Summer McIntosh, Canada’s 16-year-old swim star, smashes world record in women’s 400m freestyle
16-year-old Canadian swimming sensation Summer McIntosh breaks world record in women’s 400m freestyle: ‘This just blows my mind’
Sixteen-year-old Summer McIntosh of Canada set an incredible new world record Tuesday night in the women’s 400m freestyle.
Competing in the Canadian swimming trials at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center, McIntosh finished in 3 minutes, 56.08 seconds to break the mark of 3:56.40 set last year by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus.
It was the first long distance world record held by a Canadian swimmer since Kylie Masse in the 100m backstroke at the 2017 world championships in Budapest. McIntosh also surpassed his previous national record of 3:59.32 by more than 3 seconds.
“For the last few years I’ve put my life into this,” said McIntosh, who finished fourth in the 400-meter freestyle in her Olympic debut in Tokyo as a 14-year-old.
‘To achieve something like this, it was very unexpected. It was never in my dreams to do this tonight or even a few years ago. This just blows me away.
Summer McIntosh celebrates on top of the podium after breaking the world record
McIntosh, who is still just 16 years old, high-fives his coach after receiving his gold medal on Tuesday.
McIntosh could break another world record on Saturday when he runs the 400m IM
Canadian trials are being held to determine the swimmers who will compete at this summer’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, as well as the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
McIntosh’s emergence is setting up one of the most anticipated matchups at World Cups and at the Paris Olympics next summer.
She is expected to be matched in the 400 against Titmus, the current Olympic championand American star Katie Ledecky, another former world record holder, 2016 Olympic gold medalist and defending world champion if.
McIntosh now trains in Florida with the Sarasota Sharks and coach Brent Arckey, according to Swimming World magazine, and there’s a lot of fanfare surrounding the teen sensation, which will likely improve as the Olympics approach.
On Saturday, there’s a chance McIntosh will break more records when he runs the 400-meter individual medley.
Katinka Hosszu currently holds the record at 4:26.46, with McIntosh’s best record currently at 4:28.61. If she shaves a little more than two seconds off her time, she has the potential to break another world record.