BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA: Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh recently broke the 400-m freestyle world record with her impressive performance, finishing with a final time of 3:54.18 at the Canadian Swimming Trials.
The young swimmer had beaten the previous world record by over a second, which was set by her longtime rival in the sport, Ariarne Titmus. Titmus had defeated McIntosh and won gold at the same event during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With her win, she proudly expressed to the reporters: “Touching the wall, you can kind of see my outburst of emotions because I was really not expecting that time, but overall I’m super, super happy.”
McIntosh added: “I think just seeing the time after two years of really pushing my hardest every day and training in this event and not seeing the results…So just kind of all that energy and anger and blood, sweat, and tears built up, and then finally having an amazing swim in it is just really, really satisfying.”
Breaking records at a young age
The young Canadian previously held the world record in the event, which she set back in March 2023, with a final time of 3:56.08. The result was nearly two seconds slower than the time she achieved in her latest milestone. Now, she may have started off slow, but indeed finished stronger, speeding up in the second half to beat her previous time.
At a young age, McIntosh is clearly used to achieving great results in swimming. She breaks records and wins competitions that make her name well-known in the sport.
She made history by becoming the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games, at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In a social media post, McIntosh shared her achievement with her fans with a caption: “Not a bad way to kick off Trials. 🇨🇦… World Record 400m Freestyle – 3:54.18.”
Netizens expressed their support in the comments: “Ahhhhh you are amazing!! Congrats Summer 🔥😍,” “Absolutely amazing! What a start! Congratulations on yet another world record, Summer! Wow! 🇨🇦👋,” “There was some fire behind that swim—worlds are going to be fun. Well done Summer 🔥,” “Congratulations Summer! Absolutely fabulous 👏👏,” and “Making Canada proud 👏🙌.”
In another social media post, she also shared her achievement of clinching a new Canadian record in the 800-m category. She said in her caption: “Thanks for cheering me all the way through that 800m Free Victoria! 👏🏻❤️… New Canadian Record 🇨🇦 8:05:06.”
More netizens commented and showed their support: “Congratulations, what an accomplishment! You have been a huge inspiration to our kids who have both started competitive swim this past year! 🍁🔥🎖️” and “Summer McIntosh has become a true source of national pride—not only for her remarkable achievements in the pool, but for the down-to-earth way she carries her growing fame.”