(Fukuoka) Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse finished just off the podium in the 100m backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday.
The holder of four Olympic medals and two world champion titles finished fourth, just ahead of her compatriot Ingrid Wilm.
Masse did not medal in this competition for the first time in four editions of the World Aquatics.
Australian Kaylee McKeown triumphed in 57.53 seconds, ahead of Americans Regan Smith (57.78) and Katharine Berkoff (58.25).
Masse, of Lasalle, Ont., completed the distance in 59.09 seconds, ahead of Wilm (59.31).
“I’m a little disappointed,” Masse admitted. “I feel like I can do better than 59 seconds, but for some reason I couldn’t do it today. I have to turn the page. I have a lot of races left so I have to keep things in perspective and continue to learn and grow throughout the competition,” she added.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Summer McIntosh qualified for Wednesday’s 200m freestyle final. The 16-year-old Torontonian will be looking to bounce back after missing out on the podium in the 400m freestyle last Sunday.
Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Trois-Rivières, finished 19th in the preliminaries with a time of 1:58.60.
For his part, Montrealer Ilya Kharun distinguished himself by scoring a Canadian record in the 200m butterfly, which allowed him to qualify for the final in this event.
Kharun, 18, lowered his Canadian record to 1:54.28 to qualify third for Wednesday’s 200 butterfly final. It eclipsed the previous mark of 1:54.49 he set earlier this year. “The last 50 meters were a little tough, but I felt really good,” said Kharun, who is competing at her first World Championships. I liked this race. I’m just happy to have lowered my best time. The group will certainly be very competitive in the final, and I will have to hang in there to finish in the top 3.”
On the other hand, American Katie Ledecky won gold after flying over the 1500m freestyle, while her compatriot Ryan Murphy took the top step of the podium in the 100m backstroke.
Ledecky dominated the race from start to finish and clocked 15 minutes and 26.27 seconds. It was his 15th individual title at the World Aquatics, equaling the mark of his compatriot Michael Phelps.
Ledecky pulverized the competition; she has not been edged in an event at Worlds or the Summer Olympics in over a decade. His fifth career victory in the 1500m allowed him to equal the mark of the Worlds in an individual event.
Italian Simona Quadarella finished 17 seconds behind Ledecky, while China’s Li Bingjie took bronze.
Ledecky will compete in the 800m on Saturday as she tries to become the only athlete in history to win six world titles in a single event.
Meanwhile, Murphy stunned world record holder Thomas Ceccon of Italy in the final 20 meters of the 100m backstroke to win in 52.22 seconds. Ceccon finished second in 52.27, ahead of American Hunter Armstrong in 52.58.
Murphy will again be the favorite in the 200 backstroke later at worlds.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte took gold in the 100m breaststroke in 1:04.62, ahead of South African Tatjana Schoenmaker and American Lydia Jacoby, respectively.
Britons Matthew Richards and Tom Dean unexpectedly achieved the double in the 200m freestyle, ahead of South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo.
Romanian David Popovici, world champion in 2022, was the favorite to win. However, he broke down in the final 15m when Richards, Dean and Hwang all passed him at high speed. He finished fourth.
Richards won in 1:44.30.
