The Vortex - July 2026: Illness Puts Summer McIntosh Out Of Canadian Trials

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by Craig Lord

published July 07, 2026

July 7

Summer McIntosh is out of sorts, an unspecified illness having brought her Canadian Trials campaign to an end after she clocked 4:11 in the heats of the 400m freestyle this morning in Montreal.

The 19-year-old broke a world record of 2:01.65 in the 200m butterfly on day 1 at trials, and followed up with a 4:27 400IM victory on day 2 (see lower down in this Vortex). The World Record:

In a statement, McIntosh said:

“I'm so sorry, but on the advice of my doctors and coach, l've made the difficult decision to scratch from my remaining events at the 2026 Canadian trials. I started feeling ill yesterday morning, and while I hoped I'd be able to keep racing, this is the right decision.”

“There is so much magic in this pool, and I'm incredibly grateful I got to experience it. I'm so disappointed that I can't continue racing in front of these amazing crowds, but my focus now is on getting healthy so I can be ready to represent Canada at the Pan Pacific Championships.

“Thank you for all the love and support this week. I'm so sorry our time together was cut short, and thank you for cheering me and all of the athletes on. Best of luck to everyone for the rest of the competition.”

She emerged from 400m free heats to make her decision to withdraw on ad visa from Swimming Canada doctors and her coach Bob Bowman.

After McIntosh's two finals this week, Bowman spoke of the maturity and prospects of McIntosh in the third Olympic cycle of her career. He told CBC:

**Bob Bowman to CBC on the work-ethic-approach of Summer McIntosh**

John Atkinson, performance director at Swimming Canada, said:

“Summer came to Montreal with clear performance objectives, and she leaves having delivered another memorable moment for Canadian swimming fans. After ongoing discussions with Bob, our medical team and Summer, the decision was made with Swimming Canada’s full support that this is the best course of action."

Meanwhile, the show goes on ...

On Day 3 in Montreal, Taylor Ruck became just the second Canadian to win three national titles on three different strokes at one championship, after McIntosh (free, fly, medley).

That feat and match alone had Ruck, the four-times Olympic medallist based at the Vancouver Performance Centre, saying "That’s crazy!"

Ruck won the 100m butterfly in 58.15, after having triumphed in the 100 back on the opening day and the 100 free yesterday. Speaking through Swimming Canada, she said:

“I feel like, I’ve never really thought of fly as my best event. I mean, it was my first event when I was 10, that was my best stroke. I did it just for fun this year, so it’s definitely really cool to be able to just go out there and see what happens in that event.”

Ruck edged out Leilani Fack (58.60) and Matea Gigovic (59.01).

The 26-year-old Ruck will now race the 50m free tomorrow and conclude her campaign in the 50 'fly on the last day of racing Thursday. She said:

“I’m very happy with how things are going so far. The first two days, I feel like I saw times that I haven’t seen in a long time, so that’s been encouraging, showing just how much of my heart was in training this year. I feel like this is just a celebration of this year so far.”

In other finals there were wins for:

Oliver Dawson, in 27.65, in the 50m breaststroke ahead of a 27.68 from Brayden Taivassalo.

Ella Jansen, in 4:08.05 in the 400m free

Ethan Ekk in the side 3:50, 3:47.22, over 400m free

Finlay Knox in 51.82 in the 100m 'fly

Sophie Angus in 30.40 in the 50m breast.

July 6

McIntosh's 12th Entry Delivers First All-Time Sub-4:30 Club In 400IM

Olympic and World champion Summer McIntosh gave the world its first Top 20 sub-4:30 400m medley club with a 12th entry in 4:27.35 for her latest victory by more than 10secs in domestic waters at Canadian Trials in Montreal.

Retired Hungarian and 2016 Olympic champion Katinka Hosszu has four entries on the list, her fifth best a 4:30 no longer in the all-time top 20.

A day after McIntosh's World record of 2:01.65 in the 200m butterfly, all eyes were on the 400IM ... just in case. Far ahead of the best of the rest, the 19-year-old Torontonian was almost four seconds outside her own global mark, from Trials a year ago:

McIntosh's WR splits:

59.18 (31.43) 2:05.31 (1:06.13) 3:23.33 (1:18.02) 4:23.65 (1:00.32) - Victoria 11/06/2025

Here's where that fits on McIntosh's outstanding list of sub-4:30 medleys:

McIntosh's count of entries on the all-time list is all the greater in textile-only, while her latest swim is faster than her dominant Paris 2024 Olympic victory performance of 4:27.71, a year before her World record of 4:23.65 at last year’s Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria. Closest to her today was Paris Olympian Ella Jansen, on 4:38.17.

Speaking through Swimming Canada, McIntosh said:

“Having achieved great feats in the past, I know exactly how to cope with doing a really good swim and coming down from that. One of my old coaches told me a long time ago not to get too high on the highs and not to get too low on the lows. Coming off last night, obviously there was a lot of excitement, but I try to just compartmentalise it and focus on the next races to come. I had broken the 400 IM world record three years in a row, so my streak is finally over. I know I have a lot more in me, and Pan Pacs become the main focus now.”

Wigginton Confines Johns' 2008 400IM Mark to History

Nonetheless, day 2 did not pass without a Canadian 400IM record. Calgary’s Lorne Wigginton clocked 4:11.32 for the win, a ticket to Pan Pacs and ownership of a national mark that was set when he was just two years old.

Now 20, Wiggington is the man holding the standard, the 4:11.41 set on August 9, 2008 by Brian Johns at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in shiny suit saga season 1 of 2 finally surpassed.

“It’s definitely old,” chuckled Wigginton, a 2024 Olympian representing the Etobicoke Swim Club and the University of Michigan.

“I heard from Brian out there. It’s a great feeling to know that a lot of Canadian swimmers still have love for the sport and are following along. I just want to keep making them proud. I’m just really happy. I don’t think my smile is off my face yet.

“I’ve been working so hard this year. I’m just very happy with what I’m doing and just myself in general. All the work has just been paying off, ” added Wigginton. “I knew there was a chance (of breaking the record), just based on the way I’ve been training. I have a lot of momentum right now, a lot of confidence in what I’m doing.”

Olympic teammate, Tristan Jankovics took silver in 4:16.57, with Toronto's 19-year-old Jaques Harrison a pb of 4:20.78 for third.

Other Day 2 winners on the Olympic side were Taylor Ruck (53.06) in the women’s 100m freestyle; Toronto’s Ruslan Gaziev (48.69) in the men’s 100m free; Kylie Masse (27.35) in the women’s 50m backstroke; Javier Acevedo (25.10) in the men’s 50m backstroke; and Edmonton’s Emma Finlin (16:31.53) in the women’s 1500m free.