Ledecky beats McIntosh to win 800-metre freestyle at world swim championship
SINGAPORE — A must-see race at the world swimming championship lived up to its billing.
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The Toronto teenager, Olympic champion Katie Ledecky of the United States and Lani Pallister of Australia battled from the blocks to the wall with Ledecky claiming her seventh world title in the distance.
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McIntosh, seeking a fourth-straight gold medal in Singapore, ran second to the American star before making her move at the final turn for a brief lead after 700 metres.
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But Ledecky surged and delivered the knockout punch over the final 50 with Pallister closing fast behind her.
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Ledecky touched the wall in eight minutes, 5.62 seconds with Pallister less than four-tenths of a second behind. McIntosh ran out of gas and touched the wall 1.67 seconds after Ledecky.
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McIntosh will come up short in her goal of five gold medals in her five individual events.
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However, the 18-year-old is the favourite and world-record holder in the women's 400-metre individual medley on Sunday's last day of competition.
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McIntosh became the first Canadian to win three gold medals in a single world championship with victories in the 400 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
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Montreal's Ilya Kharun took bronze in the men's 100-metre butterfly Saturday to give Canada eight medals at the world aquatics championships — seven in swimming and one in diving.
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Toronto Sun
24 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Canada's McIntosh grabs fourth gold to cap dominant world swimming championships
Published Aug 03, 2025 • 1 minute read Best Female Swimmer Summer McIntosh of Team Canada and Best Male Swimmer Leon Marchand of Team France pose with their trophies during the medal ceremony on day 24 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on August 03, 2025 in Singapore. Photo by Adam Pretty / Getty Images SINGAPORE — Canada's Summer McIntosh capped a dominant world swimming championships with her fourth gold medal on Sunday, winning the women's 400-metre individual medley in championship-record time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The 18-year-old from Toronto touched in four minutes 25.78 seconds, well ahead of Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita, who tied for silver in 4:33.26. Zidi Yu, the 12-year-old phenom from China, finished fourth in 4:33.76. McIntosh also claimed gold in the 200 butterfly, 200 medley and 400 freestyle in Singapore. Her bid for a record five golds ended Saturday as American star Katie Ledecky won the 800 freestyle ahead of Australia's Lani Pallister. McIntosh settled for bronze in the event. McIntosh now has 13 career medals at the world championships, including eight gold. Also Sunday, Canada's men's 4×100 medley relay team placed sixth, while the women's 4×100 medley relay team, which included McIntosh, finished fifth in the final event of the meet. McIntosh accounted for five of Canada's eight swimming medals at the world aquatics championships. Adding to the tally were Montreal's Ilya Kharun in the men's 100 butterfly, Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Laval, Que., in the women's 200 individual medley, and the 4×100 mixed medley relay team — all earning bronze. Montreal's Simone Leathead added a silver in the women's 20-metre high dive, her first career medal at worlds. Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Toronto Blue Jays Sunshine Girls Homes Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA
National Post
24 minutes ago
- National Post
Canada's McIntosh grabs fourth gold to cap dominant world swimming championships
SINGAPORE — Canada's Summer McIntosh capped a dominant world swimming championships with her fourth gold medal on Sunday, winning the women's 400-metre individual medley in championship-record time. Article content The 18-year-old from Toronto touched in four minutes 25.78 seconds, well ahead of Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita, who tied for silver in 4:33.26. Article content Article content Article content Zidi Yu, the 12-year-old phenom from China, finished fourth in 4:33.76. Article content McIntosh also claimed gold in the 200 butterfly, 200 medley and 400 freestyle in Singapore. Article content Her bid for a record five golds ended Saturday as American star Katie Ledecky won the 800 freestyle ahead of Australia's Lani Pallister. McIntosh settled for bronze in the event. Article content McIntosh now has 13 career medals at the world championships, including eight gold. Article content Also Sunday, Canada's men's 4×100 medley relay team placed sixth, while the women's 4×100 medley relay team, which included McIntosh, finished fifth in the final event of the meet. Article content McIntosh accounted for five of Canada's eight swimming medals at the world aquatics championships. Adding to the tally were Montreal's Ilya Kharun in the men's 100 butterfly, Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Laval, Que., in the women's 200 individual medley, and the 4×100 mixed medley relay team — all earning bronze. Article content
CBC
25 minutes ago
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Anything is Pospisil: Retiring B.C. tennis star says 'if you set your mind to something you can achieve it'
Social Sharing Vasek Pospisil has hung up his racket. On July 27, the 35-year-old from Vernon, B.C., played his last professional match in the Canadian Open against Argentina's Facundo Bagnis. While he lost the match, he certainly won the hearts of those in the stands, who rose for a standing ovation. He described his final moments in professional tennis as "perfect." Pospisil's retirement comes after nearly two decades of playing professionally. He's played in two Olympics, won a Wimbledon title and won the Davis Cup — Canada's first Davis Cup, that is. Tennis Canada has referred to him as "one of the most important Canadian tennis players of all time." And while Pospisil is now retired, he said tennis will always be part of his life. "I'm definitely going to stay close to this sport," he said. "I'll have a soft spot for the rest of my life for this sport for sure." He spoke with CBC's The Early Edition after his final match. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. What was that final match and that standing ovation like for you? I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to play my final match on home soil in front of my family and friends, and fans. It was just as much of a family project as it was my own. So it was just important to me that my family was there for the last one. It was perfect. I feel like it went just the way it was supposed to go. I was grateful for the opportunity and very grateful for the career that I've had. What are some highlights from your career? Off the top of my head immediately, the first one that comes to mind is my breakthrough event in Montreal in 2013, where I made the semifinals, the Masters there and had my first top-10 win. That was just incredible because it just kind of came a little bit out of nowhere. I mean, I was building momentum, but it was my breakthrough event. So that was very special. And then the other two would be winning the Wimbledon title. And then, of course, Davis Cup, that one probably felt the most special of all. What was it like in the early days in Vernon, playing tennis? It was interesting. There were not very many players, at least back when I was growing up; it was very tough to find good competition and improve. My dad and I would go in and play on the public courts, and he would just feed baskets side to side, and you just have to kind of grind. Then, when I was 12 years old, I left Vernon and started travelling more, playing internationally and trying to develop the game, which was extremely important. It's definitely unusual for a tennis professional to be coming from a town like Vernon, that's for sure. Who did you look up to as a young tennis player? When Roger Federer started coming on tour, he was my favourite for many years. You know, before that, it was Patrick Rafter; I was always a huge fan of his game. Within Canada was Daniel Nestor. It was a dream of mine to represent Canada. From the beginning, it was just something I really, really wanted to do. To meet Daniel for the first time was crazy. And playing doubles with him for the first time. So he was a big role model and someone I looked up to a lot in the country. Tell us more about your dad's role. He coached me for 15 years. And when I was 20 years old, I started working with another coach, which was his decision. So that was good. I would have never fired my dad, probably. So it's a good thing that he passed the torch. From that point, he never really got overly involved, took a back seat. He's a very smart man. He did everything the right way. What would you say to a young kid in Vernon who has just started their tennis career now? Anything is possible. If you put in the work and you persevere through tough periods, and you really set your mind to something — a goal or dream or vision — you can achieve it. It's really just about mindset. Making the right decisions along the way is obviously easier said than done, but you have to always, always make the best decision that you know that you can at the time. And whether that's potentially leaving a town like Vernon at a certain age to enhance your development, that would be considered one of the decisions you have to be very careful about. But it doesn't matter where you're from. If you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. You and Novak Djokovic founded the Professional Tennis Players Association in 2019, and just this March, the group filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women's and men's tours, the International Tennis Federation, among others. What's the main issue? The main point is monopolistic control that the tours have attained, which is unfortunately stifling the growth of the sport. It's created a lack of proper representation for players, price fixing, schedule abuse. There are many different things, but those are kind of the primary. I've been around for many, many years in the sport and tried to represent my peers as best I could when I was on the council. But going through that whole journey, that whole process was very, very evident that you can't really get anything done. Players don't really have a voice, and we're not treated as business partners the way that we should be in such a global business. So it's something that's very, very important for the sport. Just knowing how much you have to sacrifice, how much work goes in from a young age, you know, to get to the top of the game. I kind of felt like it was my duty that I had to fight for that. I was fighting for myself, and I started obviously in my late 20s, but I was also fighting for my peers. And now at this point, it's fighting for the future of the sport in the next generation. So I think it's very important that people are bringing a certain amount of value to whatever business or industry that they get, that their compensation is reflected accordingly and that they have some kind of voice within their industry. What's next for you?
