The 4×100-m mixed medley relay team of Kylie Masse, Oliver Dawson, Josh Liendo and Taylor Ruck swam a Canadian record 3:40.90, just 0.07 ahead of Netherlands for bronze. “Neutral Athletes B” was awarded gold with a time of 3:37.97, faster than the championship record, while China received silver (3:39.99).
Masse, who earns her 10th career medal to move back into a tie with Summer McIntosh for most ever at long-course worlds, led off with a solid 58.69 in the backstroke. Swimming against six men and Australian champion Kaylee McKeown, Masse touched eighth but put Canada in good position to make up ground. Rookie Dawson, 17, turned in a breaststroke leg of 59.63 to gain one spot, breaking a minute for the second time in a day – and second time in his life. Liendo then fired off a 49.64 – his best-ever butterfly split – to surge into fourth. It all came down to Ruck, who passed Australian Milla Jansen before the final turn then held off an incredible charge by Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands (51.91).
“I didn’t see the Netherlands coming up so maybe that was a good thing, but we’re very happy with how we all pulled together,” Ruck said with a laugh.
After Liendo saw Ruck had moved into third, he was smacking the deck and wall as he cheered her on. The four-time Olympic medallist’s anchor split of 52.94 ended up being her fastest in three years.
“I definitely was feeling all the emotions. Having my teammates go through it, and then the roar of the crowd and all that kind of stuff. The intensity and energy was there, so I just wanted to not go too, too fast and make sure you’re executing the race. It can be kind of tempting to just spend all the energy the first 50,” said the 25-year-old Kelowna, B.C., native.
Asked if he was nervous, Dawson said, “I wasn’t 100 per cent nervous, but I was a little nervous.
“I’ve done the work to be able to do this and I know my teammates have as well,” added the Grande Prairie (Alta.) Piranhas swimmer, coached by his father Alex Dawson, whose national team staff responsibilities included this relay team.
Ingrid Wilm and Brooklyn Douthwright, who were part of the team in the morning heat, will also receive medals.
Masse continued her streak of earning at least one medal at ever major championships or Games she has competed in since 2015, an incredible 16 events in a row. She will have a chance to add to her total in the women’s 50-m backstroke final Thursday.
The 29-year-old from La Salle, Ont., who was fourth in the 100 back Tuesday, and Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm both advanced through Wednesday’s semifinals.
Wilm’s time of 27.48 was good for fifth seed in Thursday’s final, while Masse was one spot behind in 27.50. American Regan Smith paced the field in 27.23.
“I’ve been working on that first 25 and then just trying to carry my speed almost like a ball rolling down a hill effect from there on,” said Wilm, who trains with Scott Talbot at the High Performance Centre – Vancouver.
For the second straight night, a Canadian medal contender finished just off the podium. Montreal native Ilya Kharun’s time of 1:54.34 in the men’s 200-m butterfly was just 0.17 behind bronze medallist Harrison Turner of Australia. American Luca Urlando won in 1:51.87, followed by Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland (1:52.64).
Kharun, known for his back-end speed, led after the first 50 metres before falling back. He also finished ninth in the 50 butterfly earlier in the week.
“I just need to move on to the next race. I’ve got to do more training in that and that’s it,” said the 20-year-old bronze medallist in the event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, Summer McIntosh returned to the pool Wednesday and advanced through to the 200-m butterfly final.
McIntosh’s semifinal time of 2:06.22 was behind only Australian Elizabeth Dekkers (2:06.13).
“I just needed to make the final using the least amount of energy: mental, emotional, physical, all the things,” said McIntosh, who already has wins in the 400-m freestyle and 200-m individual medley so far at these worlds.
The 18-year-old from Toronto is the Olympic champion in the event, which she also won at her last two world championships in 2022 and 2023.
“I’m just going to rest, recover tomorrow morning and then get ready for the final tomorrow night, which I’m really excited about,” she said.
In other action Wednesday, Tristan Jankovics of Puslinch, Ont., finished 13th in the men’s 200-m individual medley. The 21-year-old Olympian swam a 1:59.13 after qualifying for semis with a 1:58.61 in his morning heat. France’s Leon Marchand set a world record 1:52.69 in the other semifinal.
Canada has four medals (two gold, two bronze) at the halfway mark of the eight-day pool competition at the 4,800-seat World Aquatics Championships Arena.
CBC Gem and CBC Sports are streaming prelims with international commentary live every day starting at 9:45 p.m. ET, with finals webcasts beginning at 6:45 a.m. ET. All streams can be found at this link: https://www.cbc.ca/player/sports/live
Radio-Canada Sports is broadcasting the swimming events on its Tou.tv platform: https://ici.tou.tv/section/sports with French commentary by Benoît Huot and René Pothier.
CBC TV will air broadcast shows Sunday, July 27, from noon-1 p.m. ET, Saturday, Aug. 2, from 4-6 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 3 from 2-3 p.m., with key races called by Rob Snoek and Byron MacDonald, as well as a post-event wrap-up show on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 4-6 p.m.
Reporter Devin Heroux is on site in the mixed zone speaking to Canadians following their races, and will join The Ready Room show live on YouTube every day after finals, with Brittany MacLean Campbell hosting from Toronto. The show will include Canadian highlights, athlete interviews and analysis. The show page can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLDsQU3UFA4hWNpRkQUQ9V2q1weYX0Z5t Swimming Canada and @cbcolympics are also posting content across their digital platforms.
Nearly 2,500 athletes from 206 registered countries are competing across six aquatic sports at Singapore 2025. A record 77 medal events will be contested, with a record prize money pool of more than $6 million US, in addition to a $30,000 world record bonus in swimming.
Full results: https://www.omegatiming.com/2025/world-aquatics-championships-swm-live-results