BUDAPEST, Hungary – Ilya Kharun and Ingrid Wilm each enjoyed two-medal nights Wednesday at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary.
Kharun captured 50-metre butterfly silver, Wilm 100 backstroke bronze, and they combined with Kylie Masse and Finlay Knox to cap the night with 4×50 mixed medley relay silver.
With seven medals (1G-2S-4B), Canada sits second behind only Team USA’s 10 (6-2-2) on the overall table after two days of the world short-course championships.
Kharun had a tight double, diving in to deliver a lightning butterfly split of 20.73 about 25 minutes after earning the individual 50 fly silver.
“The relay was really fun. I was so ready for that because I had the 50 to warm up before. I showed everyone what I can do, dipped under that 21 mark and there’s more to come for sure,” Kharun said.
The 19-year-old Montreal native finished behind only Noe Ponti of Switzerland, who set a world record in 21.32. Kharun’s time of 21.67 was good for an Americas record, and was his second time lowering his own Canadian mark at the meet after going 21.84 in his preliminary heat Tuesday.
“It was very fun. Ponti is a very strong opponent and I’m really happy with my race. It was a really good race to show what I can do for now but I can definitely show more power in the future,” Kharun said.
In the relay, all four swimmers were faster than their morning times. Veteran backstroker Masse’s 25.87 was the fastest of the three women who led off, setting up breaststroker Finlay Knox (25.53) to hand over to Kharun for the butterfly leg. Kharun overtook four swimmers to move Canada into second from sixth, and Wilm (23.81) held on in the freestyle. Canada’s time of 1:35.94 was a national record, edging Team USA by 0.26 seconds. The Russian athletes known as “Neutral Athletes B” nabbed gold in 1:35.36.
The relay medal was Masse’s 10th at world short-course championships, and 19th world medal overall, tying her with Maggie Mac Neil for most all-time between long course and short course. The 28-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., has earned at least one medal at 15 consecutive major international championships and Games.
“It was a lot of fun. It’s nice to just get up and do a 50 and to have such a great team willing to just give it all they’ve got and put up a good race, you can’t beat that,” Masse said. “Obviously I wouldn’t be able to keep (the streak) alive without opportunities like this and teammates like this who have allowed me to get this medal and add to my streak. I’m very thankful for that and for them outside of that always pushing me in my individuals as well.”
Earlier in the session Wilm took bronze in the women’s 100-m backstroke, repeating her performance from the 2022 edition of these championships in Melbourne, Australia. Masse was sixth in 56.21.
It’s been a busy meet for Wilm, who swam five times on Day 1 and three more Wednesday.
“I was just coming in with no expectations to just try and have fun, so I’m actually really happy with that medal. That was a wonderful surprise,” said Wilm, who trains with Dave Johnson at Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club.
Showing her versatility, Wilm, who already had a bronze medal in Tuesday’s women’s 4×100 free relay, also had a personal best in the 50 butterfly heats Tuesday.
“It’s almost unheard of for me,” said the 26-year-old, normally known for her backstroke. “We were joking saying that rooming with (Mary-Sophie Harvey on the recent World Cup series) has been almost infectious on wanting to swim multiple events. But it has been nice getting to test out of my wheelhouse and see if maybe I can be an addition to the team on other aspects into the next quadrennial. It’s been quite fun honestly getting to try new things that I don’t have the exact same amount of pressure for as I do in backstroke.”
In the men’s 100 back, Saskatoon native Blake Tierney finished fifth in his first world final with a Canadian record of 49.39.
It was Tierney’s second personal best in as many days in the event, after dipping under 50 seconds for the first time (49.85) in Tuesday’s heat. The 22-year-old, who trains with Scott Talbot at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver, lowered Javier Acevedo’s mark of 49.71 from the 2022 World Cup series.
“That was a goal coming in and I’m happy I got it down. Obviously a medal would have been really nice but you can’t control what the field does. I think in terms of race execution there are some things I could have improved on,” said Tierney, an Olympian who was recently named Swimming Canada’s Breakout Swimmer of the Year.
In other action Wednesday, Sophie Angus, who trains with Ryan Mallette at the High Performance Centre – Ontario, finished 11th in the women’s 100-m breaststroke.
The 25-year-old’s time of 1:04.53 was just off the personal best 1:04.42 she swam in her morning heat.
The six-day meet continues Thursday. 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.
Full results: https://www.omegatiming.com/2024/world-aquatics-swimming-championships-25m-live-results