Triple Olympic gold medalist Summer McIntosh wants to swim five individual events at this summer’s world championships and at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, plus plans to move to a new training base in between.
McIntosh, an 18-year-old Canadian, said this will be her final season in Sarasota, Florida, under Brent Arckey, her full-time coach for the last two and a half years.
“Coach Brent has really pushed me to be the best swimmer I can be, and I’ll forever cherish my years here,” she told CBC Sports. “It’s been a great run.”
She is leaving amicably, seeking to continue her personal and professional development while factoring in academics but not swimming in the NCAA. McIntosh and Arckey gave a joint interview to discuss her decision and reflect on their success together.
Arckey said he had mixed emotions.
“I’ll obviously be sad to see her go,” he said. “But at the same time, part of what I do as a developmental coach is encourage these kids to get out of the nest, too.”
She has already reached out to Bob Bowman, the University of Texas head coach who also coaches pro swimmers in Austin. Bowman was Michael Phelps’ career-long coach and coached France’s Léon Marchand to four individual golds at the Paris Olympics.
McIntosh hasn’t decided yet where she will move, but she does plan to visit Bowman. McIntosh’s three Olympic golds came in events that Phelps and Marchand also swam — the 200m and 400m individual medleys and the 200m butterfly.
“Bob having someone like the greatest of all time swimmer Michael Phelps, being able to do all those events is definitely an attraction, and along with Léon as well,” she told CBC Sports.
McIntosh swam four individual events at the Paris Olympics and at the 2023 Worlds. She said she wants to swim five individual events at a major international meet for the first time at this summer’s worlds in Singapore, then do it again at the 2028 LA Olympics.
That could mean adding the 800m freestyle. McIntosh is the second-fastest woman in history in the event, but has never raced it at a major meet.
Last February, McIntosh became the first swimmer to defeat Katie Ledecky in an 800m free final in 14 years. McIntosh then swam 8:09.86 earlier this month, which was 1.18 seconds faster than Ledecky’s winning time at the Paris Olympics.
“Definitely not my favorite event, but I am good at it, so maybe I’ll grow to like it again,” she said in the CBC Sports interview. “At worlds I definitely want to be doing five individual events. What that looks like, I don’t know exactly yet.”
She also doesn’t know what her 2028 Olympic swimming program could look like.
“But for LA, definitely doing five individual events is a long-term goal of mine for sure,” she said.
