World Aquatics Championships: McIntosh secures third gold, Marchand strikes in 200m individual medley

Canadian swimming star Summer McIntosh secured her third gold medal in the ongoing World Aquatics Championships, being held in Singapore on Thursday (July 31), dominating the 200m butterfly but falling agonisingly short of a new world record. The 18-year-old Olympic champion touched in 2:01.99, just 0.18 seconds shy of the 2009 mark of 2:01.81 set by China’s Liu Zige — the second-fastest swim in history. American Regan Smith took silver in 2:04.99, while Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers claimed bronze in 2:06.12.

Chinese prodigy Yu Zidi, just 12 years old, finished fourth with timing of 2:06.43. The victory keeps McIntosh on course to join Michael Phelps as only the second swimmer to win five individual titles at a single world championships. She has already won in the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley.

"My coach and I, our big goal was to break that world record and that was what we were training for," McIntosh was quoted saying. "To see that I missed it by that little -- overall really happy with the time and PB (personal best) but I did not reach my goal tonight."

McIntosh’s next challenge is the 800m freestyle, where she will face legendary American Katie Ledecky, a four-time Olympic champion and world record holder. McIntosh, however, recently clocked the third-fastest time ever in the event, giving her plenty of confidence.

Yu Zidi, meanwhile, continues to amaze. She also reached the final of the 200m individual medley, finishing fourth once again — missing a medal by just 0.06 seconds. A bronze would have made her the youngest world championships medallist since the competition began in 1973.

In the men’s events, France’s Leon Marchand added another chapter to his glittering career, winning the 200m individual medley in 1:53.68 — the second-fastest time in history. American Shaine Casas bagged silver (1:54.30) and Hungary’s Hubert Kos took bronze (1:55.34). The victory came just a day after Marchand smashed the world record in the event during the semi-finals, clocking 1:52.69 to obliterate Ryan Lochte’s 2011 record of 1:54.00.

Marchand, 23, returned to competition only in May after a post-Olympics break, having won four individual golds at the Paris Games last year. In Singapore, he is targeting only the medley events. "I'm just so happy to be at my highest level right now, competing in front of this pretty cool crowd," the 23-year-old was quoted saying in an interview.