Liendo Shows Out On Return To Toronto, Resets 100 Fly World Record, 50 Free Canadian Record

2025 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – Toronto

• October 23-25, 2025
• Toronto, Canada
• SCM (25 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Finals

• World Record: 47.71 – Noe Ponti, SUI (2024)
• World Junior Record: 49.03 – Ilya Kharun, CAN (2022)
• World Cup Record: 48.40 – Noe Ponti, SUI (2024)
• Triple Crown Contender: Noe Ponti (SUI)

Top 8 Finishers

1. Josh Liendo (CAN)- 47.68 **New World Record
2. Ilya Kharun (CAN)- 48.35
3. Noe Ponti (SUI)- 48.38
4. Ksawery Masiuk (POL)- 49.84
5. Trenton Julian (USA)- 50.56
6. Kamil Sierdzki (POL)- 51.31
7. Rowan Cox (USA)- 51.48
8. Kent Goni Avila (CLB)- 51.97

Josh Liendo absolutely shattered the Canadian Record and shaved three-hundredths of a second from the World Record in the 100 fly tonight, taking each record away from another swimmer in the pool tonight.

Ilya Kharun and Noe Ponti, the previous Canadian Record and World Record holders respectively, were both left in the dust by Liendo’s final 25 tonight, and saw their records crumble thanks to Liendo’s 47.68.

Liendo was out fast tonight, touching first at the halfway mark in 22.28, just 0.12 seconds off Ponti’s World Record pace. The Swiss swimmer was just a tenth of a second back in 22.38, with Liendo’s Canadian teammate Kharun in 3rd place as he touched in 22.88.

Liendo then had the fastest of the third 25s, hitting the final wall two-tenths of a second down on the World Record by a quarter of a second ahead of it’s owner, as the pair of Liendo and Ponti looked to duke it out as they pushed off into the final 25.

Ponti has shown off some phenomenal closing speed on the 100 fly at the first two stops, with final 25s of 13.09 and 12.87, but could only muster a 13.30 here. Liendo meanwhile scorched a 12.86 to snatch the fastest time in history, with Kharun also closing under 13 seconds to take 2nd ahead of Ponti, 0.65 seconds under his previous best. This was the first event in which we saw a potential Crown ‘Busted’, so Liendo will take home a $2,500 bonus for preventing Ponti taking the win.

Those three now rank as three of the top five swimmers in history.

Top 5 Men’s SCM 100 Butterfly Performers All-Time

1. Josh Liendo (CAN) – 47.68, 2025
2. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 47.71
3. Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 47.78, 2020
4. Chad le Clos (RSA) – 48.08, 2016
5.  Ilya Kharun (CAN) – 48.35, 2025

This was a huge best time for Liendo in short course meters, as he previous mark stood at the 49.56 with which he took 3rd last week. He has evidently been targeting this final stop, in the pool where he set Age Group Records prior to starting College at Florida. He has the 50 fly and 100 free remaining here, and looks likely to be a force in both events.

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Finals

• World Record: 19.90 – Jordan Crooks, CAY (2024)
• World Junior Record: 20.98, Kenzo Simons, NED (2019)
• World Cup Record: 20.48 – Vlad Morozov, RUS (2018)

Top 8 Finishers

1. Josh Liendo (CAN) – 20.31
2. Jack Alexy (USA) – 20.70
3. Ilya Kharun (CAN) – 20.73
4. Chris Guiliano (USA) – 20.86
5. Lamar Taylor (BAH) – 21.00
6. Ruslan Gaziev (CAN) – 21.17
7. Ralf Tribuntsov (EST) – 21.17
8. Cameron Gray (NZL) – 21.17

Liendo was not finished there for tonight, as he set a monster new best time and Canadian Record in the 50 free later in the session. He hacked nearly half a second off his best time in the event, dropping from 20.76 to 20.31 and insert himself as the  joint-6th fastest swimmer in history.

Top 10 Men’s SCM 50 Freestyle Performers All-Time

1. Jordan Crooks (CAY) – 19.90, 2024
2. Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 20.16, 2020
3. Ben Proud (GBR) – 20.18, 2023
4. Florent Manaudou (FRA) – 20.26, 2014
5. Roland Schoeman (RSA) – 20.30, 2009
6. Vlad Morozov (RUS) & Josh Liendo (CAN) – 20.31, 2017 & 2025
7. –
8. Amaury Leveaux (FRA) – 20.48, 2008
9. Cesar Cielo (BRA) & Jack Alexy (USA) – 20.51, 2010 & 2024
10. –

Liendo regained the Canadian Record that Kharun had taken away from him last week, with the joint-10th fastest swim in history. For his part, Kharun was just 0.01 seconds off his best time to take bronze, just behind Jack Alexy, the #10 swimmer in history.

Both Canadian swimmers were coming off a double with the 100 fly, but have clearly shown up in great form in Toronto. Kharun is gunning for Triple Crowns in the 50 fly and 200 fly, while Liendo will be aiming to keep his winning streak rolling on into day 2.