Summer McIntosh Breaks Third World Record at Canadian Trials

Summary:

• Summer McIntosh conquered another world record in the 400m individual medley at the Canadian Swimming Trials.
• The 18-year-old phenomenon added her 3rd WR to her toll at the trials. 
• Broke Canadian records in the 800m freestyle and 200m butterfly a few days earlier.

Canadian swimming phenom Summer McIntosh continues to break one world record after another at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, B.C. 

On Wednesday, the 18-year-old Toronto-born managed to clock 4:23.65 in the 400-metre individual medley, which helped her reset her previous world record time of 4:24.38 during the Olympic trials in Toronto in 2024.

McIntosh Breaks Third World Record in 5 Days

This was McIntosh’s third world record at this year’s trials alone. She had already reset the bar in the 200m individual medley on Monday and the 400m freestyle on Saturday. 

However, despite rewriting the record books repeatedly, the teen remains laser-focused on racing, not the records.

During the meet I don’t really like to think about it,. I’ll celebrate and then kind of process it and focus on the next race. I know I can go faster.

And that mindset seems to be paying off. Over the course of the week, McIntosh also smashed two of her own Canadian records. 

She crushed the 800m freestyle in 8:05.0, nearly five seconds faster than her previous best, and lowered her national mark in the 200m butterfly, an event in which she already holds the world record.

I think it’s more fun chasing records that you haven’t broken yet. It’s immensely easier to break your own, because you kind of have to look at it as just going your personal best time.

McIntosh, a two-time Olympian, had a breakout summer in Paris last year, winning three gold medals and a silver, making her the first Canadian to ever win three golds at a single Olympic Games.

Ekk, Tierney, Bennet, and Maxwell Also Performed Well

She wasn’t the only standout on Wednesday. Eighteen-year-old Ethan Ekk turned heads in the men’s 200m backstroke, breaking the Canadian record with a time of 1:56.54. 

Blake Tierney, who previously held the record, placed second in 1:57.04.

On the para-swimming side, more records were rewritten. Nicholas Bennett won the multi-class 200m individual medley in 2:06.36, just shy of his own SM14 world record.

With that race now, when we get a little bit more endurance under our belt, we’ll be able to challenge my world record again

Reid Maxwell edged his own SM8 national mark in 2:30.12, while Tyson Jacob posted a new Canadian record in the SM5 category at 3:33.80.