{"id":585681,"date":"2024-05-20T08:26:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T15:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=585681"},"modified":"2024-05-20T08:26:10","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T15:26:10","slug":"summer-mcintosh-confirms-star-power-with-prolific-record-breaking-trials-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/summer-mcintosh-confirms-star-power-with-prolific-record-breaking-trials-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer McIntosh Confirms Star Power With Prolific, Record-Breaking Trials Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer McIntosh Confirms Star Power With Prolific, Record-Breaking Trials Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

During her heyday, Katinka Hosszu<\/strong> was perhaps the most dominant women\u2019s medley swimmer ever, winning four consecutive world titles over both the 200 and 400-meter distances, none of the wins particularly close, as well as dominant Olympic titles in 2016. Hosszu set a pair of remarkable records, annihilating the 400 IM mark by more than two seconds on the way to Olympic gold in 4:26.36 and edging out the supersuit-aided record in the 200 IM by three hundredths in 2:06.12. None of Hosszu\u2019s contemporaries came close to those marks, with only one of her rivals ever clearing 2:07 in the 200 IM and none ever breaking 4:30 in the 400 IM.<\/p>\n

Now, if anyone can qualify for the title of world\u2019s top female medley swimmer, it is Summer McIntosh<\/strong>, a 17-year-old Canadian who is not far off Hosszu\u2019s pace in the 200 IM and already two seconds quicker than Hosszu or anyone else in history in the 400 IM. McIntosh first broke Hosszu\u2019s 400 IM world record last year with a time of 4:25.87<\/a>, and she later captured her second consecutive world title in the race. McIntosh did not race the 200 IM internationally in 2023, but she did become only the fourth woman ever to break 2:07 with a time of 2:06.89.<\/p>\n

One year later, and McIntosh has made even further strides, and the results showed this week at Canada\u2019s Olympic Trials<\/a> as she obliterated her previous world record in the 400 IM and also firmed up her spot as one of the favorites for 200 IM gold at the Paris Games.<\/p>\n

\"summer

Summer McIntosh — Photo Courtesy: Michael P. Hall\/Swimming Canada<\/p><\/div>\n

The 400 IM was midway through the meet, and up to that point, it was unclear what sort of form McIntosh was carrying into the selection meet. Perhaps she was saving her full taper for the Olympics and aiming to do just enough to earn spots in all her main events. Her results in the 400 and 200 free seemed to confirm that.<\/p>\n

Then she dropped her world record by one-and-a-half seconds, clocking 4:24.38<\/a>. How? Almost exclusively through improvements on one stroke, a discipline previously considered her weakest.<\/p>\n

McIntosh excels the most in butterfly and freestyle, and she first broke Hosszu\u2019s world record by crushing the Hungarian\u2019s splits on the opening leg (by 1.44 seconds) and on the way home (by 1.30 seconds) and merely doing enough in backstroke and breaststroke.<\/p>\n

In her latest swim, McIntosh was slightly faster than her previous split in fly and actually slightly slower in backstroke and freestyle. In breaststroke, though, McIntosh split 1:17.13, demolishing the 1:18.92 she swam in breaking the record last year. She is still a second back of the 1:16.11 split that Hosszu provided eight years ago, but that does not matter when a swimmer’s butterfly and freestyle are so electric.<\/p>\n

Here is the split comparison:<\/p>\n