Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh sets her third world swimming record in five days

Teenage swimming phenomenon Summer McIntosh set her third world record in a span of five days on Wednesday night at the Canadian swimming trials by winning the 400-meter individual medley in in 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds.

It’s the third year in a row that McIntosh has set the world record in the 400 at the trials. She shaved .73 seconds off her previous mark and finished nearly 12 seconds faster than runner-up Mary-Sophie Harvey.

“I think world records are made to be broken,” McIntosh said after the race. “By the time I leave this sport, I want to make sure that record is as fast as possible. That really keeps me going because I know there’s always going to be the next generation of kids growing up chasing their records. So I’ve got to give my best effort to see how long it can stand.”

She had already achieved two other world records at the trials in Victoria.

McIntosh won the 200-meter individual medley Monday night in 2 minutes, 5.7 seconds. The previous world record of 2:06.12, set by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszú, had stood for 10 years.

After shaving a second off her previous best time on the backstroke leg, McIntosh was still a tenth of a second off Hosszú’s previous record pace at the final turn. But McIntosh crushed the freestyle leg in 29.65 seconds, another personal best, to finish in world-record time.

“It’s been one of those records that’s always been in the back of my mind since trials two years ago,” the 18-year-old Toronto native said afterward. “I’ve been knocking on the door on this one. I’ve just tried to chip away, chip away at it. To finally do it, it’s kind of like ‘Wow, I’ve finally got that done.’”

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Two days earlier, McIntosh had reclaimed the world record in the 400 freestyle. She first set the mark with 3:56.18 in 2023, but was bested the same year by Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus’ 3:55.38. But on Saturday, McIntosh was back on top of the world after swimming a 3:54.18.

“That last 100, I’m usually really, really hurting. But I flipped at the 200, and I was just cruising,” said McIntosh, who won four medals at the Paris Olympics last year — three golds (200 butterfly, 200 and 400 IM) and one silver (400 freestyle).

“I knew I was having a strong swim and I could tell by the crowd and the way they were cheering that I was probably close to the world record, so I really tried to push that last part for them.”

Also at the trials, McIntosh set two other Canadian records, in the 200 butterfly (2:02.26) and 800 freestyle (8:05.07). She will compete in all five events at the world championships in Singapore starting July 11.