Summer McIntosh Made History With Three World Records at Canadian Trials
What just transpired over five days in Victoria, B.C., can only be described as one of the greatest performances in swimming history. Yes, this was only a selection meet rather than a chance to add to her already-impressive total of Olympic and World Championship medals, and the competition level was far from what she will face next month in Singapore. But by setting three long course world records in one competition, Summer McIntosh accomplished something only four other swimmers had ever done before.
The run started with a clobbering of the mark held by Ariarne Titmus in the 400 freestyle, sending a clear signal of McIntosh’s intentions for the week of racing at the Canadian Trials. The middle swim knocked off a nine-year-old 200 IM record held by Katinka Hosszu, and McIntosh finished things off by blasting her own 400 IM standard by seven tenths.
The list of record-breaking performances does not include her close calls in the 800 freestyle and 200 butterfly, a pair of assaults on legendary records not expected to be touched for generations. Liu Zige has owned the 200 butterfly mark since 2009, her time of 2:01.81 among the few left from the supersuit era, and McIntosh was briefly under Liu’s world-record pace. She ended up more than halving the gap between her previous Canadian record and the global mark, finishing merely three tenths behind in 2:02.26.
Katie Ledecky set the 800 free record much more recently, her effort at last month’s Fort Lauderdale Pro Series ending a nine-year gap between record-setting swims in that event. McIntosh came in at 8:05.07 to get within a second of that time. Ledecky has dominated that event since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old at the London Games, and during almost that entire span, she has owned a monopoly on the top-10 performances in history. Not anymore.
Ledecky’s career accomplishments have established her as the greatest female swimmer in history. The main evidence are the unprecedented, uninterrupted supremacy she has shown in the distance events since her international debut and the means by which she destroyed world records in her main events early in her career.
Well, Ledecky never did this. She concurrently owned world records in the 400, 800 and 1500 free from August 2014 through May 2022, but she never broke records in all three at the same meet. Neither did Sarah Sjostrom, the only female swimmer to ever own four long course world records at the same time. Sjostrom’s time with four ran from July 2017 through June 2024, when she lost her 100 fly time to Gretchen Walsh, and she still tops the 50 and 100 free plus the 50 fly.
Summer McIntosh — Photo Courtesy: Scott Grant/Swimming Canada
Before McIntosh, the only woman to ever set three long course world records at the same meet was Shane Gould, with the Australian legend setting marks in the 200 and 400 free plus the 200 IM at the 1972 Olympics. Coincidentally, she is also the only female to lead the world in the 400 free and 200 IM at the same time prior to McIntosh.
On the men’s side, Michael Phelps did this three times, setting four world records during his signature eight-gold-medal performance at the 2008 Olympics plus in World Championships in 2003 (five) and 2007 (four). Mark Spitz set four world records at the 1972 Games, and Ian Thorpe broke marks in the 200, 400 and 800 free at the 2001 World Championships.
That’s it. That’s the exclusive company the jaw-dropping 18-year-old from Toronto now joins. She is also the seventh swimmer to hold three or more long course records at the same time, adding to a list including Spitz, Gould, Thorpe, Phelps, Ledecky and Sjostrom.
And if not for the iconic efforts of Liu and Ledecky, it would have been five different events at once, a feat achieved by a grand total of one swimmer ever — Phelps, for three weeks in July 2009.
McIntosh was already regarded as the world’s top swimmer currently thanks to her results at the Paris Olympics. The 200 IM final against fellow gold medalists Kaylee McKeown and Kate Douglass on day eight of competition was essentially the tiebreaker, and McIntosh prevailed emphatically. Now, she has leveled up yet again, producing a moment on par with the greatest ever.
To be clear, her overall résumé does not yet come close to matching up with the likes of Ledecky or Sjostrom, but such career assessments are unnecessary and frankly inappropriate for a teenager. The results McIntosh does or does not attain from this point forward are irrelevant to this topic. Simply, her performance at this year’s Canadian Trials is transcendent and historic, worthy of its place among the sport’s best ever.
That said, she has shown no signs of plateauing, let along falling off. She could have threatened a sixth global mark in the 200 free if not for her decision to scratch that event. No matter, a relay leadoff will be available to her at the upcoming World Championships in Singapore. McIntosh will be in position to earn an excess of titles and medals at that meet, with each of these world records from Trials in her target range yet again.
Did Kornelia Ender not set 5 WRs in the DDR Olympic Trials 1976?