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

By The Canadian Press on December 17, 2022.

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.”