Penny Oleksiak narrowly misses 100m freestyle podium at worlds
Penny Oleksiak will not be awarded her first individual medal at the worlds.
The Toronto native placed fourth in the women’s 100-metre freestyle at the world aquatics championships on Thursday in Budapest, Hungary, touching an agonizing 0.06 seconds behind bronze medallist Torri Huske of the U.S.
Canada’s eighth appearance in Hungary would have been on the podium, which would have tied the 2019 worlds team record. It also would have been Oleksiak’s eighth career medal at worlds, breaking a tie with Kylie Masse.
Oleksiak, 22, won gold in the 100m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Mollie O’Callaghan from Australia won the top spot in Thursday’s race in 52.67 seconds. Sarah Sjoestroem, the Swedish world record holder, took silver in 52.80 seconds.
WATCH: Oleksiak finishes fourth in 100m freestyle.| Oleksiak finishes 4th in 100m freestyle:
Penny Oleksiak from Toronto was 0.06 seconds behind the podium in the women’s 100 metre freestyle final. She came in fourth with a time 52.98 seconds. Mollie O’Callaghan from Australia won the race, beating Sarah Sjoestroem (Sweden) and Torri Huske (America). Kayla Sanchez, from Toronto, finished sixth.
Canada’s Kayla Sánchez placed sixth in 53.59 Seconds
Oleksiak, who was third at the halfway mark, was in the medal hunt throughout the race. It seemed to work out well for Oleksiak, who is usually among the fastest finishers.
But it was not to be. Oleksiak touched in 52.98 second, just behind Huske’s 52.92.
O’Callaghan won her first world title. Sjoestroem, however, won her 17th individual medal at the worlds. She is second only to Michael Phelps who had 20. Sjoestroem won her fifth world record medal, but she has never been awarded gold.
Simone Manuel, the defending champion, was absent from the race alongside Siobhan Haughey, Shayna Jackson, Emma McKeon, and Cate Campbell.
The significance of swimming in Lane 4:| The significance of swimming in Lane 4:
In a swim final, athletes are given different lanes and their placement can help you see who is up against whom. Jacqueline Doorey explains.
Canada’s Kelsey Wog, like Oleksiak also finished in fourth place.
With a time of 2:23.86, the Winnipeg native just missed out on the medals in women’s 200m breaststroke. Wog, 23 years old, was aiming for her first career medal at an international meet.
She missed the finals of the 100m and 200m breaststrokes at her Olympic debut, Tokyo. She placed sixth at 2019 worlds.
Wog was the fastest to react at the start of the race with 0.64 seconds. He kept close contact throughout the race with the leaders, but could not break through.
American Lilly King placed fifth at the 150 metre mark. She won gold in 2 :22.41 ahead of Jenna Strauch (Australian silver medallist, 2:23.04), as well as Kate Douglass (U.S. bronze medallist, 2:23.20).
Swimming coach saves swimmer who fainted in pool| Swimmer saved by U.S. coach after fainting in pool:
After Anita Alvarez fainted during her performance, Coach Andrea Fuentes dived in to help. She sank to bottom of the pool.
Liendo continues impressive meet
Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Josh Liendo — who won his first-career medal at worlds (a bronze) in the 100m freestyle — continued his impressive meet by winning his semifinal in the 100m butterfly in 51.14 seconds.
The time was the third-fastest overall, setting the 19-year-old up to contend for another podium appearance in the final on Friday at 12:44 p.m. ET.
Liendo, from Markham, Ont., took second place in his 50m Freestyle semifinal. He touched in 21.73 seconds, which was the third-quickest overall time.
Liendo will now race two finals in a very short time on Friday. The 50m freestyle race is scheduled for 12:09 p.m. ET.
WATCH | Liendo details confidence after winning bronze:
After winning bronze in the men’s 100m freestyle, Josh Liendo, 19, speaks to Brenda Irving of CBC.
Masse was also at the pool on Thursday. She put herself in a position to break the tie and claim the individual Canadian mark.
The 26-year old from LaSalle, Ont. placed third in her semifinal and sixth overall for the 200m backstroke in a time 2:09.37. Friday will see her race for a gold medal at 12:53 pm. ET.
Oleksiak completed the anchor leg to help Canada win bronze at the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay. She now has seven career world championship medals with Masse.
Later, Canada’s Katerine Sabourd did not qualify for the women’s 50m breaststroke final.
Source: CBC News
