In water-related parlance, let’s just say it’s unlikely that Toronto swimmer Summer McIntosh is a splash in the pan.
The 16-year-old swimming sensation made headlines around the world in late March by setting two women’s world records within the space of five days at the Canadian swimming trials. It marked the first time a Canadian female swimmer had been No. 1 in the world in two long-course events since Elaine Tanner (Mighty Mouse, as you old-timers might recall) in 1967.
Swim watchers can hardly wait for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where the then-17-year-old McIntosh will compete against U.S. swim legend Katie Ledecky and Australia’s Ariadne Titmus, the 2020 Olympic champion, in the 400-metre freestyle.
The 400 freestyle at the Canadian swimming trials was McIntosh’s first world record — 3:56.08. Titmus was the previous record holder, at 3:56.40. Five days later, the Canadian teen stunned the swimming world by setting a world record in the 400-metre individual medley (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle) with a time of 4:25.87. The former record, held by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszú (4:26.36) had been untouched for seven years.
While swimming is not a high-profile sport in Canada, McIntosh was hardly an unknown name in the world’s swimming community. She made a big splash at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, finishing fourth as a 14-year-old in the 400-metre freestyle. She began collecting medals galore in 2022, winning four at the world aquatics championship, and then six medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. But there were no world records until this year in Toronto and evidently, one wasn’t enough for McIntosh.
So what’s to come for the young swimming prodigy? The Paris Olympics next year will offer a chance for Summer’s fame to expand even more around the world and Canadian media have until then to develop a nickname for our country’s latest superstar, like Tanner’s ‘Mighty Mouse’ moniker more than 50 years ago.
McIntosh, whose mother swam at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, still has a number of years of top competitive swimming ahead of her. A website called RealClearScience says female athletes in speed swimming events don’t hit their peak until age 22.
That gives McIntosh six years to possibly become the most famous swimmer in the world. It’s safe to say she’s already got a good headstart on that mission.
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