Editor’s note: This article is part of our “Origin Stories” series, which focuses on athletes’ backstories and topics related to the Summer Olympics.
SARASOTA, Fla. — Summer McIntosh even caught the attention of Billie Jean King.
On the night of the women’s 400-meter freestyle final at the Toyota U.S. Open in Greensboro, North Carolina, Canadian swimming prodigy McIntosh stepped onto the starting block. Next to her is American swimming legend Katie Ledecky.
This is the first meeting between McIntosh and Ledecky since the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, a clash between two generations of swimmers. Ledecky, 26, is considered the greatest female swimmer of all time. McIntosh, 17, is a rising star in the swimming world. Ledecky remains motivated to add to the career she has already achieved. Team USA has seven Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship gold medals. McIntosh’s career was just beginning.
The buzzer sounds and the swimmers jump into the pool. Ledecky gained an early advantage in the penalty area. But at the first turn, McIntosh was ahead. She never lost her lead. By the 300m mark, McIntosh was a full length ahead of Ledecky. As McIntosh fought her way through the final 50 meters, she hit the wall and set a new championship record in the 400-meter freestyle. McIntosh and Ledecky exchanged brief congratulations before leaving the pool. This time, the Canadians prevailed.
Five days later, tennis icon and gender equality champion King wrote a congratulatory letter to McIntosh on social media.
History was made at the pool last weekend.
Cheers to Summer McIntosh, who won the U.S. Open 400m freestyle in a blistering time of 3:59.42.
Her time broke the previous U.S. Open record of 3:59.71. https://t.co/HoJnRF7cRr
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) December 5, 2023
“History was made at the pool last weekend,” Kim said on X (formerly Twitter). “Here’s to Summer McIntosh.”
McIntosh is already a four-time world champion and set two world records in 2023. She is charting a path to swimming greatness, just as Ledecky did as a teenager. Now, seven months away from the 2024 Paris Olympics, McIntosh’s expectations continue to soar.
It’s 5:45 AM in Sarasota, Florida. That set off a wake-up call for McIntosh’s Tuesday morning practice. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are days when McIntosh swims twice. There are different wake up calls. Every Monday, McIntosh wakes up at 4:15 a.m. local time.
“I’m a heavy sleeper, so a calming alarm will wake me up slowly and not scare me at 4:15,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh had breakfast and then headed to the Selby Aquatic Center, home of the Sarasota Sharks swim team, which has produced swimmers at the state, national and international levels for more than 60 years. Known as the “Shark Pool,” it’s where McIntosh trains under coach Brent Arckey. In this early morning session, McIntosh warms up in the pool before doing a set of freestyle drills. Training is from 6:30 to 8:30 in the morning, then she goes home and takes a nap before training in the afternoon.
Waking up early and training intensely creates a strict schedule. While McIntosh enjoys being prepared, she admits that she sometimes lacks motivation to meet her standards.
“Motivation isn’t something you get every day,” McIntosh said. “It comes in waves. But I’ve always had this discipline that no matter how I wake up feeling, I’m going to go to the pool and try my best. … I just keep moving forward, and in those moments you have to Stay disciplined because you have to remember your long-term goals and then you have to achieve your short-term goals for the day.”
🇨🇦Summer McIntosh dives into the pool.
Full speed freestyle.
Summer won a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. #paris2024 | #RoadToParis2024 pic.twitter.com/rpRs4SUBB3
— Lucas Weese (@Weesesports) November 7, 2023
This is how McIntosh is preparing for Paris and likely her next big showdown with Ledecky.
To McIntosh, Ledecky was more than just a competitor. She was a swimmer, and a poster of her hangs on the wall of McIntosh’s childhood room in Etobicoke, Ont., a suburb of Toronto.
McIntosh was just 5 years old when Ledecky won her first Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Games. Now, the two are competing against each other in the biggest competition. It wasn’t just their shared ability to swim long distances that attracted McIntosh to Ledecky. That’s what McIntosh sees in Ledecky’s personality outside of the pool.
“No matter what a person accomplishes in any sport, they are only human,” McIntosh said. “She is a very down-to-earth person. Getting to know her on a more personal level made me realize that everyone is going through the human experience. It allowed me to see another side of someone I had always admired growing up.”
McIntosh also looks up to another American, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time. A few years ago, McIntosh watched a compilation of Phelps’ record-setting eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She even named one of her three cats “Mike” after Phelps.
“He trusted the process and took it day by day,” McIntosh said of what she learned from Phelps. “Even if you lack motivation for the day, you can still stay disciplined and get things done.”
McIntosh is part of a successful sports family. Her mother, Jill, was a swimmer at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Her sister Brooke is a pairs skater. This is rapid progress for Summer, who has been swimming competitively since she was 8 years old. At 14 years old, she is the youngest Canadian on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. McIntosh competed in her first world championships, winning gold medals in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. At 16, she set two world records at the 2023 Canadian Trials.
What motivates McIntosh? Desire to be the best while possessing admirable character.
“Being a good person is the first priority, and then their sport,” said Gil McIntosh. “If you’re not proud of who you are while excelling at your sport, I don’t think it’s going to be a very interesting journey.”
When McIntosh jumped into the pool at Toronto’s Pan American Sports Center on March 28, little did she realize that the world record was about to be broken. She was competing in the 400m freestyle final at the Canadian Trials. She slid across the pool, and as her lead grew, so did the crowd’s energy. She hit the wall in 3 minutes, 56.08 seconds, breaking the world record.
The stoic McIntosh unleashed her emotions as she stepped out of the pool. After her morning swim, she didn’t think she could set a world record. Photos of McIntosh breaking the record and hugging Alki are displayed in the coach’s office.
“That picture of someone looking up at the scoreboard and saying, ‘Oh my gosh. I just did something that I didn’t think was possible, or I didn’t think I could do.’ I think that’s what a lot of us do when we come to the pool every day. reasons,” Aki said.
McIntosh became the youngest person to break a world record in an Olympic sport since Ledecky in 2013. Four days later, she also set a world record in the 400m individual medley.
“I don’t think Summer realizes how difficult it is to set a world record or personal best in every event,” Gill said of his performance at the trials.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way.”
Witness Summer McIntosh’s poolside moment when she breaks the 400m freestyle world record
Watch the 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials: https://t.co/Y7qrmB8FmA pic.twitter.com/PB3FMqtm6M
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) March 29, 2023
If the Canadian trials were marked by pure elation, the start of the 2023 World Championships underscored raw disappointment. In the opening final, McIntosh faced off against Ledecky and Australian superstar Ariarne Titmus in the highly anticipated 400m freestyle final. This is the first time the trio has competed in the same competition since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
McIntosh finished fourth and missed the podium. Titmus broke McIntosh’s world record to win the gold medal, with Ledecky finishing second. It’s a disappointing result for Canadians. Aki gives her space.
“She wasn’t happy,” Aki recalled.
The two had a long conversation. She still has a few games left. McIntosh took a day off before heading back to the pool. It allowed her to move away from a bad game and refocus on what’s ahead. Despite their disappointment, several swimmers reached out to McIntosh and offered words of encouragement. She was surprised by the outpouring of support from the swimming community.
“‘Everyone’s been nice to me,'” Jill remembers Summer telling her. “It’s all about respect. You have to respect your competition.”
McIntosh went on to win two world championship gold medals, in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. She won bronze medals in the 200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay. Finishing fourth in the 400m freestyle is a thing of the past.
“You can learn a lot from bad games,” McIntosh said. “When I have a negative experience during a game, I try to turn it into a positive experience. What I can take away from it is understanding where I went wrong before and during the game, learning to improve my focus and discipline, Execute the rest of my game as best I can.”
McIntosh returned to “Shark Tank” with the help of a teammate. In the car, a Drake song blared from the speakers. McIntosh completed 45 minutes of dry land training before returning to the pool. This includes weightlifting, burpees, and burnout squats. It’s all about improving her strength and conditioning in the water.
Afterward, McIntosh jumped into the water for two hours of pool training. McIntosh could be heard laughing with his teammates between events in the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly strokes.
🇨🇦Summer McIntosh’s Butterflies.
world class.
The Canadian is the reigning world champion in the 200m butterfly. #paris2024 | #RoadToParis2024 pic.twitter.com/pYj4KuxeLu
— Lucas Weese (@Weesesports) November 7, 2023
It would be a life-changing seven months for McIntosh, culminating in the Olympics. She has a chance to become the next distance swimming superstar. If she wins multiple Olympic gold medals, she will enter a new league of Canadian sports celebrities. Like swimmer Penny Oleksiak (Canada’s most decorated Olympian) or sprinter Andre de Grasse. This means more attention.
After the training, McIntosh emerged from the shark tank. She greeted a young swimmer who was about to enter the pool for practice. The sun had set by the time McIntosh left. As the Olympics approach, Canadians’ attention continues to grow.
(Top photo of Summer McIntosh showing off her 400m individual medley gold medal at the 2023 World Championships: Nikola Krstic/BSR Agency/Getty Images)