VICTORIA, Canada — Summer McIntosh, a teenager from Canada, achieved her second world record within three days at the Canadian swimming trials held on Monday night.
During the competition, McIntosh completed the 200-meter individual medley in an astounding 2 minutes and 5.7 seconds, surpassing the former world record of 2:06.12 that was set by acclaimed Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu back in 2015.
Reflecting on her achievement, McIntosh expressed, “I have been inching closer and closer to this record. I’ve been trying persistently to improve, and to finally reach this milestone, it’s surreal. It feels incredible to have accomplished this goal.”
This record-breaking performance followed McIntosh’s earlier success on Saturday, when she set a new world record in the 400-meter freestyle. She completed that race in 3:54.18, which was more than a second faster than the previous record of 3:55.38, held by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus.
Additionally, McIntosh surpassed her own Canadian record in the 800-meter freestyle on Sunday, clocking in at 8:05.07. This time was narrowly shy of the world record by just 0.95 seconds, which is currently held by Katie Ledecky, set in May.
Taking a humble and focused approach, McIntosh stated, “I’m making a conscious effort to focus on one race at a time. I try to conserve energy during heats and approach the finals with intense concentration and determination.”
Last year at the Paris Olympics, McIntosh secured three gold medals in her individual events comprising the 400 and 200 individual medleys as well as the 200 butterfly. In addition, she earned a silver medal in the 400 freestyle.