Canada's Kharun swims to gold, Liendo takes bronze in 50m butterfly at World Cup finale in Toronto

Canadian swimmer Ilya Kharun captured his second gold medal in as many days at the World Cup finale in Toronto with a thrilling win in the men’s 50-metre butterfly final on Saturday.

Montreal’s Kharun, who also won Friday's 200m butterfly, clocked a time of 21.80 seconds to narrowly beat Switzerland’s Noe Ponti by one one-hundredth of a second. Toronto’s Josh Liendo finished just behind them for bronze in 21.91.

The 20-year-old Kharun earned $10,000 US for winning the 50m butterfly at all three stops of the World Cup tour, something he also accomplished in the 200m fly.

Montreal's Kharun wins 50m butterfly, Toronto's Liendo claims bronze

He took silver behind Liendo in the 100m butterfly on Thursday, which saw Liendo break Ponti's short-course world record in 47.68.

Kharun, whose parents spent most of their lives performing with Cirque du Soleil, racked up a total of eight medals, including five golds, at the first two meets in Indianapolis and Chicago.

Ilya Kharun 'very happy' with victory in 50m butterfly

Australia’s Lani Pallister opened the final night of racing with a bang, smashing Katie Ledecky’s short-course world record in the women’s 800m freestyle.

Pallister, the reigning world champion in the distance, clocked a time of 7:54 — over three seconds faster than Ledecky’s mark of 7:57.42 from the 2022 World Cup in Indianapolis.

The 23-year-old was well ahead of world-record pace throughout the race, finishing ahead of New Zealanders Erika Fairweather (8:09.69) and Caitlin Deans (8:11.76).

Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey was fourth in 8:15.52.

Australia's Pallister sets world record in 800m freestyle, Quebec's Harvey finishes 4th