BUDAPEST, Hungary – The last major international meet of 2024 is also the first of the new quadrennial as Canada turns its focus to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A team of 18 swimmers (eight male, 10 female) will compete at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) from Tuesday through Sunday at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Fresh off an eight-medal performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Canada will be looking for a strong follow-up to its two most successful world short course championships ever. The country took 14 medals at the Melbourne 2022 edition of the event, topped only by the 15 it captured at Abu Dhabi 2021.
Canada features a strong team, with three of its four Paris medallists in action, including double Olympic medallist Ilya Kharun, triple Olympic champion Summer McIntosh, and Kylie Masse, Canada’s most decorated World Aquatics swimmer of all time.
“To get here to Budapest, one of my favourite pools in the whole world, and race on a world level, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and just to be back with the team as always,” said McIntosh, who won her first world titles here in the long course pool at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.
McIntosh, who trains with Brent Arckey at the Sarasota (Fla.) Sharks, will once again take on the 200-metre butterfly and 400-m individual medley as she looks to add world short-course gold to her pairs of long course titles in each of those distances. The 18-year-old will also swim the 400 freestyle, with a new addition to her international program in the 200 backstroke.
McIntosh’s first international medals came at the 2021 championships in Abu Dhabi, where she took silver in the 400 free and 4×100 medley relay, and gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
“I’m really excited. Thinking about two years ago, I was 15, just trying to chase my dreams and not having a lot of experience. Now I have a lot more experience in swimming at the world level and it has been really fun to see how much I can improve on where I started,” McIntosh said.
Fans can watch a comprehensive stream of finals on CBC Gem and https://www.cbc.ca/sports Tuesday through Friday, beginning at approximately 11:25 a.m. ET each day. Anastasia Bucsis will host, with Rio 2016 Olympic swimming medallist Brittany MacLean providing analysis. Rob Snoek will call play-by-play of the races, joined by MacLean as colour analyst. The stream will also be available with international commentators Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11:30 a.m. All six days of preliminaries will also be available with international commentary beginning at 3 a.m. ET each day.
CBC TV will feature a highlight show Saturday from 4-6 p.m. ET with top performances from the first five days of competition voiced by Snoek and MacLean. The following Saturday, Dec. 21., will feature Day 6 highlights from 1-2 p.m. ET.
Swimming Canada and @cbcolympics will also be posting content across their digital platforms, including a live post-finals show on CBC Sports YouTube hosted by MacLean and on-site reporter Devin Heroux. The preview show is available here: https://www.youtube.com/live/cWLu8inAmDk?si=ipWTPDfibL5JEgiT
Masse, Canada’s backstroke queen and all-time leader with 18 World Aquatics medals (nine long course, nine short course) will reprise her Paris 2024 role as a team captain, along with Mary-Sophie Harvey. Also voted captains by their teammates on the men’s side are Yuri Kisil and Finlay Knox.
“I’m looking forward to being back with my teammates to just race and see what I can do. It’s been a different fall, and I’m just excited to take on the challenge of racing while enjoying the process,” said Masse, a 28-year-old LaSalle, Ont., native. “It’s beautiful (at the pool). I’ve been here a number of times and to see them put so much work into the environment here and make it really exciting for swimming, it’s amazing.”
Knox, who trains at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver with Scott Talbot, broke through with World Aquatics Championships gold in the long course 200-m individual medley earlier this year in Doha, Qatar.
“Even though we haven’t raced a short course meet at a high level for pretty much two years, we’re switched on and we know how to execute and give it everything,” said the Okotoks, Alta., native, who earned 100 and 200 medley bronze at the 2022 championships in Melbourne.
As captains, “We’re making sure we’re laying the groundwork and paving the way for those swimmers and making sure that we’re kind of a voice for them so that as a whole we’re connected and no one’s feeling left out and we’re all united as a country and as a team,” he added.
Other Olympic medallists on the roster include Penny Oleksiak, owner of four medals from her only other world short course appearance (Windsor 2016), and Sydney Pickrem, 2021 world champion in the 200 IM.
Kharun, meanwhile, is brimming with confidence after earning bronze in the 100 and 200 butterfly in Paris.
“I’m really looking forward to getting a couple of gold medals at this meet and I’m excited to show the kind of work I have done with my college coach Herbie (Behm at Arizona State),” said the Montreal native, who is also entered in the 50-m distance.
“I’m a little bit more confident in my power and how I swim. I’ve swum with these guys a bunch of times and I know how they swim. I’ve watched the races and I’m just excited to get it going and beat these guys.”
Full team list: https://www.swimming.ca/team/budapest-2024-world-aquatic-championships-25m/