World Championships: John Atkinson On ‘Driven’ Summer McIntosh Ahead Of World Bow In Budapest Stronghold

by Liz Byrnes - Europe Correspondent

16 June 2022, 05:07am

Fifteen-year-old Summer McIntosh will be greeted by a wall of noise at the Duna Arena where Hungarian hero Katinka Hosszu awaits.

The rising Canadian star will launch her maiden FINA World Championship campaign on Saturday when she steps out for the heats of the 400 free followed by the 200 fly and 400IM plus relays.

Hosszu is slated to swim both events but it’s the latter in which she has elevated herself into the pantheon with a historic four straight world titles.

She matched that in the 200IM to become the only swimmer – female or male – to have won four successive global doubles.

Katinka Hosszu: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Hungary is an IM powerhouse with Laszlo Cseh and Tamas Darnyi – as well as Hosszu – granted sporting legend status.

When the worlds were held at the Duna Arena in 2017, the crowd numbered 10,000, sitting high in temporary stands.

While the capacity is reduced this time around, it will be a cauldron of noise, the crowd knowledgeable and passionate.

That will be a new experience for several swimmers who have never competed in front of such an audience, McIntosh among them.

McIntosh was a couple of weeks from turning three when Hosszu won her first world title at Rome 2009.

Is she aware of what she’ll step into given Hungary’s IM tradition?

Swimming Canada high performance director John Atkinson spoke to Swimming World in Budapest and said:

“It’s not something that we’ve talked about but what we have talked about to the team is when we were here in 2017 how appreciative of all swimming the Hungarian crowd was.

“While the stands might not be quite as stacked going back, it’s still a fantastic arena and everybody is aware of how great this venue is.

“So somebody like a Josh Liendo for example raced here in 2019 at the World Junior Championships; Finlay Knox raced here at the 2019 World Junior Championships so there’s people that have had a flavour of it, they’ve kind of understand it, they understand how great the venues are.

“But I think it will come to life when we’ve got people in here because this will be the first swim meet internationally that we’ve been to for a long time when we’re going to have people in watching. So it will bring another added welcome addition back into the sport.”

McIntosh Rattles All-Time Rankings

Photo Courtesy: Swim Ontario

McIntosh became the third-fastest 400IMer in history when she posted 4:29.12 in March – a time beaten only by Hosszu and Ye Shiwen – as well as a national record of 2:05.81 in the 200 fly and 4:01.59 in the 400 free.

She finished fourth in the 400 free at Tokyo 2020, ninth in the 200 and 11th in the 800, showcasing her precocious, young talent that promises much for the coming years.

Atkinson said:

“She is very professional, very driven and again everything is still about learning so you go to the Olympic Games and everybody could see the talent that she has.

“And then you come out of the Olympic Games and she did the 4:29 and 2:05 200 fly as one-off swims at a swim meet, it’s fantastic and you can see the type of athlete she is.

“When you go to a trials and you have to swim a heat and a final of the 200 free, heat and a final of a 400IM and a heat and a final of the 200 fly, it’s a different scenario again that you are having to come into.

“So now you come into a World Championships where she could do three 200 flys – prelim, semi, final – heat and final 400 free, heat and final 400IM and the 4×2 relay – again it’s a lot more swimming and a lot more racing and she will learn from that experience and then go on to Commonwealth Games.

“So I think that just being careful, her coach Ryan Mallette and her considering their events and again fully supportive of the path she is on which is different to others because she is younger, it is about experience, you get that by racing and she is certainly going to be doing a lot of racing this summer.”

Athletes ‘Must Focus On Their Own Journeys’

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Canada / Ian MacNicol

Penny Oleksiak was just 16 when she won joint gold in the 100 free at Rio 2016, one of seven Olympic medals she has won across two Games.

On Wednesday, the 22-year-old withdrew from the Commonwealth Games to focus on her long-term preparation through 2023 to the Olympics two years hence.

Oleksiak is attending the World Championships where she will compete in the 100 and 200 free plus relays.

Atkinson emphasised the importance of each athlete following their own individual path with their eyes on the big goal that is Paris 2024.

He said:

“Where we’re at now – we had the pandemic where there was virtually nothing so we’ve suddenly come out and things are not only back to what they were but there’s more frequency of high-level international meets.

“Also everything is more complicated to do things anyway

“At the end of the day we want everybody ready for Paris and I say the big thing is – and I’ve talked about a number of our team members about this – everybody has their own path to Paris.

“Everybody had their own path to Tokyo, their own path to Rio.

“And at the end of the day you have to look at where they’re at now and what is going to be in their best interests for the Paris Olympic Games.

“For some people that might be a slightly different path to others. So Taylor Ruck is here and not doing Commonwealth Games – same as Penny – and Maggie MacNeil is doing relays here but will do individual events at Commonwealth Games.

“I really think we have to look at the individual and where the individual is at particularly having come out of the pandemic, Olympic Games and now with all the different competitions that are coming back we have to be considerate of everybody’s own path.”

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MastersSwimmer

1 year ago

What’s the point of semis?

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