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One of the premier events on the road to next summer’s Paris Olympics begins Friday: the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
As always, swimming is the main attraction of this meet. And Canadian fans are especially excited this time to catch another glimpse of teenage sensation Summer McIntosh as she prepares for her first real shot at Olympic gold(s).
But competition in the swimming pool doesn’t get started for another week and a half. So, for now, let’s take a look at some of the other sports where Canadians are looking to make (or not make) a splash.
Diving (July 14-22)
Chinese athletes won all 13 diving gold medals at last year’s world championships in Hungary and went 7-for-8 at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. With several of its world and Olympic champions returning for these worlds, there’s no reason to believe China’s iron grip on this sport won’t continue.
Still, there’s room for Canada to carve out a few medals. Among the contenders is Mia Vallée, a 22-year-old Quebecoise who won two of Canada’s three diving medals at last year’s world championships in Budapest. She captured silver in the women’s 3-metre springboard and bronze in the women’s 1m (a non-Olympic event) to become the first Canadian woman to reach multiple solo diving podiums at the same world championships. Vallée will compete in those same individual events in Japan and also partner with Pamela Ware in the women’s 3m synchronized competition.
Ware, 30, is a three-time world-championship medallist who fell on hard times at the Tokyo Olympics, failing to advance to the 3m final after aborting a dive and jumping into the water feet first. She took time away from competition, including last year’s worlds, to work on the mental side of the sport before returning in May at a World Cup stop in Montreal. Ware grabbed three medals there, including silver in the solo 3m and a bronze with Vallée in their first 3m synchro event together. “I just showed that I’m back,” Ware said.
Watch the Path to Paris feature on Canadian diver Mia Vallée of Beaconsfield, Que.
Five Canadians will compete in high diving, a non-Olympic sport with medal rounds on July 25 and 26. The men jump from a 27m platform and the women from 20m, entering the water feet first to mitigate the higher risk of injury.
Artistic swimming (July 14-22)
Canada hasn’t won an Olympic medal in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming since 2000. And it’s been a dozen years since Canada’s last medal at the world championships.
Canadians won four medals at last month’s World Cup Super Final in Spain. But the major-championship podium drought might continue in Japan as Canada focuses on this fall’s Pan Am Games in Chile, where Olympic spots will be up for grabs.
Water polo (July 16-29)
Olympic berths will go to each of the finalists in the men’s and women’s tournaments, but it would be a shock if either Canadian team gets that far. The men have never placed better than eighth at the world championships and haven’t qualified for the Olympics since 2008. The women have fared significantly better, reaching the podium four times at the world championships. But the last one came in 2009 and they placed seventh at the 2021 Olympics.
The Canadian women open Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET vs. Hungary and also face New Zealand and Japan in group play. Canada’s men face China on Sunday at 11 p.m. ET before meeting Italy and France. The top team in each group advances to the quarterfinals while the second- and third-place teams can still get to the quarters by winning a playoff game.
How to watch:
Live streaming coverage of the World Aquatics Championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem begins Friday at 11:30 p.m. ET with diving’s mixed synchro 10m final and continues through the last swimming finals on July 30. You can also catch aquatics worlds action on the CBC TV network, starting Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. For details, see the full broadcast and streaming schedule here.
Read more about the Canadians to watch at the World Aquatics Championships in this story by CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux. Follow Devin’s poolside updates from Japan on Twitter.
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