Canada's McIntosh sets junior world record in 200M butterfly at swimming worlds

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Summer McIntosh set a world junior record in the 200-metre butterfly while Kylie Masse set herself up for a Canadian-record seventh career medal Tuesday at the world aquatics championships.

The 15-year-old McIntosh, from Toronto, finished first in the 200 butterfly semifinals in two minutes 5.79 seconds, eclipsing the previous record of 2:06.29 set by Japan’s Suzuka Hasegawa in 2017.

McIntosh's time also set a new national record, and is the fastest time in the event this year.

‘"I didn’t expect to go 2:05 tonight,’’ McIntosh said. "But as soon as I stepped out with all the energy and excitement from the crowd, I just fed off that. I got a lot of adrenalin and motivation and put it down tonight."

McIntosh, who won silver in the 400-metre freestyle on Saturday, will race for her second medal at the world championships on Wednesday.

Americans Hali Flickinger (2:05.90) and Regan Smith (2:07.13) rounded out the top-three times in the semifinals.

Masse also finished first in her 50-metre backstroke semifinal, finishing in a time of 27.22 seconds.

The native of LaSalle, Ont., won silver in the women's 100-metre backstroke on Monday to give her six career long-course world championship medals, tied with Penny Oleksiak for most by a Canadian.

‘’It’s such a process and a step-by-step in order to perform, recover properly and set yourself up for the next day," said Masse, who will race for the national record-breaking medal on Wednesday.

‘"I think just over the last couple of years I’ve learned how to hone in on what I need to do, minimize the distractions and minimize the energy that I’m spending on other things so that I can perform to the best of my ability the next day."

Analia Pigree of France and Regan