Weekend Roundup: Big weekend for aquatics, Arop bronze at Diamond League
It was a busy weekend for Canada as the World Aquatics Championships continued in Fukuoka, Japan. Diving competition came to a wrap, while the highly anticipated swimming events are just getting started.
Among Canada’s successes were two diving podium performances and a first medal in the swimming pool. Plus the Canadian women’s water polo team are assured of being top-eight in the world.
In non-aquatics news, Marco Arop stood on the podium at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday and Canada’s women’s soccer team is preparing for its next match taking place on Wednesday against Ireland at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Here’s a quick look back at what else you might have missed:
Diving: Ware, McKay capture bronze medals
On Friday, Pamela Ware captured bronze in the women’s 3m springboard event for her second career world championship bronze medal in the event. It comes a decade after her first and is her fourth career world championship medal overall. By advancing to the final, Ware qualified Canada one Olympic quota spot in the event for Paris 2024.
READ: Pamela Ware wins 3m springboard bronze at World Aquatics Championships
This added to Caeli McKay‘s bronze in the women’s 10m platform on Wednesday, her first career medal at the World Aquatics Championships. On Saturday, Nathan Zsombor-Murray added a seventh place finish in the men’s 10m platform. Both of those results secured one Olympic quota spot for Canada in each individual platform event.
Swimming: MacNeil secures Canada’s first swimming medal at worlds
On Monday morning, Maggie MacNeil secured Team Canada’s first medal in the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships. She swam her way to silver in the women’s 100m butterfly. MacNeil, who is the reigning Olympic champion, clocked in at 56.45 seconds.
READ: Maggie Mac Neil swims to 100 fly silver at World Aquatics Championships
That followed a near-podium performance by Summer McIntosh on Sunday, as she placed fourth in what was billed as the headline race of the meet. It was a face off against swimming legends Australian Ariarne Titmus and American Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle. At the Canadian Trials in late March, 16-year-old McIntosh had set the world record in the event. Titmus took the world record back as she won the gold medal in 3:55.38. She was followed by Ledecky and Erika Fairweather of New Zealand in the silver and bronze medal spots.
It was not the end of the day for McIntosh though, who refocused for the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay final. The Canadian team of McIntosh, MacNeil, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Taylor Ruck finished seventh with a time of 3:36.62. Team Australia took the gold and another world record, finishing in 3:27.96.
Team Canada was also in action in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Josh Liendo, Ruslan Gaziev, Finlay Knox and Javier Acevedo secured a fifth-place finish in 3:12.05. Team Australia also took gold in the event, swimming 3:10.16.
Team Canada’s backstroke specialists, Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm both advance to their 100m final taking place on Tuesday.
READ: 5 Team Canada swimming stories to watch at 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Water Polo: Top eight for Canadian women
Also at the World Aquatics Championships, the Canadian’s women’s water polo team made it to the quarterfinals of their tournament. After finishing second in their group, they defeated South Africa 21-6 on Saturday morning to advance from the Round of 16. But they ran into a tough Dutch team on Monday in the quarterfinals and ended up on the wrong side of a 17-10 score.
Canada will now play classification matches to determine their placement from fifth to eighth. First up will be a game against the United States on Wednesday. The Americans were defeated 8-7 by Italy in their quarterfinal, a bit of a shocker since the U.S. had won the last four women’s world titles and had won 26 straight matches at the world championships dating back to 2015.
The Canadian men will play in classification matches to determine the placements from ninth to 12th. They lost 13-10 to the United States in their Round of 16 match on Sunday.
Athletics: Marco Arop back on the podium!
Marco Arop finished third in the men’s 800m at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday, stopping the clock at 1:43.51. Arop has been very close to upgrading the Canadian record twice this season. It currently sits at 1:43.20, a mark set by Brandon McBride in 2018.
The Canadian Track & Field Championships start Thursday in Langley, B.C.
Skateboarding: Ryan Decenzo takes bronze at X Games California
Skateboarder Ryan Decenzo won bronze in the men’s street skateboard event at the X Games in California. The Canadian phenom’s best performance came on his first run, when he recorded a total of 88.00 points, good enough for 3rd place.
Soccer: Canada prepares for Ireland at FIFA Women’s World Cup
Team Canada began the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Thursday night with their first game against Nigeria. Despite being the reigning Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020, the Canadian team enters the tournament ranked seventh.
After a scoreless draw with No. 40 Nigeria, the Canadians turn their attention to their next match of Pool B play against No. 22 ranked Ireland. Ireland is coming off a 1-0 loss to No. 10 Australia.
READ: Canada kicks off World Cup journey with 0-0 game vs Nigeria
While not the result they had hoped for, an early tie has served Team Canada in the past. They opened their Olympic tournament with a 1-1 draw against Japan at Tokyo 2020 before going on to win it all.
3×3 Basketball: Canada’s run in Bordeaux ends in semis
Canada’s 3×3 women’s team fell 22-13 to China in the semifinals of the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series stop in Bordeaux, France on Thursday. The loss came after a 19-15 victory against Neftchi in the quarterfinals and was the first loss in four contests for the Canadians in Bordeaux.
Canada was represented by Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon and Katherine Plouffe, along with Team Canada 5×5 veteran Jamie Scott who was filling in for Michelle Plouffe at the Bordeaux stop.
Next up, the Canadians will compete on home soil for the first time this year as the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series comes to Edmonton, beginning July 29. Michelle Plouffe will rejoin her usual teammates for those two days of competition.
