Summer McIntosh Continues National Award Haul As Swimming Canada Recognizes Standout 2023

Courtesy: Jim Morris/Swimming Canada

Summer McIntosh was in the driver’s seat most of 2023, even before she could legally get behind the wheel of a car.

The 17-year-old from Toronto was a dominant force on the international stage. She set world records at the 2023 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, then, at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, McIntosh won individual gold medals in the 200-metre butterfly and 400-m individual medley plus bronze in the in 200-m freestyle and 4×100-m freestyle relay.

McIntosh became the first Canadian swimmer to win double world championships back-to-back. Her four world championship gold medals are the most by any Canadian swimmer.

In winning the 200-m fly and 400 IM in Japan, McIntosh also set world junior records. She holds the world record in the 400 IM, five Canadian senior records and five world junior records.

Her accomplishments have resulted in McIntosh being named Swimming Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year – Olympic Program and Junior Female Swimmer of the Year – Olympic Program.

“She’s done what no Canadian athlete has done before,” said John Atkinson, Swimming Canada’s high performance director and national coach. “When you think of all the great athletes that we’ve had, and you see what Summer has accomplished at 17, it’s a testament not only to her but to her coach and to her parents who all work together as a team.”

McIntosh, started swimming with the Etobicoke Swim Club, made her first Olympic Games and won her first world championships as a member of the High Performance Centre – Ontario. Now living in Sarasota, Fla., where she trains with coach Brent Arckey’s Sarasota Sharks, manages to keep her accomplishments in perspective.

“I’ve actually never really thought about how my competitors perceive me,” she told Swimming Canada earlier this year. “I respect all of them. I think we all respect each other on a very high level, just because we know how much work it takes and how much time you have to put in to get to this certain level.”

McIntosh showed her resilience and competitive spirit at the world championships.

On the opening day of competition she finished fourth in the 400-m freestyle and watched Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia break the world record McIntosh had set at the Canadian trials. McIntosh called the defeat a learning experience and responded by winning the 200 fly in a world junior and Americas record.

“It was definitely motivating,” McIntosh said at the time. “I knew it was going to be mentally tough but I try to turn everything that goes wrong into motivation somehow. I’ve learned so much strategically with my races and where I can improve and continue to grow.”

Atkinson praised McIntosh’s character and the strong relationship she has with Arckey.

“It showed a passion and a pride for what she wants to achieve,” he said. “How she regrouped on the team, and how she regrouped with her coach, to me showed what a great partnership they have.

“It showed her resilience to bounce back and do phenomenal things through the end of that championships.”

McIntosh put the world on notice during the 2023 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in March. Over a six-day period she set five World Aquatics records in five events.

McIntosh set world records in the 400-m freestyle and the 400 I.M., becoming the first swimmer to hold both long course records at the same time. She also lowered her own world junior and Canadian records in the 200 freestyle, the 200 I.M. and 200 butterfly.

“I’m really happy with the two world records,” McIntosh told Swimming Canada at the end of the meet. “I never thought that was a possibility going into this meet.

“Overall, I can only just really be happy. But no matter what, there are always still things to improve on and learn from.”

The trials were a stepping stone for McIntosh.

“I think just taking on five events within six days is something that I haven’t really done before ever,” she said. “It’s something that I need to continue to work on if I want to be able to execute it on the highest level and world level as well.”

Later in the year McIntosh showed her versatility at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Open Championships.

She won the 400-m freestyle and 400-m I.M., posting swimming pool and competition record times.  She also won a bronze medal in the 200-m backstroke.

“Her versatility is tremendous,” said Atkinson. “She’s able to focus on what she needs to focus on but can still develop other events if she wants to.”

McIntosh was just 14 when she competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where her best result was a fourth in the 400-m freestyle and she helped the 4×200 freestyle relay to fourth place in Canadian record time. Swimming Canada is already working with McIntosh, her coach and family to prepare her for this summer’s Olympics in Paris.

“Managing expectations, managing distractions, managing pressure, all those kinds of things,” said Atkinson. “When we go away on a national team, she has a really good plan with her coach. I worked with them on that, so that when we go in we’re all aligned.”

McIntosh’s emergence on the world stage follows in the wake of Canadian Olympic and world champion swimmers Penny Oleksiak, Kylie Masse and Maggie Mac Neil.

Atkinson said having flexibility in the developmental system breeds success.

“It shows the system overall in Canada, that when there is talent there are ways to develop it by working together with the coaches, with the swimmers and the parents,” he said. “There’s always been talent but sometimes you have to allow that talent to flourish by letting people do things in slightly different ways.

“Not everyone is on the same path but all those paths coverage at the Olympic trials next year and onward to Paris.”

Atkinson didn’t want to speculate how much better McIntosh can be in the coming years.

“You don’t want to put a ceiling on it because a ceiling is a limit,” he said.