Canadian teen McIntosh shatters 400 metres freestyle record
Canadian three-times Olympic champion Summer McIntosh set a world record in the women's 400 metres freestyle at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia, on Saturday.
The 18-year-old clocked 3:54.18 to better Australian Ariarne Titmus' mark of 3:55.38 set at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
"Going into tonight, I knew that my training has been really good these past few months, and I knew that I could do something special," McIntosh told public broadcaster CBC.
"So being able to input my training in doing that - I didn't think my training would be 54.1 but I'm really happy with that."
At the Paris Olympics, McIntosh became the first athlete from Canada to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
In Paris, the four-times World Aquatics champion won gold in the 400 metres individual medley, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley, as well as taking silver in the 400 freestyle.
But things felt different at the Canada trials.
"I just felt so strong throughout, and that's never been the case in the 400 freestyle for me. That last 100, I'm always really, really hurting.
"But I flipped at the 200 and I was just cruising, so I knew that I was having a strong swim. I could tell by the crowd and knew 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."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
An Se-young claims her fifth title of 2025 with Indonesia Open win; Anders Antonsen also victorious
An Se-young claims her fifth title of 2025 with Indonesia Open win; Anders Antonsen also victorious – Trailing 9-17 in the second game, world No. 1 An Se-young looked down and out in the Indonesia Open women's singles final on June 8. But the South Korean seized on a sudden lapse by China's world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi, reeling in six points in a row en route to winning the second game 21-19 which levelled the match at 1-1 before she completed a comeback to seal her fifth title of 2025. Overcoming an error-strewn start, An won 13-21, 21-19, 21-15 to bag the winner's prize money of US$101,500 (S$130,900) at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta. An, 23, said: 'I was very frustrated because my performance wasn't even half of what it usually is. But I had to go on with it and I think it worked. 'Coach told me to keep it simple, with repetitive basic strokes... I told myself to run fast and don't make mistakes. So, I think I did that faithfully.' This is also third Super 1000 triumph of the year for the Paris Olympics champion. Super 1000 tournaments form the second tier of competitions on the Badminton World Federation World Tour, just below the World Tour Finals. There are only four Super 1000 events on the calendar, with the July 22-27 China Open being the last one. An had won the other Super 1000 tournaments earlier in the year – the Malaysia Open in January and the All England Open in March, where she had also come from behind to beat Wang in the final. Wang said that defeat in Birmingham was not weighing on her mind. The 25-year said: 'I was leading in the first game, but at the end of the second game, my strategy was not working and I think that my opponent changed her strategy so she could win her second and third game.' In the men's singles final, world no. 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark defeated Chinese Taipei's seventh-ranked Chou Tien-chen 22-20, 21-14 for his first title in three finals this season. Antonsen, who had lost to Chou in the final of the 2019 edition, said: 'He played extremely well in the first game and I was struggling to find a way to solve the puzzle. 'But in the very end... it comes down to the smallest margins, so I got lucky. In a final like this, it's about staying kind of calm, avoiding too many stupid mistakes.' Anders Antonsen (above) defeated Chou Tien-chen 22-20, 21-14 for his first title in three finals this season. PHOTO: AFP Chou and Antonsen had overcome Thai world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Chinese world No. 2 Shi Yuqi respectively in the semi-finals, and initially, it seemed like Chou had carried that momentum into the final as he led 20-17 in the first game. But the 35-year-old allowed his 28-year-old rival to claim five points in a row to win the first game instead. On the late collapse, Chou said: 'He changed his strategy for his service and I tried to follow up, but it didn't work. The first set was pretty down for me, I tried to wake up in the second set, but he's very good.' Chou Tien-chen and Anders Antonsen on the podium after their men's singles final match at the Indonesia Open. PHOTO: AFP While Antonsen claimed his first Indonesian Open crown, there was also a first in the mixed doubles as world No. 10 Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue celebrated France's first Super 1000 title after a 21-16, 21-18 win over sixth-ranked Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand. 'I couldn't believe it,' said Gicquel, who wrapped Delrue in a bear hug after their historic feat. 'The start was super hard and we got through, and we never thought we'd get this far after the first round. It's crazy, it was one of goals to win a big tournament this year. It's a lot of hard work behind this, so we're grateful.' Thom Gicquel (left) and Delphine Delrue celebrated France's first Super 1000 title after a 21-16, 21-18 win over Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand. PHOTO: AFP In the women's doubles final, China's top-ranked Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning defeated Malaysia's world No. 4 Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan 23-25, 21-12, 21-19. With other Indonesians such as men's singles world No. 5 Jonatan Christie having exited earlier, it was left to 16th-ranked men's doubles pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani to give the home crowd something to cheer about. While they fought hard against South Korea's Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho, it was not enough as the world No. 6 pair won 18-21, 21-19, 21-12. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
Olympic champions Errani, Paolini win French Open women's doubles title
PARIS :Italian pair Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini beat Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic 6-4 2-6 6-1 to win the women's doubles title at the French Open on Sunday. It was the first Grand Slam trophy for the second-seeded Italians, who also won the Paris 2024 Olympics doubles title on the same court last year. It was also 38-year-old veteran Errani's second title this week after also clinching the French Open mixed doubles title with compatriot Andrea Vavassori. The pairs traded breaks midway through the first set before the Olympic gold medallists, who had reached the final at the French Open last year, bagged it with another break at 5-4. Danilina, a 2022 Australian Open doubles finalist, and Krunic bounced back, easily earning the second set but they were broken twice at the start of the third as the Italians raced to a 5-0 lead. The Italians, sixth in the doubles rankings, wrapped up their first Grand Slam title as a pair when Krunic sank a forehand into the net. Paolini, who reached both the women's singles and doubles final at the French Open last year, had lost in the fourth round of this year's singles edition.
CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Chalmers hopes Enhanced Games leads to improvement in prize money for clean swimmers
Kyle Chalmers won't criticise fellow swimmers for taking part in the Enhanced Games, but the Australian hopes the proposed multi-sport event prompts World Aquatics to increase prize money for clean athletes. The Enhanced Games will allow athletes to use pharmacological or technological assistance, including substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Retired Australian world champion swimmer James Magnussen, 34, in February last year agreed to take performance-enhancing drugs to make an attempt at beating Cesar Cielo's 15-year-old 50-metre freestyle world record. The Enhanced Games concept has been met with widespread criticism, with World Aquatics introducing a new bylaw that will prevent any athlete or official who supports or endorses doping from competing or holding any positions after a Greek swimmer supported by the Enhanced Games 'broke' the world record. "James is one of my really great mates so I'm definitely not going to knock him for going across there," Chalmers was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press on Sunday. "That is something that is hard in our sport, there's not a huge amount of money or prize money on offer and we kind of do it for the love of it. "So I am not going to be a person that slams swimmers for wanting to go across and make some money and give themselves a better opportunity in life or set their families up..." The Enhanced Games will hold their inaugural competition in Las Vegas in May next year with swimming, athletics and weightlifting on the agenda. Participants could earn prize money totalling up to $500,000 per event plus bonuses for surpassing a world record mark. "Swimmers have been underpaid for a very long time at the big competitions," the 26-year-old said. "I'm very lucky to have a lot of personal sponsors so I do OK for myself, which is nice. But I know that there's a lot of swimmers out there that really struggle... "So I really hope that there is a shift, that we are able to get a little bit more prize money for what we do, but I guess we'll see."
