Swimmer McIntosh conserves energy in qualifying 6th for Olympic 200m butterfly semifinals

Canada's Summer McIntosh, the two-time defending world champion in the women's 200-metre butterfly, is a step closer to racing for a third swimming medal at the Paris Olympics.

She touched the wall in two minutes 7.70 seconds for third in her heat on Wednesday, qualifying sixth of 16 for the 2:45 p.m. ET semifinals at La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France.

"Just to make it to semifinals in any way, shape or form," she said when asked by CBC Sports' Devin Heroux what she wanted to achieve in the heats. "Going [to the final] in sixth is nice."

The 17-year-old sensation added it's important to expend the least amount of energy while performing strongly.

"It's super important mentally and physically to conserve as much energy as possible," she said. "Obviously, you have to get focused and hyped before races but for a heat, I try to take it down a notch."

The Toronto native enjoyed a day off Tuesday following medal performances on Saturday (silver in 400 freestyle) and Monday (gold in 400 individual medley). She was also thrilled to take a call from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"It was definitely a surreal moment. It was really, really cool and an honour," McIntosh said. "He just kept congratulating me and we talked about how the [Canadian] team energy has been amazing.

"He's excited for Team Canada to come [home] and celebrate all of us."

WATCH l McIntosh earns 1st career Olympic gold:

In Wednesday's heat, China's Zhang Yufei took charge from the outset with McIntosh 75-100ths of a second behind at the 50-metre mark.

"Summer usually takes the lead [early] so this will upset the apple cart a little bit," CBC Sports analyst Byron MacDonald said in-race. "I'm actually glad Zhang Yufei went out this fast because it throws