Summer McIntosh, 18, matches Phelps with third world record in five days
Summer McIntosh of Canada reacts after the women’s 400m individual medley final at last year’s Paris Olympics.
McIntosh breaks 400m IM world record in 4:23.65 time
Third record broken in five days for Canadian teenager
18-year-old matches Phelps’ 2008 mark for single meet
Summer McIntosh broke her third swimming world record in five days on Wednesday night, clocking 4:23.65 in the women’s 400m individual medley at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia.
The 18-year-old from Toronto lowered her own world record of 4:24.38, set earlier this year, and became the first swimmer to break world records in three different individual events at one long course meet since Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“Going into tonight, I knew I could do something really special because this has probably been the best meet of my career,” McIntosh said afterwards in a pool deck interview.
“World records are made to be broken. So by the time I leave this sport, I want to make sure that that record is as fast as possible.
“That really keeps me going, because I know there’s always going to be the next generation of kids growing up, and they’re going to be chasing the record. So I’ve gotta give them my best effort to see how long it can stand.”
The performance extends a historic stretch for McIntosh, who already broke the world records in the 400m freestyle (Saturday) and 200m individual medley (Monday). She also posted the third-fastest time in history in the 800m freestyle (Sunday) and the second-fastest in the 200m butterfly (Tuesday).
McIntosh, a three-time Olympic gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Games, laid down another impressive marker ahead of next month’s world championships in Singapore, where she is expected to compete in five individual events: the 200m and 400m IM, the 200m butterfly, the 400m freestyle, and one of either the 800m freestyle, 200m freestyle or 200m backstroke.
On Monday, she swam 2:05.70 in the 200m individual medley to break Katinka Hosszu’s world record of 2:06.12, which had stood since 2015.
That came two days after she reclaimed the 400m freestyle world record with a time of 3:56.18, surpassing Australian Ariarne Titmus.
“It’s been one of those records that’s always been in the back of my mind,” McIntosh said of the 200 IM mark. “I’ve just tried to chip away at it, and to finally do it, it’s like, ‘Wow.’”
