Canadian ace Summer McIntosh warmed up swimming's winter showcase world short-course titles in Budapest from the get go this evening in Budapest, with a 3mins 50.25 World-record victory in the opening final on day 1, the 400m freestyle.

That marked her first world short-course gold medal and a first international gold in the 400m free. At the conclusion of the session, McIntosh received a call notifying her she’d won the Northern Star (formerly Lou Marsh) award as Canada’s top athlete for the year. Speaking through Swimming Canada, she said:

“I still don’t think stuff like this ever fully sets in, but we’ve just got to keep it rolling. There’s been so many other amazing swims tonight for Team Canada and this is just Day 1. The next couple days of racing should be awesome and we’ll just try to keep the momentum going."

She added:

“I absolutely love this pool. It holds so many memories for me back in 2022 so to be back here after a lot has changed since then is kind of cool and it’s definitely a very fast pool as well. To set the tone it’s always amazing to get Day 1 started off right."

The speedy start to the six-day meet didn't end there: the next three races all delivered a new global standard: Gretchen Walsh (23.94) and Noe Ponti (21.43) improved their own marks in the 50m 'fly semi-finals before Kate Douglass (2:01.63) took down Hungarian Katinka Hosszu's 200IM record in front of the Hungarian's home-pool crowd.

The season ended with two more World records as USA quartets set new standards in the women's and men's 4x100m freestyle. That made it seven World records on the day, Walsh having set the 50 'fly standard in heats and semi.

Douglass and Walsh played a part in the women's freestyle relay WR of 3:25.01, the University of Virginia teammates thus involved in five world records on the first day of action in Budapest.

Speaking through USA Swimming, Walsh noted:

“I feel great…I love setting new goals for myself that are based on barriers that I can break, so coming under the 24 (second) mark was insane. Honestly, I’m hoping I can go faster tomorrow and keep this streak going, which would be crazy, but I’m looking forward to it.”

On her morning heats record, she added: “It was definitely an awesome way to start the meet, the best way I could have. I think I have a lot more to come in that race, just some details I can tune up and execute better. I’m looking forward to semis and finals, and hopefully getting better and better. I’m definitely excited for tonight...It’s going to be a very busy meet, but I’m looking forward to more swims like that hopefully.”

Douglass, speaking after her second gold of the day at the end of the session, said

“It was really exciting. It was pretty easy to build on the momentum of the night, a lot of World Records were set. To be able to finish it off with a World Record is awesome. My world record in the (200 Individual Medley) was awesome but to break one with this group of girls is even more special, it was a lot more fun."

Virginia women's team, at a program headed by coach Todd DeSorbo, is a powerhouse in short-course yards swimming. Add that vintage to the fact that the program has been working a lot more of the times in short-course metres since it renovated a yards pool with an extension to the metric length. Such things may make a marginal difference, especially when it comes to the dynamics that this kind of guidance brings. That's about leaving no stone unturned, a part of just about any success story you care to mention in a complexity of forms.

So, some gains can surely be put down to practising on specifics, including pool lengths (yes, those who grow up, develop and excel in careers with access to great 50m pools have an advantage over those used to only 25y or 25m pools but no such generalities are ever the whole picture.

My guess is that the impact is not as much as Americans keen to fathom every possible explanation and hook 'that's why' to a success story appear to claim. Pathways of excellence in the a naturally competitive and challenging world are more complex than that. The fact is that Douglass and Walsh are swimmers who have proven themselves in all pool lengths; the s/c metres one just happens to be the picture less seen, particularly in peak condition, until now.

Meanwhile, the podiums in the two finals in that rush of four records in the first four races in Budapest this evening reshuffled the all-time top 10 rankings with new entries, the 200IM resulting in three new swims in the fastest-ever four efforts in history and a fourth place that entered the top 10 and 10.

Among other records set on day 1 was a Commonwealth record of 2:02.75 for Britain and England's Abbie Wood for bronze in the 200m medley a second back from Douglass, and a 14:20.64 World Junior record by Turkey's Kuzey Tuncelli for bronze in the 1500m freestyle.

The details of impact follow: