For as dominant as Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh has been for the last number of years, there’s no sign of complacency or let up from the 19-year-old from Toronto.
In fact, she says she’s continuing to learn from each race and is trying to push herself harder than ever during training as the next Olympics come into focus.
The pursuit of putting all the puzzle pieces together in the pool continued this week at the Fort Lauderdale Open with a stacked field of competitors assembled in Florida. McIntosh posted two impressive victories on back-to-back nights beginning Thursday in the 400-metre freestyle.
In what was the marquee race of that evening, McIntosh found herself locked in a spectacular battle with American Legend Katie Ledecky.
The two swimming powerhouses went stroke-for-stroke throughout much of the race. Just when it looked as if McIntosh would pull away, Ledecky would surge and reel the Canadian back in.
But as both fought doggedly in the final 50 metres, it was McIntosh who had more left in the tank, stopping the clock in a time of 3:58.91.
Her time is the fastest in the world this calendar year. McIntosh is the world record holder in the event in a time of 3:54.18.
After the race, McIntosh wasn’t overly pleased with her time but was happy to touch the wall first.
“It was a great race. It’s always good getting those close quarter reps in. Again, my time wasn’t where I wanted it to be but I felt strong. After the race I wasn’t as laboured as I had hoped,” she said.
“I felt like I could have kept going. I waited too long. All good learning experiences.”
Coach Bob Bowman, who is leading a jaw-dropping group of talented swimmers including McIntosh at the University of Texas in Austin, was happy with McIntosh’s effort.
“I just think she had more in the tank there. I thought that was a really solid swim. I’m very happy with it. I just think summer was swimming to win the race instead of to swim the best time she could swim,” Bowman said.
“Which is OK, but sometimes that holds you back from seeing what’s really in there. I think there’s more in there.”
The two have been working together since last fall, trying to put together a complete five-event program that they hope will culminate in five gold medals at the L.A. 2028 Olympics. Bowman famously guided Michael Phelps to the most Olympic gold medals in history and now wants to help McIntosh reach the highest levels of the sport.
On Friday, McIntosh cruised to a relatively easy victory in the 200m freestyle. This is an event that she is starting to reintroduce into her program.
With the wind swirling around and the sun beating down on the open-air pool across from the Fort Lauderdale beach, McIntosh powered her way through the water to stop the clock in a time of 1:54.36. The second-place finisher, Anna Moesch, was more than two seconds behind McIntosh.
Again, the Canadian wasn’t overly pleased with her time.
“I was a bit disappointed with my time. I felt a lot better than I did this morning in the water, which seems to be the theme. I love racing in this pool. It’s a great vibe. I just thought I’d be a bit stronger,” she said.
McIntosh jumped out of the pool and went immediately to Bowman to debrief the race.
“He was thrilled with the time and the race. We’re just focusing on my turns. We are in deep training right now so that’s something to take into account. The 200 free is something I’m reintroducing to my lineup so it’ll be a little bit of a work in progress.”
Bowman echoed McIntosh’s comments, specifically relating to her turns.
“I said it’s a pretty good race. She’s not happy with the time. She’s never happy with the time, which is OK. But in context the training we’ve been doing is quite good, much better than the 400 in quality, I think,” he said.
“We mainly talked about her turns which are still holding her back in that race, so she’s got to improve the technique of her turn. She kind of hesitates in the middle of the turn, which is not a good thing.”
McIntosh closed out the meet Saturday evening by competing in the 200m breaststroke, an event she doesn’t normally compete in but that she wanted to use a chance to help with her technique to improve her individual medley events.
She finished sixth in a time of 2:29.92.
McIntosh will head to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in the coming weeks for altitude training before the Canadian trials taking place in Montreal at the beginning of July. This will all lead to her competing at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., in August.
Swimming Canada high performance director John Atkinson says the Canadian star is perfectly placed going into a big summer of swimming.
“Knowing the work Summer has been doing coming into this competition and working through still building the base for later this year, the results have been really solid,” Atkinson said.
“From an overall Swimming Canada perspective we are really excited to be in Montreal for our Pan Pacific Championships trials in July and an exciting summer of racing with a team in Glasgow for Commonwealth Games and then into LA for Pan Pacs, and the Junior Pan Pacs in Vancouver.”
Fellow Canadian swimmer Josh Liendo, who is coming off a scintillating finish to his NCAA career — which saw him successfully defend his 100-yard title for four consecutive years, finished the Fort Lauderdale Open on Saturday evening.
Liendo finished in second place in the 100m butterfly just behind former Canadian teammate Ilya Kharun. Kharun recently transferred to compete for the USA. Liendo posted a time of 51.17, just behind Kharun who won the race in 50.87.
About 30 minutes after that Liendo was back in the pool to compete in the 50m freestyle, finishing fifth in a time of 22.39.
