Summer McIntosh Named Canada’s Swimmer of the Year
Summer McIntosh on Thursday was named Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year and Junior Female Swimmer of the Year for 2023 by Swimming Canada.
The 17-year-old set world records at Bell Canadian Trials to start the year, then became the first Canadian swimmer to win multiple world championships in back-to-back years. She won the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. She added bronze medals in the 200 freestyle and 400 free relay.
McIntosh set the world record in the 400 IM. She’s also the world junior record holder in the 200 fly. She is the owner of five Canadian senior records and five world junior records.
“She’s done what no Canadian athlete has done before,” Swimming Canada’s high performance director and national coach John Atkinson said in a press release. “When you think of all the great athletes that we’ve had, and you see what Summer has accomplished at 17, it’s a testament not only to her but to her coach and to her parents who all work together as a team.”
McIntosh was named Swimming World’s Americas Swimmer of the Year in 2023. Her 400 IM record was the female world record performance of the year.
McIntosh began her career at Etobicoke Swim Club before transitioning last year to Sarasota Sharks in Florida. She qualified for her first Olympics at age 14 at the Tokyo Games. She was fourth in the 400 free and fourth in the 800 free relay, the latter in a Canadian record, in Tokyo.
In Fukuoka, McIntosh bounced back from a minor blip, finishing fourth against a deep field in the 400 freestyle in which Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took down McIntosh’s world record. She would recover to collect four medals at the meet, one of its best performers.
“It was definitely motivating,” McIntosh said then. “I knew it was going to be mentally tough but I try to turn everything that goes wrong into motivation somehow. I’ve learned so much strategically with my races and where I can improve and continue to grow.”
“It showed a passion and a pride for what she wants to achieve,” Atkinson said. “How she regrouped on the team, and how she regrouped with her coach, to me showed what a great partnership they have. “It showed her resilience to bounce back and do phenomenal things through the end of that championships.”
McIntosh is one of Canada’s biggest stars as the Paris Olympics arrive this year and one of the swimmers to watch at those Games.
“You don’t want to put a ceiling on (what McIntosh can do) because a ceiling is a limit,” Atkinson said.
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It’s SUMMER time in Canada