Summer McIntosh shattered the women’s 400m freestyle world record at the Canadian Swimming Trials on Saturday, clocking an astonishing 3 minutes 54.18 seconds in a performance that stunned spectators and sent a resounding message ahead of this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.
The 18-year-old Canadian, already a three-time Olympic gold medallist and former holder of the world record in this event, obliterated the previous mark of 3:55.38 set by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.
“Going into tonight I knew my training had been really good these past few months, and I felt capable of something special,” McIntosh said following her race. “I didn’t think that special would be 54.1, but I’m really happy with that overall.”
Saturday’s race was McIntosh’s first outing of the trials in Victoria, a key selection meet for Canada ahead of the World Championships, which run from 11 July to 3 August. She is entered in seven events over the course of the meet, including the 800m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and 200m backstroke. However, she has indicated she plans to compete in five events at the championships.
McIntosh, who clinched gold in the 200m butterfly, 200m medley, and 400m medley at the Paris Olympic Games, will look to expand her haul of four world titles when she heads to Singapore. With reigning world champion Titmus taking a season off, her most formidable rival in the 400m freestyle is expected to be American legend Katie Ledecky. But McIntosh’s blistering time on Saturday suggests she is more than ready for that challenge.
“To be honest, I didn’t really feel a lot of pain in that,” she said of her record-breaking swim. “I just felt so strong throughout, and that’s never been the case for me in the 400 freestyle. The last 100 is usually where I’m really hurting, but when I turned at the 200, I was just cruising, so I knew I was having a strong swim.”
The packed crowd in Victoria sensed history in the making, and McIntosh admitted their cheers pushed her to the finish.
“I could tell by the way the crowd was cheering that I was probably close to the world record, so I really tried to push that last part for them.”
With her latest feat, McIntosh has once again etched her name into the sport’s history books and firmly established herself as the one to beat in Singapore.