Summer McIntosh, Ilya Kharun to Lead Canada at World Short-Course Championships
Summer McIntosh and Ilya Kharun are among 15 Olympians comprising the 18-person Canadian squad for the World Short Course Championships in December.
The team was released on Wednesday by Swimming Canada. It’s headlined by McIntosh, who won three gold medals and one silver at the Paris Olympics this summer. Kharun, who won two bronze medals, and bronze medalist Kylie Masse, mean that seven of the Canada’s eight medals at the Paris Games will be accounted for. Kharun made his big breakthrough at Short-Course Worlds in 2022 with silver in the 100 fly in a world junior record.
“I am excited to end 2024 with the World Aquatics short course championships at one of my favorite venues and cities in the world,” McIntosh said in a press release. “Team Canada typically brings a smaller team with a lot of spirit ready to embrace another opportunity to go up against the very best. It should be a lot of fun to race short course meters for the first time in a couple of years and great to see everyone again.”
McIntosh has said she’ll use the short-course season to perhaps play with her already voluminous event program.
The meet will be held Dec. 10-15 in Budapest.
Two notable newcomers are up-and-coming teens. Alexanne Lepage is a two-time junior world champion. Oliver Dawson was one of the stars of last month’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
“I’m excited to be named to my first senior team,” Dawson said. “I look forward to competing against some of the best swimmers in the world. I’m ready to embrace this incredible opportunity and give my all, making unforgettable memories while representing my country on the world stage.”
The missing Paris medalist is Josh Liendo, the silver medalist in the 100 fly, who won’t take part. Female veterans Maggie Mac Neil and Taylor Ruck are also absent. Mac Neil won gold in the 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly (tied with Torri Huske) and the 100 fly at the last edition of the championships in 2022, setting world records in the 50 back and 100 fly. She’s the two-time reigning champion in both of those events.
Finlay Knox won a pair of bronze medals, in the 100 individual medley and 200 IM, at the last edition of the meet in 2022. He’ll be back, though the silver medalist in the former, Javier Acevedo, won’t take part. Sydney Pickrem, who won a world title in the 200 IM in 2021, is on the roster. Penny Oleksiak, who swam only in relays at the Paris Olympics, is taking part in her first Short-Course World Championships since 2016.
“As we move forward from a very successful summer that was focused on the Paris Olympic Games and backed up with our most successful Junior Pan Pacs performance, it is great to announce the world 25m championships team for Budapest as the first event in the quad to Los Angeles 2028,” High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson said. “We have some great potential on this team and a blend of medal-winning experience and new athletes to the senior team.”
Canada at the 2024 World Short-Course Championships
Sophia Angus, Emma Finlin, Mary-Sophie Harvey, Alexanne Lepage, Kylie Masse, Summer McIntosh, Penny Oleksiak, Sydney Pickrem, Regan Rathwell, Ingrid Wilm, Alex Axon, Timothe Barbeau, Oliver Dawson, Tristan Jankovics, Ilya Kharun, Yuri Kisil, Finlay Knox, Blake Tierney