Summer McIntosh Has Made Visiting Sub-4:30 Territory in 400 IM a Regular Theme
One of the most-exclusive clubs in the sport is the sub-4:30 sisterhood in the women’s 400-meter individual medley. Since Australian Stephanie Rice (4:29.45) and Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry (4:29.89) initially broke the barrier in the final of the event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, only six women have touched the wall in under 4:30 – and none American. While Rice and Coventry opened the door, they have been joined by China’s Ye Shiwen, Hungarian Katinka Hosszu, Aussie Kaylee McKeown and Canada’s Summer McIntosh.
Between the sextet, there have been 20 sub-4:30 performances, with McIntosh comfortably leading the way with an incredible 12 such efforts. Hosszu owns the second-highest total at four. McIntosh’s latest visit to the 4:20s arrived on Friday night when the 19-year-old touched the wall in 4:27.31 at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite. The outing was good for the eighth-fastest time in history, and bodes well for what the Canadian might do later this summer at the Canadian Trials and Pan Pacific Championships.
The world-record holder at 4:23.65, McIntosh has made the 400 medley her personal playground. Not only is she the fastest performer of all-time, she owns nine of the 10-fastest marks in history. The No. 2 performer historically, Hosszu sits 2.71 seconds behind McIntosh, a hefty margin at the world-class level. Really, McIntosh’s dominant status is a tribute to her talent and tenacity.
McIntosh first broke the 4:30 threshold in July 2022, when she set a world junior record of 4:29.01 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. McIntosh was a 15-year-old at the time, and that swim was simply a prelude of what was to come. These days, 4:27 – what she managed at the Longhorn Invite – is a prep performance for the three-time Olympic champion.
McIntosh has broken the world record in the 400 IM once each in the past three years, and her next opportunity to take the global standard lower will come next month in Montreal, the site of Trials for Pan Pacs. If McIntosh does not break the world record at that point, expect a push at Pan Pacs. The real question is how low McIntosh can take the record as she maintains supremacy of the sport’s decathlon.
Summer McIntosh Top Times – 400 Individual Medley
- 4:23.65
- 4:24.38
- 4:25.78
- 4:25.87
- 4:26.98
- 4:27.11
- 4:27.31
- 4:27.71
- 4:28.13
- 4:28.61
- 4:29.01
- 4:29.96