Paris Olympics Toronto athlete guide: Swimmer Summer McIntosh

Since her debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at just 14 years old, where she was the youngest member of Team Canada at the time, Summer McIntosh has proven herself to be a powerful force. Having broken over 75 Canadian Age Group records, McIntosh is set to make waves in the Paris Olympics. Here’s what you need to know:    

Hometown: Toronto

Sport: Swimming 

Background: Toronto-born McIntosh broke the 800-metre freestyle record for the 11-12 age group at the senior Canadian Championships in 2019. She also won bronze in the 800-metre freestyle and the 400-metre individual medley.

McIntosh qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by winning 200-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle at the Canadian Olympic trials. She placed fourth in 400-metre freestyle and fourth in the 4 x 200-metre freestyle relay.

At the World Aquatics Championships in 2022, McIntosh won eight medals, four of which were gold. She set junior records in 200-metre butterfly and 400-metre individual medley. McIntosh, at age 15, was the youngest Canadian to win gold at the World Aquatic Championships or the Olympic Games. In 2023, she defended these titles. 

McIntosh set world junior records at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, earning gold in the 200-metre individual medley and 400-metre individual medley.

At age 16, McIntosh broke the world records in the women’s 400-metre freestyle and women’s 400-metre individual medley at the 2023 Canadian Trials, marking her as the first swimmer of any gender to own these records in both events.

At the USA Swimming’s 2024 Southern Zone South Sectionals in Feb., McIntosh defeated American swimmer Katie Ledecky, the first to do so in an 800-metre freestyle in 13 years. 

In the 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials, McIntosh broke her own world record in women’s 400-metre individual medley.

 

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Career highlights: With six medals, McIntosh was the most decorated athlete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

McIntosh was the first Canadian since Alex Baumann (1984) to hold two long course world records simultaneously and the first Canadian woman to achieve this since Elaine Tanner (1967).

In February, McIntosh smashed the Canadian record in the women’s 800-metre freestyle by almost nine seconds, becoming the second-fastest ever in the category.

Where it all started: Summer McIntosh is not the first Olympian in the family, having followed in her mother’s footsteps. Jill Horstead competed in swimming the 200-metre butterfly at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, treading the way for McIntosh who began swimming competitively at the age of eight. She has wanted to make Team Canada ever since watching the 2016 Olympic trials in person.

Fun fact: McIntosh named one of her two cats Mikey after prolific Olympian Michael Phelps due to the feline’s love of the water.

Olympic event dates: Women’s 400-metre freestyle (Jul. 27), women’s 400-metre individual medley (Jul. 29), women’s 200-metre butterfly (Jul. 31), and women’s 200-metre individual medley (Aug. 2). McIntosh has dropped out of the 200-metre freestyle.

Social media: Instagram  X

We’ll be profiling more athletes ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics; refer here for more coverage.