Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh produced a dominant performance to claim gold in the women’s 400m individual medley on Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games on Friday.
The 15-year-old phenom set a new Games record as he hit the wall in a time of 4:29.01 at the Sandwell Aquatics Center in Birmingham, England.
The Toronto native cruised to victory, finishing 7.77 seconds ahead of silver medalist Kiah Melverton of Australia. It is Canada’s second medal and first gold at these Games.
Scotland’s Katie Shanahan took bronze with a time of 4:39.37.
LOOK | McIntosh wins Canada’s first gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:
Summer McIntosh takes Canada’s first Commonwealth Games gold in the 400m IM
Summer McIntosh takes Canada’s first Commonwealth Games gold in the 400m IM
Fellow Canadians Ella Jansen (4:40.17) and Tessa Cieplucha (4:42.27) finished fifth and eighth, respectively.
McIntosh posted the fastest qualifying time earlier Friday in 4:36.72. She won gold at the event in Budapest last month to become Canada’s youngest swimming world champion.
McIntosh is the third-fastest player in the history of the event and is closing in on the world record of 4:26.36 set by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
“I was excited to get my time back from worlds and see what I can do to improve,” McIntosh said. “I’ve been working on a lot of things in training to be able to run my 400m IM better than I did at worlds, because I had a lot of room for improvement and still have.”
Canada added one more medal to the pool later Friday by taking bronze in the 4x100m freestyle medley relay.
The team of Javier Acevedo, Josh Liendo, Rebecca Smith and Maggie Mac Neil finished third in a time of 3:24.86, fending off a Welsh team in fourth place thanks to the strong anchor leg of McNeil.
Australia, who set the world record at the world championships last month, won gold in 3:21.18 while hosts England won silver in 3:22.45.
LOOK | Canada takes bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay:
Canada’s 4x100m freestyle relay team takes bronze at Commonwealth Games
Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil, Rebecca Smith, Josh Liendo and Javier Acevedo finish third in the 4x100m freestyle relay team final at the Commonwealth Games.
Liendo, who won two individual bronze medals at worlds to become the first black Canadian to stand on the podium in an individual event ever at the meet, posted the third-fastest match, swimming the second leg in 47.89 seconds.
Mac Neil, a three-time Olympic medalist from London, Ont., clocked the third fastest anchor leg (53.51) to ensure Canada’s podium finish.
Acevedo and Liendo were also part of the 4x100m freestyle team that won silver at the world championships. But there was a total turnover on the women’s side, with Penny Oleksiak skipping the Commonwealth Games and Kayla Sanchez switching allegiance to the Philippines.
Several other Canadian swimmers also advanced on Friday.
LOOK | McIntosh receives the gold medal:
Watch Summer McIntosh receive Canada’s first gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
The 15-year-old set a match record on her way to gold in the girls’ 400m individual medley.
Three Canadians qualified for Saturday’s women’s 100m butterfly final, including Mac Neil.
The reigning Olympic champion booked her place as she won her semi-final in 57.72 seconds. Katerine Savard (58.57) and Smith (58.59) also qualified for the medal race.
Fellow Canadian Olympians Liendo and Finlay Knox advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 50m butterfly, while Acevedo qualified for the semifinals of the men’s 100m backstroke.
Tokyo Olympic teammate Katrina Bellio secured a spot in the women’s 200m freestyle final.
Canadian James Dergousoff finished seventh in the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:13.85.
LOOK | Canada’s swimmers to compete at the Commonwealth Games:
Canadian swimmers will compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Host Rob Pizzo is joined by Olympic swimmer Brittany MacLean to preview Canada’s medal contenders in the pool.
Second consecutive silver
Canada’s men’s gymnasts repeated their feat from 2018, winning silver in the team event.
Buoyed by impressive scores on rings and vault, the young Canadian team totaled 241.2 points, beating bronze medalist Cyprus (239.65).
LOOK | Canadian men’s gymnasts secure silver:
Canada’s men’s gymnasts repeat as silver medalists in a team event
Canadian gymnasts Felix Dolci, Mathys Jalbert, Chris Kaji, Jayson Rampersad and Kenji Tamane lead Canada to its second straight silver medal in the men’s team event at the Commonwealth Games.
Hosts England ran away with the gold with a total score of 254.55 points.
After Canadian men’s Olympic gymnast Rene Cournoyer withdrew late from the Games, the team’s chances appear to have taken a hit.
But the new-look group that includes Felix Dolci, Mathys Jalbert, Chris Kaji, Jayson Rampersad and Kenji Tamane showed they have a bright future themselves and bounced back to match their 2018 result.
Canada wins silver in the team sprint
The Canadian trio of Kelsey Mitchell, Lauriane Genest and Sarah Orban took silver in the women’s team sprint final at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London, England.
The Canadians finished just behind gold medalists New Zealand in a time of 48.001, while the Kiwis set a new Games record with a time of 47.425.
LOOK | Canadian cyclists score silver:
Canada’s women take home 1st Commonwealth medal with silver in cycling team sprint
Kelsey Mitchell, Lauriane Genest and Sarah Orban all fell just short of gold on the cycling track. Mitchell, Genest and Orban booked their place in the final earlier Friday by finishing second in the qualifying with a time of 47.956. They are also competing in the sprint, keirin and time trial events in London, putting Canada in a strong position to return to the track cycling podium.
Wales beat England for bronze in a time of 47.767.
Canada’s Tyler Rorke, Nick Wammes and Ryan Dodyk fell short in the men’s team sprint bronze final later on Friday, also finishing behind New Zealand.
Australia led the qualifying and beat England for the gold medal in a Games record time of 42.040.
LOOK | The history of Canada’s connection with the Commonwealth Games:
The story of Canada’s connection to the Commonwealth Games
CBC Sports’ Rob Pizzo explains the long and storied history of Canada’s relationship with the Commonwealth Games.