Canada’s 4×50-metre medley relay races to fourth at world championships

MELBOURNE, Australia – Ilya Kharun rewrote his Canadian record twice at the FINA world short-course swimming championship on Saturday.

Kharun, who was born in Montreal and lives in Las Vegas, lowered his national mark in the 100-metre butterfly to 49.66 in his morning heat. He shaved another hundredth of a second to 49.65 in his semifinal.

That was good for fifth spot heading into Sunday’s final. “It was great. I’m a bit tired right now, but overall it’s a great feeling,” the 17-year-old said. “Hopefully I’ll be good (Sunday).” Kharun was one of three Canadians to advance through semifinals on the penultimate day of the meet.

Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil, who set a world record a day earlier in the 50 backstroke, advanced to the final in the 100 butterfly as the third seed.

And teammate Katerine Savard advanced with the eighth fastest time.

The women’s 4×50-metre medley relay of Kyle Masse, Sydney Pickrem, Mac Neil and Taylor Ruck finished fourth, lowering the previous Canaidan record by 0.6 seconds.

“For us to do a 50 (metre leg) is always fun. Really none of us specialize in a 50 so it’s nice that we get to do it all together,” Pickrem said. “Fourth in the world is not bad with all of them being a lot of sprint girls, so it feels good to just get our hand on the wall and see what we can do.”

The host Australians set a world record of 1:42.35 to win. The United States took the silver (1:42.41) while Sweden (1:42.43) was third.

Canada has captured nine medals so far at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. “It’s been a great week so far with strong performances through the semifinals tonight to set up for a great final night,” said team leader Iain McDonald.

“Session after session the team has gotten up and accomplished what’s needed to be done to get to the next step.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2022.

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