Summer McIntosh sets another world junior, national record, headlines Canadian world championship team
Devin Heroux | CBC Sports | Posted: April 2, 2023 10:44 PM | Last Updated: April 3, 2023
16-year-old caps historic week by lowering her 200m freestyle record to 1:53.91
Summer McIntosh has capped off one of the most impressive swimming meets ever by setting another world junior and Canadian record at the national trials.
A night after an electrifying world record-breaking swim in the 400-metre individual medley, McIntosh powered her way to another memorable swim, this time in the 200m freestyle.
The 16-year-old phenom lowered her record with a time of 1:53.91 on Sunday night at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
"I mean I'm pretty exhausted at this point but it's been a lot of fun to compete in my home pool with all the Canadians in the stands, and honestly the only reason I can do this is because of everyone surrounding me, my teammates, friends, family and my coaches," McIntosh said.
"It was pretty hard. I tried to leave it all in the pool. Overall I'm pretty happy with the race. There are always things to improve on but to finish this week this way I'm overall happy."
WATCH | McIntosh breaks own records in 200m freestyle:
In her five events this week, McIntosh broke five world junior and Canadian records, including two world records.
"Learning how to recover in between events with this big lineup. It's not just recovering physically but mentally too. You don't want to get too high or too low because that can really distract you. You just want to stay as chill as possible," McIntosh said.
Worlds roster finalized
After a week of extraordinary performances, not only by McIntosh but many other athletes, Swimming Canada finalized its roster for worlds this upcoming July in Fukuoka, Japan.
Canada is sending one of its most competitive teams ever to a swimming world championships, including 31 athletes.
The talent is jaw-dropping and the depth in the program is unparalleled — nine Canadian records were broken throughout the six days of competition in Toronto.
Along with McIntosh, other household names include Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil, most decorated FINA swimmer Kylie Masse, rising star and NCAA champion Josh Liendo, 18-year-old Ilya Kharun as well as Katerine Savard who is making her sixth world championship appearance for Canada.
Here is the full list:
- Javier Acevedo — Toronto
- Sophie Angus — Weston, Conn.
- Jeremy Bagshaw — Victoria
- Eric Brown — Pointe-Claire, Que.
- James Dergousoff — Christina Lake, B.C.
- Brooklyn Douthwright — Riverview, N.B.
- Emma Finlin — Mississauga, Ont.
- Edouard Fullum-Huot — Montreal
- Ruslan Gaziev — Moscow
- Collyn Gagne — Milton, Ont.
- Mary-Sophie Harvey — Trois-Rivières, Que.
- Hanna Henderson — Mississauga, Ont.
- Patrick Hussey — Montreal
- Ella Jansen — Burlington, Ont.
- Ilya Kharun — Montreal
- Finlay Knox — Okotoks, Alta.
- Josh Liendo — Markham, Ont.
- Maggie Mac Neil — London, Ont.
- Kylie Masse — LaSalle, Ont.
- Summer McIntosh — Toronto
- Hugh McNeill — Langley, B.C.
- Emma O'Croinin — Edmonton
- Penny Oleksiak — Toronto
- Sydney Pickrem — Clearwater, Fla.
- Taylor Ruck — Kelowna, B.C.
- Katerine Savard — Pont-Rouge, Que.
- Brayden Taivassalo — Markham, Ont.
- Lorne Wigginton — Calgary
- Ingrid Wilm — Norwich, England
- Kelsey Wog — Winnipeg
- Mabel Zavaros — Burlington, Ont.
"Team is looking awesome. We're looking good. Last year I showed the world that I can compete at the highest level. Now it's about going back there and improving on that performance," Liendo said.
Liendo set a Canadian record in the 50m fly in a time of 23.27 to finish his competition on Sunday night.
"It's been so much fun. It was just good to be back," he said.
"Last year bronze and silvers. But the goal is to be at the top of the podium and I'm going to keep working and keep fighting to get there."
WATCH | Liendo breaks another Canadian record:
High-performance director John Atkinson has called this the golden generation of Canadian swimming.
"Like I said at the beginning, it's here and it's now and it's coming to Fukuoka, Japan this summer," Atkinson said.
"Everyone can enjoy this moment and enjoy the celebratory feeling of making a Canadian team going to the world championships, which is always special."
But for as good as the Canadian swimmers and Atkinson are feeling right now, it's back to business in short order to start preparing for worlds.
"I think this team is competitive. When you look at the selections you'll see we have really established athletes and new athletes. I think there are few areas to get back on track," he said.
Last summer at the world championships in Budapest, Canadian swimmers won an historic 11 medals, including breaking five Canadian records.
Many are still talking about McIntosh's performance at these trials.
The Toronto native started the event by breaking the 400m freestyle world record, stopping the clock in a time of 3:56.08, breaking the record held by Ariarne Titmus of Australia.
McIntosh is the first swimmer in history to hold both the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley long course world records at the same time.
WATCH | Relive McIntosh's 400m IM world record poolside, with her family in the stands:
On Thursday night, McIntosh broke her own world junior record in the 200m individual medley. Her time of 2:06.89 would have won gold at worlds last summer. It also would have won gold at the Tokyo Olympics by more than a second.
On Friday night, McIntosh set a world junior and Canadian record in the 200m butterfly.
Her time of 2:04.70 took down her previous record time (2:05.05) set earlier this month.
The swimmer that has been called a once in a generation talent has certainly lived up to that billing after an unforgettable national trials.
"It's amazing to have all the Canadians in the stands. I feel all of their support and I just want to say thank you to everyone for supporting me and cheering me on. It really does mean the world," McIntosh said.
WATCH | How McIntosh's 400m freestyle world record swim looked from poolside:
Now she has her sights set on the world championships.
Her Sarasota Sharks coach Brent Arckey has been named to the Canadian support staff.
"I'm there for Summer. I'm there to help Canada be the best they possibly can be. I'll be the guy who will do whatever anybody needs. I'm there to help Summer work through a big problem and also there to help the team," he said.
"My job as the coach is to have high expectations and help her dream big, and we've had some great conversations about doing great things. I'm just proud of her and how she's managed all of this."
Arckey says this was optimal preparation for worlds.
"Really special. We have a 16-year-old girl here that every time she gets in the water we have super high expectations. We should all be super proud of her and what she's doing for her country," he said.
"We had to come to a six-day swim meet, swim multiple things and we'll go and evaluate next week. I'm already thinking about some things and I'm sure she is too. We'll put our heads together and figure out how we're going to make ourselves better for worlds."
WATCH | McIntosh shatters records at national swimming trials:
Other results
Savard won a close battle with Masse in the women's 50 butterfly on Sunday, beating the fellow Tokyo Olympian by just 0.03 seconds with a time of 26.56.
Javier Acevedo wrapped up a strong week by topping the podium in the men's 200 freestyle (1:47.72). The 25-year-old from Toronto lowered his Canadian record in the men's 50 backstroke to 24.90 on Wednesday.
Sunday's Para winners were Shelby Newkirk in the women's 100 backstroke multi-class (1:21.06) and Nicholas Bennett in the men's 100 backstroke multi-class (1:02.57).
Eric Brown won the men's 1,500 freestyle in 15:26.85 for his third national title of the week, while Mabel Zavaros won the women's 800 freestyle (8:38.17).
WATCH | Canadian swimming trials — Day 6 finals: