Summer McIntosh Targets Five Gold Medals At Singapore World Championships

Last Updated:July 24, 2025, 11:59 IST

Summer McIntosh aims for five golds at the world swimming championships in Singapore, a test for the 2028 Olympics. She set three world records in June and faces tough competition.

Summer Mcintosh holds a trophy for the Athlete of the Year at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Summer McIntosh clinched three individual gold medals at last year’s Olympics, making waves in the Paris pool alongside France’s Léon Marchand.

Not content with just three, she is aiming for five gold medals starting Sunday at the world swimming championships in Singapore. Think of it as a test run for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The world championships are the most high-profile swim meet since the last Olympics, serving as a platform for both newcomers and veterans hoping to compete in Los Angeles.

McIntosh will have a packed schedule over the eight days, competing in five individual events, along with prelims and relays.

“That means 14 or 15 races she could swim in eight days, demanding races," Canada’s head coach Iain McDonald told The Associated Press. “It’s a very challenging schedule she’s set for herself."

The 18-year-old Canadian set three world records in five days in June at the national trials. She broke her own 400-meter individual medley mark, lowering it to 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds, and set records in the 200 IM (2:05.70) and the 400 freestyle (3:54.18).

She was also within half a second of the 200 butterfly record, which has stood since 2009, and just shy of the 800 freestyle record set last month by American Katie Ledecky.

“She’s such a versatile athlete, it’s kind of tough to nail what her best events are," McDonald said. “She’s pretty good right across the spectrum."

On the opening day in Singapore, McIntosh will be the centre of attention. She swims the 400 freestyle final and returns about 30 minutes later for the 200 IM semifinal.

Despite holding the world record in the 400 free, she’s never won gold in that event at the Olympics or world championships. This time she’s ready, thanks to coach Fred Vergnoux.

“I’m super pumped for the 400 freestyle and I’m really excited to see how I manage doing the double," McIntosh told Canadian broadcaster CBC.

McIntosh said Vergnoux has improved her endurance, focusing more on distance events.

“It’s true that I haven’t been able to do it on the world stage yet," she said of the 400. “I think going into past big meets I haven’t had the confidence in my training and my freestyle in general — technique-wise and endurance-wise — that I have now."

Ariarne Titmus won gold in Paris with McIntosh taking silver, but the Australian swimmer is taking a year off. It’s Titmus’s record that McIntosh just broke. Ledecky, the bronze medalist in Paris, appears to be McIntosh’s main competitor.

McIntosh will also face Ledecky in the 800, perhaps the only race where McIntosh is not favoured. It’s likely a 50-50 chance, and could be the biggest race of the championships.

Ledecky set the world record this year at 8:04.12, and McIntosh is close behind, having clocked 8:05.07.

“I think she loves it (the challenge)," Greg Meehan, the U.S. team director, said of Ledecky. “There are always threats coming at you because you’ve set yourself to be the gold standard."

McIntosh dominates the two IM races and should also be a favourite in the 200 butterfly.

Ledecky’s best event is the 1,500 where she holds the world record and also has the 23 top times in history in the event — and No. 25, too. McIntosh is not competing in that field here.

McIntosh, who will swim this autumn under Bob Bowman at the University of Texas at Austin, arrived on the scene aged 14 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finishing fourth in the 400 free.

“She’s been such a strong performer throughout her entire career at such a young age," McDonald said. “But she always manages to surprise you, upping her game a little bit."

Attention on Yu

In Singapore, some of the attention will be on 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi. Yu has qualified in the 200 and 400 IMs and the 200 butterfly and could face McIntosh in all three finals. Remarkably, she could win a medal — at just 12.

Yu’s time of 2:10.63 at the Chinese championships in May was the fastest by any 12-year-old — female or male — in history. She’s also swum 2:06.83 in the 200 fly and 4:35.53 in the 400 IM. Both times would have been good enough for fourth place in last year’s Olympics.

Astonishingly, Yu is 12 to 15 seconds faster than McIntosh was at age 12, depending on the event. That’s approximately a half-lap of a 50-meter pool.

“There is always somebody coming up next," McDonald said.

With AP Inputs

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News sports Summer McIntosh Targets Five Gold Medals At Singapore World Championships