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Summer McIntosh has no limits. Why her next level of greatness may come at the world swim championships

Summer McIntosh has no limits. Why her next level of greatness may come at the world swim championships

Toronto Stara day ago
July 26, 2025
6 min read
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By Bruce ArthurColumnist
SINGAPORE—Here on the other side of the planet, Summer McIntosh is trying to conquer the swimming world, and it's important to remember that nobody else can do this. She already won three individual gold medals at the Olympics in Paris, tying for the second-most by a female swimmer behind East Germany's Kristin Otto in 1988. Otto's feat, of course, looks so much duller in the light of history. Everyone knows McIntosh is great.
But there are levels to greatness and, at the world championships in Singapore, McIntosh has a chance to continue her staggering, almost disorienting climb. The Toronto native set three world records at the Canadian trials in Victoria last month and nearly brought down the two most untouchable records in women's swimming, all in five days. (The last swimmer to set three world records in one meet was Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.) The meet brought McIntosh's coach, Fred Vergnoux, to the verge of tears. It was astonishing.
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Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @bruce_arthur.
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