Summer McIntosh Confirms Move to Austin, Bob Bowman in August
Canadian Olympic champion Summer McIntosh confirmed Wednesday that she’ll relocate her training base to Austin in August.
McIntosh, who had previously trained in Sarasota, Fla., will move to the University of Texas to work with coach Bob Bowman. Texas’s postgrad group includes Olympic medalists like Leon Marchand, Carson Foster and Regan Smith.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement and I think it was something that most people could have guessed even when I started off just because I do similar events to what Bob coaches,” McIntosh said in an interview with CBC Sports. “Some might say it was basically inevitable, but I think now that it’s actually happening, hopefully people will be excited.”
McIntosh said in the winter that she would be moving on from Sarasota and a successful relationship with coach Brent Arckey that led to gold medals in the 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM at the Paris Olympics as well as silver in the 400 free. McIntosh, who turns 19 in August, does not intend to swim collegiately with the Longhorns, instead joining the postgrad group.
She met with Bowman in the sprint as a way to vet the fit in the program. McIntosh is currently in Toronto as a tune up for Canadian trials in British Columbia June 7-12. She has been training for most of the spring in France with French Olympic coach Fred Vergnoux.
“Bob has been absolutely incredible throughout the whole process, and I knew that at some point I was going to make the move, so him making it so easy and being so welcoming, I’m really excited for next season,” she said.
McIntosh has set a goal of winning five individual gold medals at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Bowman has guided Michael Phelps to a similar feat, and he helped Marchand win four golds with the pressure of a home-country games at the Paris games last summer. He was named the head coach at the University of Texas’s men’s team and began working with Longhorn Aquatics 14 months ago after leading Arizona State to the 2024 NCAA Men’s Championship.
McIntosh will swim the 400 free, both IMs and 200 fly at Canadian Trials. She will chose a fifth event to pursue from the 200 free, 800 free and 200 back.
The full interview is available here.