Summer
McIntosh
Canada
·
Swimming
Date of birth | August 18, 2006 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Toronto |
Age | 19 |
Nationality | Canada |
Disciplines | Swimming |
The Toronto-born Summer McIntosh was destined to be in the water. Her mother, Jill Horstead, competed in the 1984 Summer Games in swimming, so it really is no surprise that Summer found herself in the pool at a young age. With a natural talent that couldn’t be taught and a deep drive to improve, she began making waves across the local swimming clubs and never looked back.
For any top-performing, world-class athlete, a level of dedication sets them above the rest, and Summer’s commitment to her craft quickly drove her forward. At just 14 years old, she was selected to the Canadian team for Tokyo in 2020, making her one of the youngest athletes to ever compete at the Games.
Facing the best in the world, Summer competed in the 400m freestyle and finished in fourth place, just missing out on the podium. But no matter where she officially placed, she still won. Her performance captivated the attention of the swimming world and propelled her onto the world stage.
But Summer was just getting started. Her meteoric rise continued in 2022 at the World Aquatics Championships where, if there was any doubt before, she loudly announced to the world that she was here to stay. She won gold in the 200m butterfly and the 400m individual medley and set new junior world records in both.
In Birmingham, UK, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Summer picked up exactly where she left off a few weeks earlier. She won a total of six medals including gold in both the 200m and 400m individual medley and silver in the 400m freestyle, which set a new Canadian national record.
At the 2023 Canadian World Championship trials, Summer set two new world record times in the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley and continued to solidify her status as one of the top swimmers in the world, scorching into her second World Championship where she took bronze in the 200m freestyle, gold in the 200m butterfly, and gold in the 400m individual medley.
At the 2024 Paris Games, Summer proved she's one of the biggest talents in the pool. She won three gold medals in the 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly, as well as silver medal in the 400m freestyle. Her contribution to Canada's success earned her the honour of being a flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony.
That Paris success has spurred Summer on to even greater speed in the pool and she absolutely smashed the 400m freestyle world record in some style at the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, where her time of 3m 54.18s trimmed more than a second off the previous mark held by her rival Ariarne Titmus, who beat Summer to the gold medal in Paris. How fast can she go in the years to come? We can't wait to see.