Summer McIntosh swam the fastest 200m butterfly ever this early in a calendar year to win at a Tyr Pro Series meet on Thursday.
The Canadian clocked 2 minutes, 4.72 seconds in Westmont, Illinois, prevailing by 4.31 seconds over American Lindsay Looney.
McIntosh previously had the world’s best time this early in a year — 2:05.05 from 2023 — according to World Aquatics. She also swam 2:04.00 last March 6.
“Honestly, I was hoping for a bit more than what I just went, but 200m fly is something that you’ll always learn something out of swimming it,” McIntosh, the second-fastest woman in history with a best time of 2:01.99, said on Peacock.
PRO SWIM SERIES: Results | Broadcast Schedule
McIntosh, a 19-year-old from Toronto, tied the female record with four individual gold medals at last summer’s World Championships after winning three golds at the Paris Olympics.
The 200m fly is her signature event, the same one that her mom swam at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. McIntosh owns the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-fastest times in history behind Liu Zige’s 2:01.81, the only women’s world record still standing from the 2008-09 super-suit era.
After 2025 Worlds, McIntosh moved to Austin, Texas, to train under Bob Bowman, who was Michael Phelps’ career-long coach.
Also Thursday, Australian Sam Short beat the last two Olympic gold medalists in the men’s 800m freestyle by 17 and 26 seconds, respectively.
Short swam 7:40.98, four hundredths off the fastest time ever recorded this early in a calendar year, according to World Aquatics.
Short, the 2023 World champion in the 400m free, distanced Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke (7:58.35) and Paris Olympic gold medalist Daniel Wiffen of Ireland (8:07.21).
“Didn’t expect to go 7:40, but I had no doubt Bobby was going to go sub-eight minutes, so when I saw I had that gap I thought I was on for a pretty good time,” Short said.
The Pro Series stop in Westmont continues Friday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Peacock.
U.S. swimmers are preparing for the major international meet of 2026, the Pan Pacific Championships in August in Irvine, California. The U.S. roster for Pan Pacs was already determined by results in 2025 meets.
