For as dominant as Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh has been the last number of years, there’s no sign of complacency or let up from the 19-year-old from Toronto.
In fact, she says she’s continuing to learn from each race and trying to push herself harder than ever during training as the next Olympics come into focus.
The pursuit of putting all the puzzle pieces together in the pool continued this week at the Fort Lauderdale Open with a stacked field of competitors assembled in Florida. McIntosh posted two impressive victories on back-to-back nights beginning Thursday in the 400-metre freestyle.
In what was the marquee race of that evening, McIntosh found herself locked in a spectacular battle with American legend Katie Ledecky.
The two swimming powerhouses went stroke-for-stroke throughout much of the race. Just when it appeared McIntosh would pull away, Ledecky surged and reeled the Canadian back in.
As both fought doggedly in the final 50 metres, it was McIntosh who had more left in the tank, stopping the clock in 3:58.91.
Her time is the fastest in the world this calendar year. McIntosh is the world record holder in the event in 3:54.18.
After the race, McIntosh wasn’t overly pleased with her time but was happy to touch the wall first.
“It was a great race. It’s always good getting those close quarter reps in. Again, my time wasn’t where I wanted it to be but I felt strong. After the race I wasn’t as laboured as I had hoped,” she said.
“I felt like I could have kept going. I waited too long. All good learning experiences.”
‘More in the tank’
Coach Bob Bowman, who is leading a jaw-dropping group of talented swimmers including McIntosh at the University of Texas in Austin, was happy with McIntosh’s effort.
“I just think she had more in the tank there. I thought that was a really solid swim. I’m very happy with it. I just think summer was swimming to win the race instead of to swim the best time she could swim,” Bowman said.
“Which is OK, but sometimes that holds you back from seeing what’s really in there. I think there’s more in there.”
The two have been working together since last fall, trying to put together a complete five-event program that they hope will culminate in five gold medals at the L.A. 2028 Olympics. Bowman famously guided Michael Phelps to the most Olympic gold medals in history and now wants to help McIntosh reach the highest levels of the sport.
On Friday, McIntosh cruised to a relatively easy victory in the 200m freestyle. This is an event that she is starting to reintroduce into her program.
With the wind swirling around and the sun beating down on the open-air pool across from the Fort Lauderdale beach, McIntosh powered her way through the water to stop the clock in a time of 1:54.36. The second-place finisher, Anna Moesch, was more than two seconds behind McIntosh.
Again, the Canadian wasn’t overly pleased with her time.
“I was a bit disappointed with my time. I felt a lot better than I did this morning in the water, which seems to be the theme. I love racing in this pool. It’s a great vibe. I just thought I’d be a bit stronger,” she said.
McIntosh jumped out of the pool and went immediately to Bowman to debrief the race.
“He was thrilled with the time and the race. We’re just focusing on my turns. We are in deep training right now so that’s something to take into account. The 200 free is something I’m reintroducing to my lineup so it’ll be a little bit of a work in progress.”
Bowman echoed McIntosh’s comments, specifically relating to her turns.
“I said it’s a pretty good race. She’s not happy with the time. She’s never happy with the time, which is OK. But in context the training we’ve been doing is quite good, much better than the 400 in quality, I think,” he said.
“We mainly talked about her turns which are still holding her back in that race, so she’s got to improve the technique of her turn. She kind of hesitates in the middle of the turn, which is not a good thing.”
McIntosh closed out the meet Saturday evening by competing in the 200m breaststroke, an event she doesn’t normally compete in but that she wanted to use a chance to help with her technique to improve her individual medley events.
She finished sixth in a time of 2:29.92.
Big summer ahead
McIntosh will head to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in the coming weeks for altitude training before the Canadian trials taking place in Montreal at the beginning of July. This will all lead to her competing at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., in August.
Swimming Canada high performance director John Atkinson says the Canadian star is perfectly placed going into a big summer of swimming.
“Knowing the work Summer has been doing coming into this competition and working through still building the base for later this year, the results have been really solid,” Atkinson said.
“From an overall Swimming Canada perspective we are really excited to be in Montreal for our Pan Pacific Championships trials in July and an exciting summer of racing with a team in Glasgow for Commonwealth Games and then into LA for Pan Pacs, and the Junior Pan Pacs in Vancouver.”
Liendo finishes 2nd behind Kharun
Fellow Canadian swimmer Josh Liendo, who is coming off a scintillating finish to his NCAA caree which saw him successfully defend his 100-yard title for four consecutive years, finished the Fort Lauderdale Open on Saturday evening.
Liendo was second in the 100m butterfly just behind former Canadian teammate Ilya Kharun. Kharun recently transferred to compete for the USA. Liendo posted a time of 51.17, just behind Kharun who won the race in 50.87.
About 30 minutes after that Liendo was back in the pool to compete in the 50m freestyle, finishing fifth in a time of 22.39.
American Walsh improves own 100m fly world mark
Gretchen Walsh bettered her own 100m butterfly world record for the third time in a year, touching the wall in 54.33 at the same event where she became the first woman to breach the 55-second mark.
The American world champion now owns the 13 fastest times in the event’s history.
“Must be magic or something out here … let’s make this an annual thing, shall we?,” the 23-year-old Walsh posted on Instagram.
Walsh, who narrowly missed out on Olympic gold in the event to compatriot Torri Huske at the 2024 Paris Games, clocked 54.60 last year to become the first woman to go under the 55-second mark.
Walsh is over a second quicker than the next-fastest woman, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who went 55.48 at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
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