Swimming world championships: Canada's Bouchard, Caldwell reach backstroke final

Canada will have two medal hopefuls in the women's 200-metre backstroke final at the swimming world championships in Kazan, Russia, after Dominique Bouchard and Hilary Caldwell advanced through Friday's semifinals.

Bouchard, from North Bay, Ont., and Victoria's Caldwell qualified with, respectively, the fourth- and sixth-best times in the semis.

Caldwell won this event at last month's Pan Am Games in Toronto, where Bouchard took the silver.

Caldwell said she's been battling a stomach bug but hopes to feel better.

"Hopefully by tomorrow night I'm back where I need to be to fight for a podium spot again," she said.

In Saturday's final Caldwell and Bouchard will go up against American star Missy Franklin, the reigning world and Olympic champion, as well as Katinka Hosszu and Emily Seebohm, who have the two fastest times this year.

Smith falls short in 200 breaststroke

In other action Friday, Canada's Kierra Smith finished last in the women's 200m breaststroke final.

Smith's time of 2:23.61 was slower than the personal-best 2:22.82 she swam in Thursday's semis, and left the Kelowna, B.C., native 2.46 seconds behind winner Kanako Watanabe.

The Japanese swimmer beat silver medallist Micah Lawrence of the United States by a comfortable 1.29 seconds.

There was a three-way tie for bronze between Spain's Jessica Vall, Denmark's Rikke Moller Pedersen and China's Jinglin Shi.

Cochrane goes for 2nd medal

With two days of competition left, Ryan Cochrane's 400m freestyle bronze remains Canada's only swimming medal at the world aquatics championships in Kazan, where swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo and diving championships are all being held.

Santo Condorelli came close in the men's 100m freestyle final on Thursday, finishing just 0.07 seconds off the bronze position.

Canada's three-metre and 10m divers won four silver medals before their events closed last Sunday.

Cochrane is back in the pool Saturday for the heats in the 1,500 freestyle. The Victoria swimmer has won the world silver at that distance three times running, and also owns a pair of Olympic medals.