PARIS—There was this one small moment, a tiny moment. Summer McIntosh had just swum her 200 IM semifinal; it was the seventh of 12 races she would swim over nine days at these Paris Olympics. Summer was on her way through the mixed zone, but stopped at a television. Teammate Sydney Pickrem was racing in the next semi. Summer watched.
Watched is an understatement, though. You or I watch TV. Seventeen-year-old Summer McIntosh angled her body forward; she stood stock still; her eyes burned. She was a laser. She watched with everything she had.
That’s Summer. That predatory focus, the steely embrace of competition, all hit an apex Saturday night in the 200 individual medley. She had tried to stay with the great Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free; in the 400 IM, she almost swam alone for her first gold; in the 200 fly, she waited until the third leg to take the lead for her second.
In the 200 IM, McIntosh was behind by three-quarters of a body length going into the final 50 metres, and she had to chase down American Kate Douglass like a lean, hungry shark. After touching the wall, Summer smashed the water with her fist before she even looked at the times. She is not just a talent, she is not just a grinder. She is a racer.
“I wouldn’t call it nerves,†Summer said at one point this past week. “Instead of nerves, I just get adrenalin.â€
No Canadian had ever won three gold medals at one Games; only one female swimmer has ever won more at any Olympics, and that was in 1988 by Kristin Otto of East Germany, which comes with its own asterisk. The only other female swimmer to win three individual golds and a silver at one Games was Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu in Rio at age 27. Summer’s four individual medals tie speedskater Cindy Klassen for a Canadian at one Games; Klassen also won a relay medal in 2006.
Scarborough’s  Liendo became the first Black Canadian swimmer to win an Olympic medal, taking
McIntosh isn’t just the greatest swimmer Canada has ever produced. She is on a short list of the greatest swimmers at one Olympics ever. It’s as clear as the water, transparent as the air. She was inspired at age nine by the 2016 Olympics, by Penny Oleksiak and Kylie Masse and Hilary Caldwell and the relays. She first hit the national team radar at 12, and had the 2020 Olympics not been moved a year for COVID she might not have gotten that Olympic experience at 14 in Tokyo, which she found harder than this: no family, no fans, short of the podium. As Canadian swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey put it recently: “She came fourth in the 400 free (in Tokyo) and she was so angry. And I loved it because I was like, you’re 14.â€
And then came these Games. Nobody knew how she would handle the spotlight, the schedule, the competitive repetition of race after race. She was so focused, so calm. Penny wasn’t supposed to win in Rio, which complicated the aftermath; Summer had been prepared for this by Tokyo, by the 2022 Commonwealth Games, by the 2021, 2022 and 2023 worlds. In February this year, she became the first woman to beat Katie Ledecky in the 800 free in 14 years. She’s arrived in full now.
“I mean, I still feel like I’m just my 10-year-old self,†said McIntosh after winning the 200 fly. “I’m just trying to solidify all those dreams I had growing up as a kid, and I (plan on) being in the sport for as long as I can do it.â€
That’s the biggest question: What can she do? She says she falls more in love with the sport at every practice, and in Florida she gets to be a normal kid, training with fellow high school girls. She’s still getting a childhood. That’s a perfect sounding start.
“This is the beginning of a very, very long trip,†says longtime coach and CBC analyst Byron MacDonald.
This is what an Olympics is supposed to be: a great city and country uniting in moments of joy
Summer’s last race of the Games was the final race: the women’s 4x100 medley relay, in which she swam with Masse, Sophie Angus and Maggie Mac Neil. Penny hasn’t been able to put in enough work after injuries; Summer took the baton. And for the first time in this meet, she fell short. Canada was second when Summer started, and fourth after she was passed by Aussie and Chinese sprinters. The 100 free isn’t Summer’s event, but you can bet she stewed.
This was the best Canadian Olympic swim meet ever. L.A. 1984 doesn’t measure up. Six medals in Rio and Tokyo, eight here. They were fourth in golds on Summer alone. Twenty-one-year-old Josh Liendo broke through for silver in the 100 fly, and a surprise fourth in the 50 free. Nineteen-year-old Ilya Kharun broke through for bronze in the 100 and 200 fly. Canadian men had not reached a swim podium since 2012, and that is a sea change for the program. Masse held on for her fifth medal, which was such a testament to her. She has been a load-bearing wall in Canadian swimming.Â
But the group that preceded and helped inspire Summer on the women’s side — Oleksiak, Mac Neil, Taylor Ruck — didn’t reach podiums here. Masse is 28. She faltered on the relay this time, but if Summer wants to break all-time medal records she’ll need relay help, too.
So that’s the challenge. Summer is already thinking of bigger things, with all the knowledge of what it entails. She will inspire people. And ideally, Canada will be able to keep up with one of the best swimmers in the world.
Swimmer Summer McIntosh will be one of Canada's top medal threats at the Paris Olympics. The ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ teenager has enjoyed a strong quadrennial and appears set to peak at the Summer Games. (July 26, 2024 / The Canadian Press)
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation