17-year-old swimmer Summer McIntosh is poised to be a breakout star at the Paris Olympics.

Follow our Olympic coverage ahead of the Paris Olympics.

TORONTO — Summer McIntosh waited before entering.

It was mid-May, the fourth night of the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic swimming trials. After swimming the first two nights, McIntosh was ready to compete in the 400m individual medley. By the age of 17, she was already a world record holder and two-time world champion.

“Summer Macintosh!” shouted the public address announcer.

Macintosh stood beneath a replica of the Eiffel Tower at Toronto’s Pan Am Sports Centre. She was the last swimmer to receive her call. McIntosh walked down Lane 5, serenaded by cheers from the crowd. She adjusted her goggles and placed her hand over her lens as she entered her starting stand.

There was a beep and Macintosh jumped into the pool. 8 lengths. 100 meters for each stroke: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.

Ten seconds into the race, McIntosh took the lead. When passing the 100 meters she was ahead by her body length. Until the final 50 meters, McIntosh was the only swimmer on the broadcast. She was far ahead of her competitors.

The cheers grew louder as Macintosh crossed the finish line. Her parents, Greg and Jill, stood and waved their arms.

McIntosh broke his own world record by hitting the wall with a time of 4:24.38, almost 1.5 seconds faster than the previous record.

It was her best performance in the Olympic trials, where she set the fastest time in the world this year.

This is the Macintosh stage. Race in front of a lively crowd. Where she feels her joy and comfort.

“The crowd was so crazy,” McIntosh said of the fans during the swim’s world record. “I heard your story during the breaststroke. It really gave me strength to keep going.”

In a few weeks, McIntosh will swim in front of a replica of the Eiffel Tower and travel to Paris La Défense Arena, home of the swimming competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 8km from the real Eiffel Tower.

A Canadian swimming sensation is ready to shine in the “City of Light.”

Macintosh has deep swimming roots. Her mother, Jill, swam for Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. McIntosh followed in her mom’s footsteps and competed in swimming since she was eight years old. She left the pool and wore a macintosh. She was inspired by American stars Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps. McIntosh had a poster of Ledecky hanging in her room as a child. She named one of her own cats ‘Mikey’ after her Phelps. And she watched highlights from the historic 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which Phelps won eight gold medals.

McIntosh, who swam for the Etobicoke Swim Club, gained national attention. At age 12, McIntosh lowered the 45-year-old Canadian age-group record in the 800m freestyle. At age 14, she beat Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s most decorated Olympian, in the 200m freestyle at the 2020 Canada Olympic Trials, securing a spot on Canada’s team for the Tokyo Olympics.

She did not win a medal in Tokyo. But success soon followed her.

She won her first two Commonwealth Games gold medals there. In 2022 and 2023, she has won a combined four World Championship gold medals. He is the 400m IM world record holder. Everyone is up to the age of 17.

At the Canadian Olympic qualifiers, 17-year-old Summer McIntosh set a world record in the 400m IM. She will be a medal contender in five events in Paris. (Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star/Getty Images)

One major reason is that McIntosh relocated to Sarasota, Florida to train with Sarasota Sharks coach Brent Arckey. With COVID-19 pandemic restrictions still in place in Ontario, McIntosh needed a pool to swim full time.

Sarasota’s Selby Aquatic Center, known as “The Shark Tank,” was the perfect location. Olympic size swimming pool. Friendly yet competitive environment. Arckey’s coach has experience coaching Olympic athletes.

This is a systematic training program for Macintosh. She swims four days a week, twice in the early morning (6:30 to 8:30 a.m.) and late afternoon (3 to 5 p.m.). Wake-up time is available from 4:15 AM.

Dry land training. 2 hours at the pool. repeat.

This is what it takes to become the best swimmer in the world. Even on difficult days, McIntosh enjoys preparing for Paris.

“Motivation is not something you have every day,” McIntosh said. athletic November. “It comes in waves. But I always have that discipline to go to the pool and do my best, no matter how I feel when I wake up.”

The Paris Olympic swimming program begins with the Earthquake Race. The women’s 400m freestyle, the first full-day event to be held in France on July 27, will likely see McIntosh, Ledecky and current Olympic and world champion Ariane Titmus face off.

The last time these three raced together was in the 400m freestyle at last year’s World Championships. Titmus set a world record. Ledecky finished second and McIntosh finished fourth.

World record! 🚨

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus clocked 3:55.38 in the women’s 400m freestyle and Katie Ledecky took silver.

📺 @Peacock | #AQUAFukuoka23 pic.twitter.com/Rm7WyrbQQV

— NBC Olympics and Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 23, 2023

McIntosh comes from a bad race where he says he learns and grows. After speaking with Arckey and taking a day off from competition, McIntosh went on to win four medals, including two golds (200m butterfly, 400m IM) and two bronzes (200m free, 4×100m) in the remaining events. medley relay).

McIntosh raced her idol Ledecky at the Toyota US Open almost five months after the 2023 World Championships, beating the American in the 400m free in a meet record time. They met again last February in Orlando, where McIntosh ended Ledecky’s 13-year reign in the 800m freestyle. Ledecky, who has recorded the fastest 800 meters in history 29 times, has not lost a final of the event since 2010.

At the Canadian Olympic Trials, McIntosh won the 400m freestyle in 3:59.06. This is the fastest 400-meter freestyle time of 2024, faster than McIntosh’s World Championship record but almost four seconds slower than Titmus’ world record (3:55.38). For most of the race, McIntosh maintained world record pace. But she was frustrated, believing she could do better.

“I know I can go faster. We have to keep moving forward,” McIntosh said.

Arckey sees McIntosh’s 400m freestyle result differently. After two months away from Paris, there is room for improvement.

“We’re not going to make most of the changes,” Arckey said. athletic After the ordeal. “It’s her second fastest time ever and currently the fastest time in the world. She is hard on herself. There are certainly some things that could be done better. There is no doubt about it. “That’s what good people do.”

Canada’s Olympic trials are over and McIntosh, who has qualified for the Olympics, is waiting to be called back to the pool deck to join her Swim Canada teammates. Stepping out with Arch Key, who is also her Canadian national team coach, she shared a long hug with her mom.

Jill has been with Summer through every step of her swimming career. And her family will be in Paris watching Summer compete for her first Olympic medal.

After the tryout, McIntosh returns to Sarasota to train on Shark Tank. After a few days of rest, she returns to the pool for her final eight weeks of activity.

Arckey said he and McIntosh would reflect on the test before improving the field for Paris, where a big 400-metre freestyle showdown with Ledecky and Titmus awaits, along with the four other individual events for which McIntosh has qualified. After fine-tuning in Sarasota, McIntosh will travel to Normandy for a warm-up camp with members of the Canadian Swim team. Next is the Paris game.

McIntosh has achieved greatness at international events before. Now it’s time to do it in Paris, a chance for the Summer Olympics to become the Summer Olympics.

“I know I can go faster,” Summer McIntosh says of her 400m freestyle. McIntosh, Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky recorded the fastest 26 times in the event. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Go deeper

17-year-old Summer McIntosh has everyone’s attention. Now she’s chasing Olympic glory

(Top picture: Daniel Goldfarb / athletic; Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)