 | Today we're previewing the World Aquatics Championships, which will culminate with Summer McIntosh's attempt to win five gold medals. Plus, Noah Lyles returns to the track, the Jays' winning streak ends and a first-time Wimbledon champ will be crowned. | | | The World Aquatics Championships begin tomorrow, but swimming fans will have to be patient
| | | In a little over two weeks, Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh will take to the pool at the world championships in Singapore, where she'll try to match a Michael Phelps record by winning five individual gold medals.
The 18-year-old triple Olympic champion will be joined by around two dozen other Canadian swimmers, including three-time backstroke world champ Kylie Masse, who won her fifth career Olympic medal last summer; 20-year-old Ilya Kharun, who captured a pair of men's butterfly bronze in Paris; and 21-year-old Josh Liendo, who took silver in the 100m butterfly. The international headliners are France's Leon Marchand, who won four Olympic golds last year, and nine-time Olympic champ Katie Ledecky, who will take on McIntosh in the 400m and 800m freestyle events as she looks to add to her 21 career world titles.
So, that'll be fun. But we'll have to be patient as pool swimming is the last sport to get going at the World Aquatics Championships, which open tomorrow in Singapore. The program includes water polo, open-water swimming, artistic swimming, diving and high diving before McIntosh and company hit the water on the night of July 26 in Canadian time zones.
Here's a glance at where Canada stands in the other sports:
Water polo (July 11-24): Despite placing eighth at both the world championships and the Olympics last year, the Canadian women's team will not be competing after deciding to sit out last fall's Pan American championships, which served as a qualifier for the worlds. The Canadian men's team did not make it to the Paris Olympics, but they got into this year's worlds by placing second to Brazil at the Pan Ams. Canada opens against the United States on Friday night and will also face host Singapore and the Brazilians in the group stage.
Open-water swimming (July 15-20): Canada's lone Olympic qualifier in the two marathon swim events was Emma Finlin, who finished 23rd out of 24 in the women's 10K. The world championships also include a 5K and a 3K "knockout sprint" for both men and women, plus a mixed 4x1,500m relay.
Artistic swimming (July 18-25): Last year in Doha, Jacqueline Simoneau won the women's solo free event to become Canada's first world-championship winner since 1991 in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming. She also took silver in the solo technical before placing ninth in the duet at the Paris Olympics with Audrey Lamothe (there are no solo events on the Olympic program). Simoneau is now coaching and pursuing her medical degree, but Lamothe has had some solid results on the World Cup circuit both individually and with new duet partner Ximena Ortiz Montano. Lamothe also helped Canada to a sixth-place finish in the Olympic team event.
High diving (July 24-27): Whereas regular divers jump from either a 3m springboard or a 10m platform, these daredevils take the plunge from 27m (for men) or 20m (women). Canada's three entries include Molly Carlson, who's won two consecutive silvers at the worlds.
Diving (July 26-Aug. 3): Canada failed to win a medal at last year's world championships, but Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray took bronze in the Olympic men's 10m synchronized event for the country's only diving medal in Paris. The duo also took bronze together at the 2022 worlds.
How to watch:
You can stream live action from the World Aquatics Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, starting with the Canadian men's water polo team's opening match against the U.S. on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET. The CBC TV network will have additional coverage on weekends. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules for details.
For more on the worlds, watch this quick primer with CBC Sports' Brittany MacLean Campbell. | | |  | Artistic swimmer Audrey Lamothe is one of Canada's medal hopefuls at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
| | | Quickly…
| | | Some other things to know:
1. Noah Lyles is back.
Track and field's biggest star (just ask him) will make his first big-time appearance of the year at tomorrow's Diamond League meet in Monaco, where he'll race the 200m against reigning Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.
Lyles, who won Olympic gold in the 100m and bronze in the 200 last summer in Paris, hasn't competed at all since a low-key meet in Florida in April where he ran the 400 and the 4x100 relay. He skipped a 150m in Atlanta in May because of a tight ankle before a potential 60m match race against NFL star Tyreek Hill fell apart last month. Lyles was scheduled to make his Diamond League season debut next week in London until his surprise last-minute announcement that he'd be in Monaco.
Lyles vs. Tebogo isn't the only stellar matchup on Friday. In the men's 800m, Canada's Marco Arop (the reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist) takes on his Kenyan rival Emmanuel Wanyonyi (the Olympic champ and world silver medallist) and Olympic bronze medallist Djamel Sedjati of Algeria in a race featuring all eight men from the Paris final. In the women's shot put, back-to-back indoor world champion Sarah Mitton of Canada faces back-to-back outdoor world champ Chase Jackson of the United States and Paris Olympic gold medallist Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany.
The Monaco meet also features Olympic champions Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (women's 100m), Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (women's 400m) and Mondo Duplantis of Sweden (men's pole vault).
You can watch it live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem on Friday from 2-4 p.m. ET. The men's 800m is at 2:23 p.m. ET, and the men's 200 at 3:27 p.m. ET. Here's the full schedule and startlists.
For more on Lyles' return, read this piece by Morgan Campbell and watch the latest episode of CBC Sports' Trackside with analyst Ato Boldin joining Perdita Felicien and Aaron Brown.
2. The Blue Jays' winning streak is over.
The lowly White Sox halted Toronto's 10-game run last night with a 2-1 victory in Chicago. It left the Blue Jays one game short of the franchise record for consecutive victories, equalled most recently in 2015.
Toronto (54-39) still enjoys a 2½-game lead over the Yankees for top spot in the American League East, though its modest plus-20 run differential (compared to New York's plus-105) is a bit concerning.
The Jays are off tonight before opening a three-game set against the Athletics at their temporary home in Sacramento.
3. Amanda Anisimova shocked top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon final.
Anisimova, a 13th-seeded American who failed to qualify for Wimbledon last year, upset the world's No. 1 player 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 today to reach her first Grand Slam final. She'll face eighth-seeded Iga Swiatek, who has won five Slams but will be appearing in the Wimbledon final for the first time. Swiatek beat Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 today.
The men's semifinals happen tomorrow. Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, seeking his third straight Wimbledon title and sixth Grand Slam trophy at the age of 22, faces fifth-seeded American Taylor Fritz. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy meets 24-time Slam winner Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Here's the latest on Wimbledon. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later.
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