Canadian swim star McIntosh making big changes as she eyes even more gold in L.A. 2028
Will visit Bob Bowman's Texas centre; adding a 5th discipline to her race program
Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh has decided to make a coaching change to help in her pursuit of five gold medals at the next Olympics.
In an exclusive interview with CBC Sports, the 18-year-old from Toronto said this will be her last season training at the Sarasota Sharks facility with coach Brent Arckey, who helped her win three gold medals and one silver at the Paris Olympics last summer.
And she's eyeing Bob Bowman, who coached American Michael Phelps to a record 23 Olympic gold medals — including eight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — to help her. Bowman has lots of experience in helping a swimmer with a multi-event program, most recently this past Olympics when Frenchman Leon Marchand won four gold medals.
"Bob coaching the greatest of all time — swimmer Michael Phelps — being able to do all those events is definitely an attraction," McIntosh said. "As I move forward to my career, I still want to continue to develop other events.
"Just to reflect on the past almost three years I've been in Sarasota, I've grown so much as a person and a swimmer. Coach Brent really pushed me to be the best swimmer I could be. I will forever cherish my years here. It's been a great run."
McIntosh will continue training with Arckey as she prepares for the world championships in Singapore at the end of July, and Arckey is expected to be on site as part of the Canadian coaching team.
McIntosh expects to visit the University of Texas in early March, where Bowman leads the swim program and also runs a professional program. She said she's not interested in joining an NCAA program, but because of strict NCAA recruitment guidelines Bowman cannot comment on McIntosh.
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"I'm figuring out a pro team that I could join," McIntosh said. "The NCAA is a great option but for me personally, I think a pro team makes more sense because it has a lot more flexibility and it's a lot more individual."
"Obviously I'm brainstorming ideas on where I should be going to not just continue as a swimmer, but also develop as a human being and where might be a good place for me," McIntosh said.
Bowman served as a coach on the U.S. Olympic team from 2004-2016, and was head coach at Arizona State University from 2015 to 2024. The 59-year-old moved to U of Texas last year and leads what is widely regarded as the top training group in the world, including Marchand, and Regan Smith and Simone Manuel of the U.S.
Arckey said he can't think of many coaches or places in the world that would suit McIntosh better than Bowman and the University of Texas.
"If you can find me a better place then I'm all ears," he said. "It's a great opportunity. I've been supportive of this the entire time. I want to make sure she's going somewhere where she's going to get better and spread her wings. It's only a reflection on us.
"I've had the opportunity to work with Bob and I have nothing but respect for Bob. When Summer started talking about all of this, this was certainly one of the options that we threw out there."
Under Arckey, McIntosh has racked up world records, countless world championship titles and her four Olympic medals. No Canadian athlete had ever won three gold medals at a single Games prior to McIntosh in Paris. She was named Canada's athlete of the year for 2024 and was also named Female Swimmer of the Year by World Aquatics.
"Since the moment I stepped on deck just as a visitor, I knew coach Brent believed in me. When I first moved here I never thought I'd be leaving with all the medals and the records and all the stuff that we've accomplished," she said.
Arckey said the decision comes with mixed emotions but that he's grateful for all the experiences the two have had and the memories they've created.
"I'm proud of her. I'm proud of what we've done. Obviously I'll be sad to see her go, but at the same time part of what I do as a developmental coach is to encourage these kids to get out of the nest," he said.
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"When Summer came down here I said, Canada, we'll take care of her because I knew how great she could be and how important she is to the country. Summer is a special, special kid."
John Atkinson, Swimming Canada's high-performance director, said Arckey played an instrumental role in McIntosh's success.
"Brent was open to trying different things, different camps, different events, but didn't overload her. It would have been quite easy to add two more events this last year," Atkinson said. "The coach is a massive part of that with every athlete. He's done a terrific job working with her."
McIntosh said she will be adding a fifth event to her program at the upcoming world championships this summer – and for the 2028 Olympics. The four staples in her program have been the 200-metre butterfly, 200m individual medley, 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley, in which she holds the world record. She just broke the Canadian and Commonwealth records in the 800m freestyle with a time that would have won gold at the Paris Olympics this past summer.
WATCH | McIntosh reflects on short course worlds as 'one of the best meets of my life':
McIntosh competed in the 200m backstroke at the short course world championships in Budapest this past December, winning silver.
The 800m free and 200m back have not featured as regular events in her program and she isn't prepared to say whether it will be the 800m free or 200m backstroke that will be part of her program at worlds this summer.
"I definitely want to be doing five individual events. What that looks like, I don't know exactly yet," she said.
"Summer can do whatever she wants in the sport. She's got the gifts to do that. She trains and works really hard. It's up to her on what she wants to do," Arckey said.
And she wants to rack up gold medals at the L.A. Games in three years.
"I think just getting my hand on the wall first and as many golds as possible is always the goal for me. Bottom line is win at all costs and whatever that takes," McIntosh said. "Going into Paris, that was my goal. I fell a bit short of that but overall I'm so happy with it.
"I think getting my first Olympic medal and it being silver, having what that felt like really motivated me to not get any more throughout the meet."
Arckey said while all the records and gold medals have been remarkable, it's how Summer's evolved in life that makes him most proud.
"I remember the braces," Arckey said, with a laugh. "She's gotten stronger and she's grown into an awesome young woman. That's how I'm going to remember all this. And that's what I hope for anybody that comes through here."
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