, as opposed to Olympic or world aquatic championship swimming, which is held in a 50-metre pool.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2021.
The Canadian Press
