Summer McIntosh, the young Canadian swimmer who is breaking world records

In the television footage, Summer McIntosh is alone, the only body moving in the vastness of the 50-meter pool. The competition is far away, off-camera, relegated to more than ten seconds, unable to keep up with the pace set by the 18-year-old Canadian swimmer in the 400m medley. On Wednesday, June 11, the young prodigy set a third world record in just five days of competition. She already held this one and improved it by nearly a second (4 min 23 sec 65).

This race is a faithful summary of the Canadian swimming championships in Victoria (British Columbia), qualifiers for the next world championships (July 11-August 3). The latter will take place in Singapore and Summer McIntosh will be the undisputed star, even more so than the Frenchman Léon Marchand, who is not completely fit. Quite the opposite of the Canadian, who considered, after her third record, to be in the "best form of [her] career" .

Crowned queen of the pools at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with three Olympic titles (200m butterfly, 200m medley, 400m medley), at just 17 years old, Summer McIntosh experienced no decompression after the Games. There was no shadow of a doubt about this for the young champion, who took to her new status with disconcerting ease, before diving back into a new training cycle, the results of which were evident in Victoria.

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