Canadian swim stars Summer McIntosh and Maggie Mac Neil did the expected in their first dips in the Paris Olympic pool on Saturday.
McIntosh finished fourth overall in the heats of the women’s 400-metre freestyle and advanced to Saturday’s final (2:52 p.m. ET).
The 17-year-old from Toronto finished in four minutes, 52.65 seconds, .46 seconds behind first-place Katie Ledecky of the United States. Reigning world champ Ariarne Titmus of Australia was second, while New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather was third.
The same four women, with Titmus flipping spots with Ledecky, made up the top four at last year’s world championships.
McIntosh is Canada’s best bet to win multiple medals at this year’s Olympics.
Meanwhile, Mac Neil began her quest to become the first woman in history to defend the 100-metre butterfly title by finishing seventh in the heats and advancing to the semifinals later Saturday (2:30 p.m.).
Canada’s women’s and men’s 4×100-metre relay team also advanced to Saturday’s finals.
The women posted the sixth-fastest time in heats. Penny Oleksiak, Mary-Sophie Harvey, Brooklyn Douthwright and Taylor Ruck swam the heats for Canada.
The men were fifth with Finlay Knox, Yuri Kisil, Javier Acevedo and Joshua Liendo in the pool.
The women’s final is at 3:34 p.m. with the men’s 10 minutes later.
