Summer McIntosh will have another chance to earn her first Olympic swimming medal on Saturday afternoon.
The Canadian teen sensation qualified fourth for the women’s 400-metre freestyle final at 2:52 p.m. ET, posting a time of four minutes 2.65 seconds in her heat at La Defense Arena in Paris.
McIntosh, 17, was fourth (4:02.42) in the race in her 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo, and will look to become only the second Canadian to reach the Olympic medal podium in the women’s event, joining Shannon Smith (bronze, 1976 in Montreal).
“Smooth, controlled and relaxed,” is how CBC Sports analyst Brittany MacLean described McIntosh’s performance.
McIntosh, who hails from Toronto, captured silver medals in the 400 free in 2022 at the Commonwealth Games and world championships.
McIntosh also has a spot in the 400 individual medley — in which she holds the world record — 200 butterfly and 200 medley in Paris, and could be part of as many as four relay events.
WATCH | McIntosh secures spot in Olympic 400m freestyle final:
Toronto’s Summer McIntosh qualifies fourth for the women’s 400-metre freestyle final with a time of four minutes 2.65 seconds in her heat.
And there is an opportunity for her to surpass Penny Oleksiak’s four-medal haul from 2016 in Rio, the Canadian record for a single Summer Games.
In Saturday’s heat, McIntosh finished 1-10th of a second behind winner Erika Fairweather of New Zealand.
American Katie Ledecky (4:02.19) took the third and final heat over Australian rival and world record holder Ariarne Titmus (4:02.46).
WATCH | McIntosh speaks with CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux before Paris Olympics:
CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux speaks with 17-year-old swimming sensation from Toronto one week out from the start of the Olympics.
Side-by-side showdown
Titmus, known as “The Terminator,” got off to a fast start but couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Ledecky on the final lap. Titmus posted the second-fastest time in the preliminaries, setting up a side-by-side showdown with Ledecky in the final.
She didn’t mind finishing behind Ledecky in the prelims.
“The only job for me was just to get in the middle lanes,” Titmus said. “I tried to conserve as much as I could.”
Ledecky captured 2016 Olympic gold, followed by Titmus five years later.
Ledecky is looking to add to her haul of six individual gold medals, already the most by any female swimmer in Olympic history. She’s a heavy favourite in both the 800 and 1,500 freestyle.
The atmosphere was raucous at La Defense Arena in the western Paris suburbs, where a crowd of some 15,000 packed the indoor stadium that is best known as home of famed rugby club Racing 92.
“I have never swum in front of a huge crowd that’s firing quite like that,” Titmus said. “It’s going to be crazy to see what it’s like tonight for finals.”
Tokyo bronze medallist Li Bingjie and Chinese teammate Liu Yaxin finished ninth and 10th, respectively, and failed to advance to Saturday’s final.
Their team has been under intense scrutiny after reports that nearly two dozen swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the 2021 Olympics but were not sanctioned.
WATCH | CBC Sports’ Brittany MacLean: ‘You can expect a little tension on that first day’:
CBC swimming analyst Brittany MacLean sums up the Team Canada swimmers that are advancing to the finals.
Aiming for butterfly gold repeat
Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., will continue her quest at making Olympic history on Saturday afternoon.
She qualified seventh for the women’s 100 butterfly semifinals at 2:30 p.m., finishing second in her heat in 57 seconds flat, 28-100ths behind American Torri Huske.
“A solid swim and she did the job, and that’s all that matters,” MacLean said.
Mac Neil will try to become the first repeat champion in the event after setting a 55.59 personal best to win the 2021 Olympic final in Tokyo. Sunday’s final is scheduled for 2:40 p.m.
The 24-year-old is also eyeing the 55.18 world record, set by Gretchen Walsh of the United States on June 14 in Indianapolis.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem boasts the Olympic mark of 55.48 from 2016 in Rio.
China’s Zhang Yufei was fastest in the prelims at 56.50, while Walsh moved to the semifinals with the fourth-best time of 56.75. Zhang was the silver medallist in this event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Mac Neil, a former Louisiana State University athlete, continued to live and train in Baton Rouge for a portion of her Olympic preparation while completing her master of science in sports management.
Before COVID-19 hit in early 2020, Mac Neil had planned to leave competitive swimming after the Tokyo Olympics, which was rescheduled to 2021, but felt she missed swimming opportunities during the global pandemic and opted to extend her career.
“I know I’m not going another quad [four-year Olympic cycle], I’ve never wanted to [compete] to 2028,” she told CBC Sports in February. “I want to go to law school in the next couple of years.”
Rebecca Smith of Red Deer, Alta., was last in her eight-woman heat in 58.85 on Saturday and did not advance.
Other Canadian results:
- Men’s 4×100 relay team of Finlay Knox, Yuri Kisil, Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo qualified fifth (3:12.77) for Saturday final at 3:44 p.m. China posted the best time at 3:11.62. There’s been an order change for the final, with Canada now lining up Josh Liendo, Yuri Kisil, Finlay Knox and Javier Acevedo.
- Women’s 4×100 relay squad (Penny Oleksiak, Mary-Sophie Harvey, Brooklyn Douthwright, Taylor Ruck) was sixth of eight teams advancing to 3:34 p.m. final with 3:35.29 clocking. Australia qualified first in 3:31.57. Oleksiak had the Canadians sitting second following her opening leg. For the final, Canada has confirmed a lineup change. Summer McIntosh, Taylor Ruck, Maggie Mac Neil and Penny Oleksiak will compete, in that order.
The swimming competition runs through Aug. 4.