It was another successful swim for Londoner Maggie MacNeil at the world aquatics championships.
Canada qualified for the new 4×100 metre mixed medley relay swimming event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by finishing fifth on Wednesday at the world aquatics championships in South Korea.
The team also included Kylie Masse of Lasalle, near Windsor, and Richard Funk and Yuri Kisil, both of Edmonton. They finished in three minutes 43.06 seconds, more than two seconds back of Great Britain (3:40.68) for bronze.
Australia took gold and the United States captured silver.
MacNeil started the week by taking gold in the women’s 100-metre butterfly.
“I can’t believe it still,” she told 980 CFPL on Wednesday.
“I don’t totally remember everything that went on. It’s just incredible to swim with the fastest (butter)flyers in the world. My goal going into the meet was just to make a final but to come out with gold was super amazing and unexpected.”
She also took bronze in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle relay.
MacNeil told 980 CFPL it’s been amazing to be around swimmers she’s looked up to.
“Quite literally, actually — most of the competitors are at least six foot, which is really funny just because I’m just under 5’7″ so they literally are giants,” she laughed.
“But I’ll be sitting in the meal hall and I’ll be watching certain swimmers go by that I’ve been watching since I can remember and I’ll be like, ‘Oh my God, there they are!’ but I’m like, I’m here with them, which is still surreal.”
MacNeil still has two more swims at the world aquatics championships: an individual event on Friday and then another relay event on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Masse gave Canada its fourth medal of the competition by winning gold in the women’s 100-metre backstroke for the second worlds in a row on Tuesday.
Also Wednesday, Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak finished sixth in the women’s 200-metre freestyle.
The swim meet concludes Sunday.
— with files from The Canadian Press.