Three world records: Summer McIntosh swims away from everyone

It's a running joke on the Canadian swim team: Be five minutes ahead of Summer McIntosh in the training pool. "Otherwise, she'll kick your ass," Maggie MacNeil, the 2021 Olympic champion in the 100-meter butterfly, said of her teammate three years ago. "This girl just doesn't slow down." But these days, even five minutes more training might not be enough to keep up with McIntosh.

At the Canadian Swimming Championships in Victoria, the 18-year-old set three new world records within five days. "World records are meant to be broken," said McIntosh after improving her own world record in the 400-meter individual medley by another 0.73 seconds. "When I retire from this sport, I want to make sure that record is as fast as possible."

She had previously improved the world records in the 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter freestyle in Victoria, proving that she is already in top form a month before the World Championships in Singapore (July 11 to August 3).

Three Olympic victories in Paris in 2024

The Canadian is already a star in the sport of swimming. After narrowly missing out on Olympic medals with two fourth-place finishes at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as a 14-year-old, she celebrated three Olympic victories in Paris in 2024. No Canadian athlete had ever achieved this at the Olympic Games before. McIntosh won two world championship titles at the 2022 World Championships in the Hungarian capital Budapest and the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Summer McIntosh poses after the medal ceremony at the 2024 Olympics in Paris with a Canadian flag and gold medal around her neck — McIntosh won three gold medals and one silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris . Photo: Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press/picture alliance

McIntosh comes from a sports-loving family. Her mother, Jill, competed as a swimmer for Canada at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but finished ninth and was nowhere near a medal. Her sister, Brooke, two years older, is a successful pairs figure skater.

Summer McIntosh, too, wavered as a teenager about whether she should focus on figure skating, but ultimately decided on swimming. Not least because she didn't want to be dependent on judges to determine her success.

She has always loved swimming, McIntosh told the Canadian portal Sportsnet: "It's very simple: whoever touches the wall first wins. But it's also about race strategy and different techniques, about split times and how much everything can change in the final meters of a race."

Role model Ledecky defeated several times

Her childhood role model was US swimming star Katie Ledecky, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist and 21-time world champion. "Growing up, I always quoted her and hung posters of her on my bedroom wall," recalls McIntosh. "She's so inspiring and truly changed the sport. She, too, competed when she was very young."

McIntosh has since defeated her now 28-year-old idol, Ledecky, several times. "It's really cool to know her on a more personal level."

Summer McIntosh celebrates one of her three Olympic victories in Paris with her parents — Proud parents - Father Greg (l.) and mother Jill McIntosh (r.) celebrate Summer's Olympic victory in Paris. Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

In 2022, McIntosh and her mother moved to Sarasota, Florida, because, unlike her hometown of Toronto, she could train in the outdoor pool year-round. After the current swimming season, McIntosh will move to Austin, Texas, to join successful coach Bob Bowman. He previously coached US swimming superstar Michael Phelps , the most successful Olympian of all time with 23 gold medals.

Summer McIntosh loves cats. The family's oldest cat was named Mikey because of Phelps. "He's the best cat ever," McIntosh raved during the 2024 Olympics in Paris. "Mikey is this huge red-haired cat, the sweetest guy you'll ever meet." Perhaps one day, cats will also be named Summer—after Canadian swimming star McIntosh.