Young Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh has set a new world record in the 400-meter freestyle at the national selection trials for the upcoming World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Just 16 years old, McIntosh completed the race in 4 minutes and 25.87 seconds, beating the previous record of 4:26.36 set by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The record comes just five days after McIntosh smashed the world record in the 400-meter freestyle in Toronto with a time of 3:56.08, beating Australia’s Ariarne Titmus.
McIntosh, who made her 2021 Tokyo Olympics debut at age 14 as the youngest swimmer on the Canadian team, had already won the silver medal at last year’s World Championships in the 400-meter freestyle, behind only Katie Ledecky of the United States. The young Canadian swimmer has become one of the rising stars of world swimming, and her impressive performances at national team trials have shown that she is a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming World Championships in Japan.
Commenting on her achievement, McIntosh said, “It’s really amazing, and I’m so happy to get another world record.” Although she also noted that her legs were really sore. With her success, McIntosh joins a select list of swimmers who have broken world records in multiple disciplines at a single test meet.