Canada’s McIntosh moves into today’s 400m IM final, event in which she holds world record | CBC Sports

Two-time world champion Summer McIntosh qualified for Monday’s final of the Olympic women’s 400-metre individual medley in Nanterre, France.

The 17-year-old from Toronto will swim in Lane 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET at 30,000-seat La Defense Arena in a bid for her first Olympic gold medal. The race will be broadcast live and on demand at CBC Gem and on the CBC Sports Paris 2024 App.

She beat Japan’s Mio Narita by 49-100ths of a second to win the second of two preliminary races earlier in the day in four minutes 37.35 seconds and qualify third behind the American duo of Emma Weyant (4:36.27) and Katie Grimes (4:37.24).

“I’m pretty happy with it,” McIntosh said of her race. “I was trying to go in this morning and get the heats out of the way and get a good lane heading into the final, so that goal was accomplished and I’m excited for tonight.

“I try to treat every day of my racing like day one. It is a very long swim meet but the way to manage those things is by trying to recover as much as possible and as best as possible and also mentally preparing and resting at the same time for my next races.”

On May 15, McIntosh lowered the world record to 4:24.38 at the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic trials in her hometown.

She earned her first Olympic medal and the first for Canada in Saturday’s 400 freestyle, going 3:58.37 for silver behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, who defended her Olympic crown in 3:57.49.

WATCH l McIntosh wins 1st career Olympic medal:

McIntosh was also a member of the Canadian team that finished fourth in the women’s 4×100 free relay.

Back-to-back world titles

The betting odds imply she has a better than 90 per cent chance of winning gold in the 400 IM in which athletes swim the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.

McIntosh won back-to-back world titles in 2022 and 2023 before skipping this year’s worlds, along with most elite swimmers, because of its proximity to the Olympics.

She also plans to race the 200 IM and 200 butterfly in Paris.

Ella Jansen of Burlington, Ont., will not join McIntosh in the eight-woman final after placing 11th in 4:42.06, less than a half-second behind Anastasia Gorbenko of Greece for the second reserve spot that would have allowed the Canadian to compete in the final should one of the qualifiers withdraw.

Making her first Olympic appearance, the 18-year-old Jansen captured five medals at the junior world championships last year.

Meanwhile, Canadians Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm have advanced to the women’s 100 backstroke semifinals at 2:57 p.m. on Monday. The final is Tuesday at 2:56 p.m.

They raced together in the fifth and final heat, with Masse touching the wall in 59.06 seconds for second behind Regan Smith of the United States (58.45) while Wilm, from Calgary, was fourth in 1:00.06. Masse was fourth of 16 semifinal qualifiers and Wilm 12th.

Masse, a four-time Olympic medallist in her third Games, led early over Smith, who sometimes struggles under the pressure at major competitions, according to CBC Sports analyst Byron MacDonald.

However, the American turned into a higher gear over the final 50 metres to beat Masse, the 28-year-old from LaSalle, Ont.

Wilm, who missed qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics by one spot, was second to Masse at this year’s trials to lock up the second berth in the backstroke.

The 26-year-old collected three bronze medals at worlds earlier this year, including the 100 back.