Swimmer Summer McIntosh, the first Canadian to win three gold medals in a summer or winter Olympic Games, captured the women’s 400-metre freestyle in world record time for her first individual world short course championship gold medal on Tuesday in Budapest, Hungary.
In her first major race since the Paris Games in July, McIntosh led from start to finish, touching the wall in three minutes 50.25 seconds. The previous world mark of 3:51.30 was set by Li Bingjie of China on Oct. 27, 2022.
“To start it off with the world record is always nice,” said McIntosh, who was awarded $25,000 US for the world mark. Her 3:52.80 previous best in the 400 free was also a Canadian record.
“This is definitely one of my favourite, if not my favourite, pool in the world because it holds so many memories and it’s a really fast pool,” McIntosh told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports this week at a training session ahead of the event.
CBC Sports analyst Brittany MacLean said the 400 freestyle has been “a bit of a mental hurdle” for McIntosh since she hadn’t previously on the race on the international scene.
But McIntosh started strong Tuesday and held the pace with long strokes and moved well in and out of the walls through 16 lengths of the pool at Duna Arena.
WATCH | McIntosh takes women’s 400m freestyle in world record time:
Toronto’s Summer McIntosh broke the women’s 400-metre freestyle record with a time of 3:50.25, while Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., took bronze in 3:54.88 on the first day of the World Aquatics short course championships in Budapest.
Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., who sat fourth with fewer than 25 metres to the finish, took bronze on Tuesday in 3:54.88, her first international individual medal. Australia’s Lani Pallister (3:53.73) collected silver after winning the race at 2022 short course worlds in Melbourne.
“She said this week [medalling] was her goal. She had an opportunity, she loves to race and she made the most of it,” MacLean said. “She stayed in the mix [for a medal] the whole time and made the move [over] the final 50 [metres].”
McIntosh to swim 3 other individual events in Budapest
In October, the 25-year-old Harvey clinched gold in the 400 free with a 3:56.78 personal best at a World Aquatics event in Incheon, South Korea.
McIntosh will also be competing in the 400 individual medley, 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke in Budapest, the first time she’ll be competing internationally in a backstroke event.
The short course championship is contested in a 25m pool instead of 50m.
WATCH | McIntosh 1-on-1 from poolside in Budapest:
After winning 3 gold medals at the Paris Olympics, the 18-year-old swimmer sat down with Devin Heroux in Budapest to talk about expectations moving forward.
Two years ago in Budapest, a 15-year-old McIntosh became the youngest Canadian to win a world title, capturing her first two individual titles at long course world championships in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM in world junior record times.
Brent Arckey, her coach with Sarasota Sharks swim club in Florida, says this week’s competition is another opportunity to evaluate McIntosh and build off of her Olympic performance.
“She can be as good as she wants here. You know she’s going to ring it out. When she gets behind the blocks you know she’s going to give you 110 per cent,” Arckey said. “She’s proud to wear the flag and she’s going to do everything she can to put on a show.”
McIntosh is joined by 17 Canadians who make up a strong team with depth and talent including Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem and Penny Oleksiak. Fifteen out of the 18 swimmers on the roster competed on the Paris team that won eight medals.
The meet ends Sunday when McIntosh races the 200 backstroke.
Knox sets Canadian mark in 200m medley
On the men’s side, Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., picked up bronze in 1:50.90, holding off Carson Foster (1:51.32) of the United States.
The 23-year-old Knox also set a national mark, eclipsing his 1:51.04 from Dec. 13, 2022 in Melbourne.
Foster’s teammate, Shaine Casas, topped the eight-man field in 1:49.51 for a championship record. Italy’s Alberto Razzetti (1:50.88) grabbed silver.
WATCH | Knox holds off American Foster for 200m medley bronze:
Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., swam to a Canadian record in the 200-metre individual medley, with a time of 1:50.90, to earn a bronze medal at the World Aquatics short course championships in Budapest.
Knox set a 1:56.07 Canadian record in the event on May 18 to qualify for a spot at the Paris Olympics.
At long course worlds in February, Knox lingered around third place through the butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke lengths, biding his time while Foster and Casas set the pace.
But the Canadian surged to the front of the pack with a blistering 27.79-second freestyle length to take the gold medal in a then-national record 1:56.64.
