Why Summer McIntosh's Canadian record in the 800 freestyle was so impressive at the swim trials

Toronto Star

20 hours ago

VICTORIA— Summer McIntosh set a world record Saturday nigh t, and didn't set a world record Sunday night, and it was hard to tell which swim was more impressive. No, wait: it was Sunday's.
The 18-year-old Toronto phenom smashed the record in the 400 freestyle Saturday, and uncharacteristically smashed the water with her fist afterward. She didn't expect to swim 3:54.18, breaking the record by 1.15 seconds. Do you know how fast Summer McIntosh has to swim to surprise herself?
Sports
McIntosh sets world record in 400M freestyle at Canadian Swimming Trials
VICTORIA - Swimming star Summer McIntosh of Toronto set a world record in the 400-metre freestyle event on Saturday while competing in the Bel…
Sports
McIntosh sets world record in 400M freestyle at Canadian Swimming Trials
VICTORIA - Swimming star Summer McIntosh of Toronto set a world record in the 400-metre freestyle event on Saturday while competing in the Bel…
'I mean, going into tonight, I knew that my training has been really, really strong these past couple months, and I knew I was able to do something special,' McIntosh said after the race at the Commonwealth Place pool in suburban Victoria.
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'So to do that, I'm really happy with it, but I did not think I would be that fast in the race. It did not feel like that. So touching the wall, you can kind of see my outburst of emotion, because I was really not expecting that time.'
Sunday night was a different window into the greatest swimmer Canada has seen. There were four races McIntosh was definitely swimming at these Canadian trials: the 400-metre freestyle, the 200 butterfly, and the 200 and 400 individual medleys. Her fifth race was intriguing. She signed up for the 200 backstroke and the 200 freestyle, but chose something else: the 800 free.
The 800 is more of a pain race than the intermediate distances, and requires different training. And it's a race dominated by Katie Ledecky, the most decorated female Olympic swimmer in history. Yes, McIntosh became the first person in 13 years to beat Ledecky in the 800 in 2024, but Ledecky swam what for her was a relatively desultory 8:17.12 to Summer's 8:11.39. Yes, McIntosh swam 8:09.86 in February, the 11th-fastest 800 in history. But the top 10 times — including her sixth world record in the event, 8:04.12, set in May this year — belong to Ledecky.
McIntosh usually doesn't swim this race. She finished 11th and failed to make the final at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo at age 14, and has those two 800s from the last year on her resumé. But her four individual Olympic medals in Paris were in 200- and 400-metre races. This was rare.
'You don't see many swimmers decide to go up (in distance),' said McIntosh's coach, renowned Frenchman Fred Vergnoux. 'You know, Ledecky is the best distance female athlete in swimming ever, so far. Maybe we look in 10 years and we say, 'OK, well, Ledecky used to be, and now it's Summer, I don't know.' (But) I don't think this way. I don't put any energy in this. Summer doesn't put any energy on this.
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The Toronto swimmer was a heavy favourite going into Tuesday's debate given her thrilling performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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The Toronto swimmer was a heavy favourite going into Tuesday's debate given her thrilling performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
'What we want to do is make sure that we're good on a daily basis.'
This race is supposed to be just a little outside McIntosh's comfort zone, but maybe she doesn't have a comfort zone. McIntosh was ahead of Ledecky's record pace at 400 metres Sunday, and at 500 metres. By the 600 mark, she was one one-hundredth of a second ahead; with 50 metres to go, she was seven one-hundredths of a second behind. It was right there.
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But Ledecky's final 50 in her record swim was an astonishing 28.46, after which she wept, her body wracked by sobs. Vergnoux jokingly told McIntosh if she didn't swim a 28 in the final leg she would have to swim the race again tomorrow, but Summer doesn't have that kick yet, that endurance. She churned so hard, finishing the last 50 in 29.34. Her time of 8:05.07 was the third-fastest women's 800 in history.
And mostly, it seemed like McIntosh tried to hide her annoyance that it wasn't faster.
'I mean, I think for me, I'm always shooting to break records and push the boundaries of the sport but, overall, have to be happy with the best time,' she said. 'I mean, I'm always trying to be faster and faster, but I think that just gives me more fuel to the fire heading into (the world championships in) Singapore and through my training.'
The women's 800 in Singapore might be the race of the meet. McIntosh spent the last six months training in France with Vergnoux, upping her distance capacity. Of the 800 she said, 'I'm still learning how to swim it … I knew I was probably close to the world record, but I had no idea where I was (in terms of time).'
McIntosh might set more world records this week: She already holds the record in the 400 IM. But she called the third-fastest time in history in a race she doesn't really know how to swim, which is owned by the greatest female swimmer of all time, a good learning experience, and she was right.
Whatever else she does this week, it will be hard to be more impressive than that.