Canadian swimmers are enjoying their most successful world swimming championships ever in Budapest this week. Golds for the remarkable Summer McIntosh and Kylie Masse are the prize jewels in a nine-medal haul for Canada so far.
Only the Americans and Australians had claimed more ahead of the final day of racing at Duna Arena on Saturday. Canadian swimmer Josh Liendo says the team is building momentum and looking forward to next year and then the Olympics. Canadian success in the pool is not a lucky accident.
Swimming Canada's high-performance director John Atkinson says the key is identifying the right targets – and patience.
“It feels good,” Josh Liendo said of Canadian swimmers eclipsing eight medals at the 2019 worlds, and already a marked improvement on four at the previous worlds in Budapest in 2017.
Liendo was responsible for Canada’s eighth medal this week with bronze in the men’s 100 meters butterfly on Friday. Then he helped gain the team’s ninth with silver in the mixed 4x100 freestyle relay.
“We’re building some momentum here and looking forward to next year and then 2024,” Liendo said, referring to the Paris Olympics. “We’re going to have a really good team. So it’s exciting.”