'Goal is to always win': What heights can Canada's Summer McIntosh reach at world championships?

CBC

5 days ago

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For the last number of years Canadian swimming teenage superstar Summer McIntosh has been racking up international medals, breaking national and world records and rewriting history. Her star continues to rise at a meteoric clip, something that doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
It's the expectation now that when McIntosh is swimming, something spectacular is going to happen. And while many have felt that sooner or later she has to come back down to earth, Summer continues to swim in the clouds and take her performances to another level.
In a lot of ways her excellence has been normalized, yet what we continue to see is anything but normal. This current moment, though, just days away from another world championship for the young Canadian, feels different.
These world championships pose an entirely new challenge for McIntosh, something the greats crave; the best in their respective sport are always trying to find new ways to push the limits and boundaries on what is possible.
McIntosh enters her third long course world championships competing in five individual events internationally for the first time. At the worlds in 2022 she swam three individual events, while at the 2023 worlds did four and did the same at the Paris Olympics, where she won three gold and one silver.
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The 18-year-old global phenom arrives in Singapore as the two-time defending champion in the 200-metre butterfly and 400m individual medley. She's coming off a jaw-dropping Canadian trials at the beginning of June where she broke three world records in five days.
Make no mistake, McIntosh has been dominant and is widely regarded as the best swimmer in the world right now. But now she wants to take that to the next level. Many have compared her accomplishments to American superstar Michael Phelps, and now she wants to do what only Phelps has done — win five individual gold medals at one world championships.
McIntosh and 24 other Canadian swimmers have spent the last week in Saga, Japan making their final preparations and acclimatizing for the meet. They have now made their way to Singapore in advance of Sunday's first day of competition.
Live streaming of the World Aquatics Championships can be found on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
There continues to be an immense amount of momentum and optimism surrounding the Canadians, who are still surging in the midst of what has been described as the golden generation for swimming in the country.
Opening night of the championships is going to be jampacked for McIntosh, who will be competing two events. She'll look to capture gold in the 400m freestyle and then shortly after that will be swimming in the 200m individual medley semifinal.
WATCH | Every medal won by Summer McIntosh at a long course world championship:
Every medal won by Summer McIntosh at a world aquatics (long course) championship
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McIntosh is looking to get to the top of the podium in the 400m freestyle at a long course worlds for the first time. Two years ago in Fukuoka, Japan, McIntosh placed fourth in the event. Her disappointment after the race was evident, but she quickly pivoted and would go on to have a very successful meet.
"Overall I'm super pumped to get to Singapore. I'm super ready to race. I'm really focused on day one. There are going to be so many exciting races," McIntosh said recently. "I think going into the past big meets I haven't had the confidence in my training and in my freestyle in general. I have that now, especially with Fred."
Since January, McIntosh has been training in Antibes, France with renowned coach Fred Vergnoux and credits him for making massive strides in the pool. In a recent interview with CBC Sports' Brittany MacLean, Vergnoux said there are no limits on what the Canadian phenom can do.
"We have a very high level of expectation, we expect a lot more," he said.
As McIntosh continues to mature in and out of the pool, she's fully absorbed every experience throughout her career and has tried to learn from it. Now it would appear that she is more than ready to attack that opening night 400m freestyle.
"The goal is always to be faster and that's how I approach every day in training. I'm feeling really strong in training. All the work is done at this point," she said "I'm super pumped for this 400m freestyle."
McIntosh will be staring down American powerhouse Katie Ledecky in not only the 400m free but also the 800m free. The two went head-to-head in the 400m freestyle in Fort Lauderdale in May, with Ledecky taking that race. McIntosh fired back at the trials in Victoria last month by breaking the world record.
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Fred Vergnoux was by Summer McIntosh's side when she broke three world records in five days at Canadian swimming trials, so we had to ask, 'what record will Summer set next?.'
McIntosh and Ledecky will be competing against each other in the 800m free for the first time internationally on the penultimate day of the world championships. It is undoubtedly the marquee race of the entire event.
To say Ledecky has owned this race for more than a decade is an immense understatement. She has 10 of the top-11 fastest times ever.
But Summer is coming.
The Canadian posted a time of eight minutes 5.07 seconds in Victoria. It was the third-fastest time in history and less than a second off Ledecky's world record. McIntosh has only competed in this distance a handful of times but seems poised to push Ledecky to the edge in Singapore.
"One of the many reasons I picked the 800 [for the worlds] is because in my opinion it is the biggest challenge," she said. "Katie is so strong and in her top form this season, so that matchup will be awesome."
If there are two races that McIntosh isn't the outright favourite, it's these two. In her other three individual events it shouldn't even be close. Her world record time in the 400m individual medley is more than ten seconds faster than the next closest competitor this season.
All of this to say that despite McIntosh winning races and awards and garnering international attention before this meet, it feels like she's entering a new era in her life and swimming career.
And she wants this chapter to be laced with gold medals and world records, something she's more than happy to say out loud now.
"I have expectations and goals and that's to get as many golds as possible. A good motivation for me is to put on a show. That's the energy I channel and keep the sport exciting.