Summer McIntosh is the first swimmer to break a world record in three different individual events at one long course meet since Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
McIntosh, a triple 2024 Olympic gold medalist, lowered her own 400m individual medley world record on Wednesday at the Canadian trials for the World Championships in Singapore in July and August.
She clocked 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds, beating her previous record of 4:24.38 set at the 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials.
“Going into tonight, I knew I think I could do something really special, just because this meet has been probably my best meet of my career,” she said in a poolside interview. “I think world records are made to be broken, so by the time I leave this sport, I want to make sure that record is as fast as possible.”
Earlier at these trials, McIntosh reclaimed the 400m free world record (Saturday) and broke a 10-year-old world record in the 200m individual medley (Monday).
“It’s more fun chasing records that you haven’t broken yet, but I think it’s immensely easier to break your own just because you kind of have to look at it as just going a personal-best time,” she said.
She also swam the third-fastest time in history in the 800m free (Sunday) and the second-fastest time in history in the 200m butterfly (Tuesday).
Summing it up, McIntosh said she owed a lot of credit to Fred Vergnoux, her temporary coach while she’s trained in France this year. She previously trained in Sarasota, Florida.
“He’s really taken me to the next level in the sport and pushed me farther,” she said. “I’ve gone way faster than I ever could have imagined.”
McIntosh, an 18-year-old from Toronto, has put together one of the best single-meet performances in history.
The list starts with Phelps’ eight-gold-medal effort at the 2008 Beijing Games. There, he broke individual world records in the 200m and 400m IMs, the 200m fly and the 200m free. He also broke world records in four individual events at one meet at the 2003 Worlds and the 2007 Worlds.
The last woman to break three individual world records at one long course meet was Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands at the 2000 Sydney Games, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon of the OlyMADMen.
Phelps is the only swimmer to win five individual events at a single Olympics (2008) or World Championships (2007).
McIntosh can match that at this summer’s worlds. She has said she plans to swim five individual events: her three Olympic gold-medal events — both IMs, 200m fly — plus the 400m free and one of the 200m free, 200m backstroke or 800m free.
If she chooses the 800m free, it could be the most anticipated race of the meet given the presence of Katie Ledecky, the four-time reigning Olympic gold medalist in the event. McIntosh last raced the 800m free at a major international meet at the Tokyo Olympics, when the Canadian was 14.
“You don’t see many swimmers decide to go up (in distance),” Vergnoux said, according to the Toronto Star. “You know, Ledecky is the best distance female athlete in swimming ever, so far. Maybe we look in 10 years and we say, ‘OK, well, Ledecky used to be, and now it’s Summer, I don’t know.’ (But) I don’t think this way. I don’t put any energy in this. Summer doesn’t put any energy on this.
“What we want to do is make sure that we’re good on a daily basis.”
After worlds, McIntosh plans to move to Austin, Texas, and start being coached by Bob Bowman, who coached Phelps for his entire career.
