McIntosh, Mac Neil advance to Olympic finals

Summer McIntosh, Maggie Mac Neil and Canada's 4x100 relay teams advanced to their finals as the swimming competition kicked off Saturday at the Paris Olympics.

PARIS – Summer McIntosh, Maggie Mac Neil and Canada’s 4×100 relay teams advanced to their finals as the swimming competition kicked off Saturday at the Paris Olympics.

The 17-year-old McIntosh from Toronto qualified for the final of the women’s 400-metre freestyle by finishing second in her heat and fourth overall.

The former world record holder in the event will look to improve on her fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Games when she swims in the final later Saturday at Paris La Defense Arena.

Mac Neil took second place in her heat and qualified seventh overall in the women’s 100-metre butterfly.

The 24-year-old from London, Ont., will try to defend her Olympic title in the event in Sunday’s final.

Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak, Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., Brooklyn Douthwright of Riverview, N.B., and Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., qualified sixth in the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay, while Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., Yuri Kisil of Calgary, and Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo, both form Toronto, qualified fifth for the men’s final.

Both freestyle relay finals are scheduled for later Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.