Canadian swimmer Josh Liendo sets short-course world record in 100-metre butterfly

TORONTO – Canadian Josh Liendo set a short-course world record in the men’s 100-metre butterfly Thursday in the third and final leg of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup.

The 23-year-old from Toronto was clocked in 47.68 seconds, erasing the previous mark of 47.71 set by Switzerland’s Noe Ponti.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said a beaming Liendo.

But that changed in the water.

“Off the start I knew I was having a good swim,” he said. “From there I didn’t look back … I’m super-happy. I just thought I’d come in, have fun and race. Just to have that result is a cherry on top.”

Liendo slammed his fists in the water in delight when he saw his time.

“I saw world record. I would have been happy if it said 48 (seconds) up there,” he said with a laugh. “That’s when I slapped the water.”

He earned US$12,500 for the swim, including $10,000 for the world record, before a loud and proud crowd at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. 

“The crowd got me hyped up … It just hyped me up too,” he said.

Later in the evening, he won the 50-metre freestyle in a World Cup record of 20.31.

Liendo won silver in the 100 butterfly at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Black Canadian swimmer to claim an Olympic medal. He was named Swimming Canada’s Male Swimmer of the Year in 2024.

Ilya Kharun, a 20-year-old from Montreal who won bronze in the 100 and 200 butterfly at the Paris Olympics, was second in Thursday’s 100 butterfly in 48.35. Ponti, who won the two previous World Cup stops, was third in 48.38.

Hungary’s Hubert Kos also set a world record in the men’s 200-metre backstroke, winning in 1:45.12, erasing the record of1:45.63 held by Australian Mitchell Larkin. 

The competition runs though Saturday. The short-course 25-metre series (the Olympic pool is 50 metres), whose first two stops were in Carmel, Ind. and Westmont, Ill., features a total purse of $1.2 million.

Canadian star Summer McIntosh is not taking part in the series, citing illness.

Kos, Americans Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass and Shane Casas, Australians Lani Pallister and Kaylee McKeown and Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick completed a sweep of their events, each collecting a cheque for $10,000 and a crown.

McKeown won the women’s 50-metre backstroke in a World Cup record of 25.35, beating a stacked field that featured 32 Olympic medals. Five-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., was fourth in 25.69.

“I’m really proud, honestly,” Masse said of her performance. “It would have been amazing to be on the podium there. I’m definitely a little bit sad that I wasn’t able to do that. I kind of messed up my touch a little bit. But overall, that’s really close to my personal best.”

Masse has been training on her own the last month, “just really trying to figure things out right now, in life and in swimming.” 

Pallister cruised to victory in the women’s 400 freestyle in 3:51.87, erasing her own World Cup record of 3:52.42. McIntosh holds the world record of 3:50.25.

“Pretty happy with a 3:51,” said Pallister, who had dinner atop the CN Tower with Canadian swimmer Javier Carlos Acevedo while in Toronto. “I mean I’d like to be under 3:50 eventually but we’ll see where that event takes me in the future.”

It was her third win in a row at the World Cup, netting her a crown and $10,000.

“It’s a little bit of fun. I think the crown’s a bit of a novelty,” Pallister said. “But it’s just really exciting having consistent racing three weeks in a row.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025