Canadian swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey’s late charge books spot in Olympic freestyle semifinals | CBC Sports

Mary-Sophie Harvey is a step closer to getting a chance at Paris Olympic gold after beating a newly crowned swimming champion in Nanterre, France.

She won her 200-metre heat and qualified second for the women’s semifinals later Sunday, leading Canada’s contingent in the pool during preliminary round action.

Harvey, 24, touched the wall in one minute 56.21 seconds to win the fourth and final heat in comeback fashion after trailing Australia’s Ariarne Titmus by over a second at the 100-metre mark.

Titmus, who clocked 1:56.23, defended her title in the women’s 400 freestyle on Saturday at La Defense Arena. In the 200, she boasts the world record (1:52.23) and Olympic mark (1:53.50).

After exiting the pool, a thrilled Harvey smiled and stuck out her tongue for the television camera before telling Devin Heroux of CBC Sports she was confident, trusted her training and did what she’s capable of doing.

At 3:50 p.m. ET, Harvey will try to advance to her first Olympic final after she was a member of the women’s 200 relay team that finished fourth three years ago in Tokyo. The final is scheduled for Monday at 3:41 p.m.

Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia was the only athlete to post a faster time than Harvey in the heats at 1:55.79.

Last October, the native of Trois-Rivières, Que., won Pan Am gold among her sevent medals in Santiago, Chile.

“A lot of people are saying, ‘Oh, you’re 24 now. You’re getting older. You should retire,’ but it’s kind of funny because this year it’s been improving, improving, improving,” Harvey told CBC News in May.

“Every time I’ve raced the 200-[metre] freestyle, I’ve dropped time this season. It feels like I’m 14 again.”

Suicide attempt in 2019

Last year, Harvey went public about mental health issues she dealt with earlier in her career, including an eating disorder.

She was also hampered by a shoulder injury and wasn’t sure if she’d continue in the sport. It all came to head with a suicide attempt in 2019.

Also Sunday, Saskatoon’s Blake Tierney continued his recent success, squeezing into the men’s 100 backstroke semifinals.

The 22-year-old touched the wall fifth in his heat in 53.89 seconds, good for 15th among the 16 athletes to advance. He was 5-100ths of a second from missing out.

Fellow Canadian Javier Acevedo wasn’t as lucky, placing 20th (54.19).

In May, Tierney won the 100 and 200 races at the Canadian Olympic trials, setting a Canadian record of 1:56.74 in the latter event.

Tierney, who swims with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, is pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering.

Tierney ‘always willing to learn’

In an interview with CBC News earlier this month, Tierney’s coach Steven Hitchings recalled how quickly the swimmer adapted and improved as an athlete.

“Blake always had a good amount of skill and was always willing to learn,” Hitchings said. “He would notice things, like how university swimmers did their underwater dolphin kicks, and he’d ask if he should try it.

“He was able to make changes right away and see significant improvements.”

Two other Canadians didn’t advance from their heats on Sunday.

Sophie Angus was seventh of eight athletes in the women’s 100 breaststroke, stopping the clock in 1:06.93 after winning at trials.

Though she grew up in Weston, Conn., Angus’s parents are from Canada and she holds dual U.S./Canadian citizenship.

She is expected to swim the breaststroke leg as part of the Canadian women’s 4×100 medley relay team. Heat races are scheduled for Aug. 3.

Tristan Jankovics of Puslinch, Ont., placed eighth and last in his 400 individual medley heat in 4:18.23 after clocking 4:11.74 and over five seconds off his personal best to win the event at trials.

The 20-year-old was the first Canadian to qualify for the 400 IM at the Olympics since London in 2012.

With a boisterous crowd cheering him on, Leon Marchand began his home Olympics by cruising to the fastest time in the preliminaries.

The 22-year-old Frenchman pulled away in his heat to touch in 4:08.30, with some 15,000 fans chanting on every stroke.

It was a comfortable performance for Marchand, who has been compared to Michael Phelps and is guided by the same coach, American Bob Bowman, who was with Phelps for his staggering 23 Olympic gold medals.

Marchand is looking for his first gold, and he’ll be a heavy favourite in the evening final. He was more than a second ahead of Britain’s Max Litchfield (4:09.51), who was followed by Japan’s Daiya Seto (4:10.92) and American Carson Foster (4:11.07).

The big question going into the final: Can Marchand take down his own world record of 4:02.50? He claimed that mark at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, erasing a record held by Phelps for 15 years.

Reigning Olympic champion Chase Kalisz of the United States won’t appear in the eight-man final after placing 11th in 4:13.36.