Liendo Shatters World Record in 100m Butterfly at Swimming World Cup in Toronto
TORONTO – Josh liendo set a new short course world record in the menS 100m butterfly at the Swimming World Cup stop in Toronto on Thursday, finishing with a time of 48.84 seconds. The performance marks a important achievement for the Canadian swimmer, building on his recent successes.
Liendo recently finished second to Montreal’s Ilya Kharun at the Canadian swimming trials in Victoria in June, though Kharun later claimed the bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore two months later, where Liendo placed fourth.
Last year, Liendo became the first Black Canadian swimmer to win an Olympic medal, capturing silver in Paris adn being named swimming Canada’s male swimmer of the year. He and Kharun were the first Canadian men to reach the podium in the 100 fly since Bruce Robertson’s silver in Munich in 1972.
elsewhere at the meet, hungary’s Hubert Kos set a world record in the men’s 200 backstroke, winning in 1:45.12, surpassing the previous record of 1:45.63 held by Australian Mitchell Larkin.Americans Regan Smith, gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass and Shane Casas, australians Lani Pallister and Kaylee McKeown, Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick and kos each won their respective events, receiving a $10,000 prize.
McKeown won the women’s 50 backstroke in a World Cup record of 25.35, defeating a field boasting 32 Olympic medals. Five-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse of LaSalle,Ont., finished fourth in 25.69, stating, “I’m really proud, honestly…It would have been amazing to be on the podium there. I’m definitely a little bit sad that I wasn’t able to do that. I kind of messed up my touch a little bit. But that’s really close to my personal best.”
Canadian star Summer McIntosh is not participating in the series due to illness.
Competition continues through Saturday, with live streaming coverage available on CBC Sports and CBC Gem, each day at 10 a.m. ET (preliminaries) and 6 p.m. (finals).
