By Lori Ewing
(Reuters) -A day after Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh completed one of the greatest weeks in swimming history with a hat-trick of world records, the Toronto teenager was already looking ahead to what comes next.
McIntosh became the first swimmer to break three different individual long-course world records in one meet since American Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she achieved the feat at this week’s Canadian swimming trials.
The 18-year-old, who headlines Canada’s 28-member team named on Thursday for next month’s World Championships in Singapore, believes she can go even faster.
“I can go over with my coach and see where to make improvements and really just use this as motivation and validation for my training so far,” McIntosh said. “Just keep pushing and moving forward and work even harder.”
In a stunning statement ahead of the worlds, the triple Olympic champion continued her record-breaking over a glorious five days in Victoria, shattering world marks in the 400 metres freestyle plus the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
In addition to her three world records, she set five Canadian marks, came within two seconds of Katie Ledecky’s 800m freestyle world record set last month and clocked the fastest 200m butterfly time since super suits were banned in 2010.
Moments after completing her hat-trick with the 400m IM on Wednesday, she made a beeline for fellow Canadian swimming great Penny Oleksiak, who once described McIntosh as “all gas, no brakes.” Oleksiak, Canada’s most decorated Olympian with seven medals, lifted McIntosh off her feet in a huge embrace.
Then, as she had done all week, McIntosh gave her gold medal away to an awestruck young fan in the stands.
McIntosh did not compete on the last day of the meet on Thursday, withdrawing from the 200m freestyle. Instead, she posed for photos and chatted with the large gathering of fans outside Saanich Commonwealth Place.
“What a week Victoria! Had so much fun in the pool this week,” McIntosh wrote on Instagram.
The swimmer, who raced at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as a 14-year-old, credited coach Fred Vergnoux — with whom she has been training in Antibes, France since January — for “the best meet of my career.”
“(Vergnoux) has been absolutely amazing throughout this whole journey these past few months,” McIntosh told the CBC. “He’s really taken me to the next level in the sport and pushed me farther. I’ve gone way faster than I ever could have imagined.
“So props to him, he’s done absolutely amazing with me. And we’ve only known each other for so long, so I feel that connection so quickly.”
McIntosh’s mother Jill Horstead swam for Canada at the 1984 Olympics while her 20-year-old sister Brooke competed for Canada in pairs figure skating before switching allegiance to Spain, winning the Spanish national championships with partner Marco Zandron. They recently split.
Summer McIntosh is expected to compete in five individual events at the World Championships, which begin on July 14 with open water events before shifting to the pool on July 26.
She could continue her assault on the record books, as Phelps is the only swimmer to win five gold medals in a single worlds (2007).
McIntosh then plans to move to Austin, Texas to work with Bob Bowman, Phelps’ coach for his entire career.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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