Canada caps Olympic swimming with eight medals

PARIS – Canada’s relay teams couldn’t necktie a front connected 1 of country’s astir successful Olympic aquatics meets Sunday, but nan team’s extent produced a grounds number of medals successful individual events successful Paris.

Eight medals successful individual distances, including Summer McIntosh’s 3 golden and a silver, was nan astir astatine a non-boycotted Summer Games.

Canada’s big squad successful Montreal successful 1976 besides won 8 medals, but 3 successful relays. Canadian swimmers produced 10 medals successful nan 1984 boycotted Games successful Los Angeles, including 2 relays.

Canada classed 3rd successful wide medals successful Paris down juggernaut United States pinch 28 and Australia pinch 18, and up of big France’s seven. The French classed up of Canada successful gold, however, pinch 4 from Leon Marchand.

McIntosh moved into a caller athletics stratosphere arsenic Canada’s first triple golden medallist astatine an Olympic Games, wintertime aliases summer. She will beryllium 21 years aged successful Los Angeles successful 2028.

“It’s been benignant of immoderate of nan craziest days of my life this past week and a bit, truthful conscionable trying to soak successful this infinitesimal and cognize that this does only travel astir each 4 years,” she said. “I’m already reasoning astir L.A. to beryllium honest.”

McIntosh captured golden successful nan 200-metre butterfly and 400 and 200 individual medleys, and produced 2 Olympic records doing it. She laid nan instauration for those swims pinch a 400-metre metallic connected opening night.

“It’s caller territory,” said Swimming Canada high-performance head John Atkinson.

“When you are groundbreaking successful doing those things, aiming for individual medals and relays, it’s a difficult ask. Not galore athletes person done that. You’re talking Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, (Mark) Spitz, Leon Marchand, and Summer McIntosh. She lives successful that class now.”

The Toronto teen didn’t get a storybook conclusion Sunday of a 5th medal, which would person tied speedskater Cindy Klassen for nan astir by a Canadian astatine immoderate Olympic Games.

The freestyle anchor limb of nan women’s medley relay was McIntosh’s 13th title successful 9 days, from her freestyle heats connected opening greeting to nan medley relays that closed retired nan competition.

Backstroker Kylie Masse, breaststroker Sophie Angus and butterfly master Maggie Mac Neil kept Canada successful silver-medal position and McIntosh ran 2nd astatine nan turn.

The 17-year-old couldn’t clasp it, however, and was overtaken by eventual metallic medallist Australia and bronze medallist China connected nan location agelong down nan victorious U.S.

“Going into today, I conscionable tried to time off everything I person near successful nan pool,” McIntosh said. “No one’s emotion caller Day 9, truthful everyone’s benignant of successful nan aforesaid boat. I conscionable tried my champion for Canada.”

For each Canada’s occurrence astatine La Defense Arena, nan 7 relays were unopen retired of nan medals, including 4th spot successful each 3 women’s relays.

“Definitely hard,” said Mac Neil, who has said Paris was her past Olympic Games. “This was our champion changeable to get connected that podium, and we were ace close, but it’s been a agelong week, and it’s what we trained for. We put up a bully conflict today.”

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The men’s medley relay vanished 5th Sunday.

Women won each six swimming medals successful Rio and six again successful Tokyo 3 years ago. Joshua Liendo’s metallic and Ilya Kharun’s double bronze marked a resurgence connected nan men’s side.

Atkinson had predicted “six and beyond” for Paris and nan squad delivered.

“You person to beryllium happy pinch that,” said Atkinson. “We’ve seen history made connected truthful galore levels.”

Aside from McIntosh’s heroics, Toronto’s Liendo became nan first Black Canadian to triumph an Olympic badge pinch a butterfly silver. He and Kharun, who won metallic and bronze successful nan 100 fly, achieved nan first-ever double podium for Canadian antheral swimmers successful an Olympic event.

Masse was nan first Canadian swimmer to triumph medals successful 3 consecutive Games successful individual events pinch her bronze. Canadians reached 20 finals successful Paris, compared to 13 successful Tokyo and 15 successful Rio, Atkinson added. They vanished 4th sixth times successful Paris.

“You look astatine it, you ever deliberation … possibly could person sewage a spot more, but that’s what capacity athletics is,” Atkinson said. “You benignant of rotation pinch it. You effort to person arsenic galore of nan opportunities that you person erstwhile you’re present and prolong it for 9 days.”

While different countries pinch less contenders had cleared their instrumentality and cogwheel retired of La Defense by Sunday’s finale, Canada’s massage tables, medicine balls, rollers and mats were still location and support unit was still prepping athletes Sunday.

“That shows you wherever nan depth’s at,” Atkinson said. “We’re not packed up until nan past title is done.”

This study by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2024.