McIntosh claims fourth gold medal at World Aquatics Championships
Five medals. Four of them gold. What an incredible performance from 18-year-old Summer McIntosh at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
On the final day of competition, McIntosh added a final gold medal to her collection in the 400m individual medley, swimming to a time of 4:25.78 and a new championship record.
As we’ve seen her do so many times this week, McIntosh controlled the race from the start, charging out in the butterfly leg to take the lead. And she never let that lead go, only increasing it over the remaining strokes, to finish 7.48 seconds ahead of Australia’s Jenna Forrester and Japan’s Mio Narita who tied for silver in 4:33.26.
McIntosh’s swim in Singapore marked the third fastest time ever in the event. She established a new world record at the Canadian Trials in June, when she swam 4:23.65. She is a two-time world champion, and the reigning Olympic champion in the event from Paris 2024.
There was no time for celebration for McIntosh, as she popped out of the pool immediately to prepare to swim for Canada in the 4x100m medley relay. McIntosh swam alongside teammates Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus and Taylor Ruck to finish fifth with a time of 3:55.63.
Team Canada’s men’s 4 x 100m medley relay put in a strong showing as well, swimming to fifth place in a stacked final. The team of Blake Tierney, Oliver Dawson, Ilya Kharun, and Josh Liendo established a new Canadian record of 3:29.875.
Throughout the meet, McIntosh has also claimed victory in the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 400m freestyle, as well as a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle. The 400m IM gold medal marks McIntosh’s 13th career World Aquatics medal, further cementing her as the most decorated Canadian across all World Aquatics disciplines. Swimmer Kylie Masse and diver Jennifer Abel each have 10 medals to their name.
Team Canada finishes the meet with a medal count of eight, with four gold medals (all delivered by McIntosh) and four bronzes. In addition to McIntosh’s 800m bronze, Ilya Kharun took bronze medal in the men’s 100m butterfly, Mary-Sophie Harvey found the third spot on the podium in the women’s 200m individual medley, as did the Canadian 4x100m mixed medley relay team