Canada’s Maggie McNeil set a world record, taking gold on the backstroke in the short course | Jobs Vox

Canada’s Maggie McNeil set a new world record on her way to her second gold medal at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday.

The Canadian clocked 25.25 seconds in the 50m backstroke to top the podium with American Claire Curzan (25.54) and Australian Molly O’Callaghan (25.61).

Fellow Canadian Kylie Masse of La Salle, Ont., finished off the podium in fourth with a time of 25.81.

Mack Neal, of London, Ont., already had a gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly on Wednesday and also won a bronze medal for Team Canada in Tuesday’s 4×100-meter final.

A pair of Canadian swimmers won medals in the men’s 100m individual medley by breaking a national record. Toronto’s Javier Acevedo took silver in 51.05, while Finlay Knox, of Okotoks, Alta., swam to bronze in 51.10. Both swimmers touched the wall ahead of Acevedo’s previous Canadian record time.

Italian Thomas Ceccone won the race with a speed of 50.97.

In other Canadian results, Toronto’s Sydney Pickrem ran a personal best 58.26 in the women’s 100 individual medley to finish fourth, while Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., was eighth (59.11). Pickrem was also sixth (2:19.35) in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final.

The men’s 4×200 freestyle relay team of Knox, Acevedo, Toronto’s Ruslan Gaziev and Montreal’s Ilya Kharun set a new Canadian record before finishing seventh in the final. Four Canadians posted a time of 6:56.02, shattering the previous record of 7:05.77.

The competition in Melbourne continues until Sunday.