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Summer had recorded the fastest qualifying time just 27 minutes after winning gold in the 400 freestyle Sunday night, and has her only full day off of the meet on Tuesday, so this was an excellent chance to chase a world record. 

She didn’t set a world record in the 400 free here after breaking it in Victoria, because this is a different meet. Summer had no true competition in Victoria; she more or less swam every race in her own world, and the goal was to show just how much she has improved since Paris, under  Fred Vergnoux’s tutelage, in the south of France. He said it coming in: after setting three world records and nearly breaking two more at the Canadian trials last month, she’s fitter, and her freestyle technique more durable, than it was in Victoria.

So she could, in theory, set more world records here. As she said after completing the 400 free and 200 medley semi-final Sunday night, “I think I’m at my best. I’m in the best shape of my life.â€�

But at this meet, it’s about gold medals under a far more demanding schedule — more heats, more semis, more races — and if a world record is part of that, tremendous. If it doesn’t, well, win the race.

“At the end of the day, when you go to work, you want to win,â€� said Vergnoux before the 200 IM. “You don’t really care about the time we go, because the competition is going to be tight, and the time will come because, you know, she can. I don’t know if you will be able to release her full potential here. But if you ask me, she’s a better swimmer today than before Victoria.â€�

The 200 IM was the gold Summer had to fight hardest for in Paris: she was almost a full body length behind Walsh to start the final 50 freestyle of that race, and after Walsh gained her lead with better turns and a strong breaststroke leg, Summer chased Walsh down to win. Walsh would be disqualified for an illegal turn; she’s here, in Singapore, and had the second-fastest qualifying time.

But American Kate Douglass, who won silver in Paris, didn’t swim this race at the U.S. trials. This was Summer’s race to lose, and she wasn’t interested in losing.

The thought arose after Summer’s dominant 400 free, and after she found that swimming a final and a semifinal 27 minutes apart wasn’t too difficult: five gold medals seems more likely than ever. Her next race is the 200 fly, where the world record has stood, suspicious and worse, since 2009, when Chinese swimmer Liu Zige swam a seemingly impossible 2:01.81 at a Chinese national championships while wearing a since-banned supersuit. 

In Victoria, Summer swam an incredible 2:02.26. The next-fastest time this year is three seconds slower. The 400 IM, which Summer will swam on the last day of the meet, is her race, fully and completely: she is the only swimmer to break the world record since Kristina Hosszu in 2016, and is about 10 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

So assuming nothing goes sideways — and again, the gastrointestinal bug that laid waste to the American team in their Thailand staging camp is still having an impact at the worlds — Summer’s biggest question remains the 800 against Katie Ledecky on Saturday night here. She is redefining her scope here, in a sport that may not yet know just how big a star she is. She might not know yet, either.

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