Mack Neal, Masse, competes in the 50m backstroke final at the Short Course Championships

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Canada’s Maggie McNeil and Kyle Massey advanced to the women’s 50m backstroke final at the World Short Course Championships.

McNeil and Massey, who took gold and silver at the championships in Abu Dhabi last year, were second and fourth after the semi-finals.

Mack Neal, of London, Ont., finished in the semifinals in 25.64, just behind American Claire Kurzan (25.60).

Massey, of LaSalle, Ont., had a time of 25.97, just behind Molly O’Callaghan of host Australia (25.69).

The final will be held on Friday.

Mac Neill, better known as the ultimate butterfly swimmer, set a world record 50m backstroke time of 25.27 to win in Abu Dhabi.

“There’s definitely more pressure now, I’ve got the world record attached to it, but I’m really happy with it,” McNeal said.

“I did a lot of things wrong this morning so I managed to fix them and of course there’s more to fix tomorrow.”

26-year-old Mase is the reigning world champion in long courses at non-Olympic distances.

“I would say (the 50) has definitely become more competitive, and for me that’s something I want to push more and appreciate now,” Masse said. “At the same time, it’s also 50 and so many things can happen, so I try and just have fun.”

Also Thursday, Javier Acevedo of Toronto and Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., advanced to the men’s 100-meter individual medley final.

Acevedo finished third in Friday’s final with a time of 51.46 seconds, behind Americans Michael Andrews (51.40) and Shane Casas (51.42). Knox set a personal best of 51.64 to advance to sixth.

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