Summer McIntosh, Swimmer For All Seasons & Strokes, Brings Down Sledgehammer Of A 4:15.48 WR
The Canadian's World-record time in the 400m medley for a third gold at World S/C Championships in Budapest is simply stunning. When fellow Canadian Curtis Myden claimed he inaugural men's 400IM title in 1993, he clocked 4:10.41. In that same final, McIntosh would have finished fifth by a slither
Three finals, three titles, three World records. Summer McIntosh, the female Olympic swimmer of the year, continues to pile up accolades and achievements with a stunning 4:15.48 as the World Short-Course Championships hurtled towards the finish line in the penultimate sessions of showdowns Saturday night.
The 18-year-old Torontonian, with three golds and a silver in her pantheon from Paris when Summer made the summer Games her own and global standards in the vault this week over 400 free and 200 'fly, took her rally of earnings from WR bonuses to $75,000 in five days - plus all the years of smart and hard work with Brent Arckey and his team of coaches at the Sarasota Sharks in Florida.
The time is simply stunning. When fellow Canadian Curtis Myden claimed he inaugural men's 400IM title in 1993, he clocked 4:10.41. In that same final, McIntosh would have matched the 4:15 of the USA's Paul Nelson, in fourth place, for fifth by a slither.
Among women, well, Summer is a season apart. Here's the post shiny suits (since January 1, 2010) evolution of he 400IM World standard on the clock:
4:20.85 Katinka Hosszú HUN Berlin 11 August 2013
4:20.83 Hosszú Doha 28 August 2014
4:19.86 Mireia Belmonte ESP Doha, 3 December 2014
4:19.46 Hosszú Netanya, 2 December 2015
4:18.94 Belmonte Eindhoven, 12 August 2017
4:15.48 Summer McIntosh CAN Budapest 14 December 2024
Summer Snaps:
Courtesy Swimming Canada/Zsombor Csoma
On a day when the World-record count kept piling up and gave us another feeling reminder of what might have been in Paris had the pool been 3m deep, McIntosh ploughed another pioneering path to speediest-ever alongside World records for Gretchen Walsh (50 free semi, 100 'fly final), Noè Ponti (100 fly) Jordan Crooks (CAY, the first man ever to race inside 20sec in the 50 free).
Craig Lord
Then 400 medley final witnessed terrific efforts from Katie Grimes, the American who claimed silver in 4:20.14 for a place in the all-time top 10 in an American record that took down Julia Smit's 2009 shiny suit standard, and Abbie Wood, of Great Britain, who claimed bronze in 4:24.34, all-time No 12. But from the buzz off the blocks, it was McIntosh who stole the show with every stroke taken.
The retired Mireia Belmonte has now had two of her surviving World S/C records confined to history this week, the latest 'new-era' style, McIntosh up on WR pace by 2.15sec on 'fly; 5.49 on back; Belmonte's pace catching up on breaststroke but the gap still at 2.90; and then he Olympic silver medallists in he 400m (Summer, 2024) and 800m (Mireia, 2016) parted by 3.36 by the close of play:
59.38; 2:06.46; 3:19.24; 4:18.94 Belmonte 2017
57.23; 2:00.97; 3:16.34; 4:15.48 McIntosh 2024
Said Summer:
“It was super surreal. The crowd was extra energetic tonight. There’s a lot more people in the stands so feeding off that energy going into the final was a really fun way to do it. I knew it was going to be one of the toughest world records to break. To go 4:15 was definitely not in my wildest dreams, so overall I’m pretty happy with that."
How The Race Shuffled the All-Time Top 12:
4:15.48 MCINTOSH Summer CAN Budapest 2024 WR WJR
4:18.94 BELMONTE ESP Eindhoven 2017
4:19.46 HOSSZU Katinka HUN Netanya 2015
4:20.14 GRIMES Katie USA Budapest 2024
4:21.04 SMIT Julia USA Manchester 2009
4:22.73 OHASHI Yui JPN Tokyo 2018
4:22.88 MEAKLIM Kathryn RSA Singapore 2009
4:23.14 MILEY Hannah GBR Istanbul 2012
4:23.33 YE Shiwen CHN Istanbul 2012
4:23.68 PICKREM Sydney CAN Budapest 2020
4:24.15 MARGALIS Melanie USA Las Vegas 2019
4:24.34 WOOD Abbie GBR Budapest 2024
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