Canadian three-times Olympic champion Summer McIntosh set a world record in the women’s 400 metres freestyle at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia, on Saturday.
The 18-year-old clocked 3:54.18 to better Australian Ariarne Titmus’ mark of 3:55.38 set at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
“Going into tonight, I knew that my training has been really good these past few months, and I knew that I could do something special,” McIntosh told public broadcaster CBC.
“So being able to input my training in doing that — I didn’t think my training would be 54.1 but I’m really happy with that.”
At the Paris Olympics, McIntosh became the first athlete from Canada to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
In Paris, the four-times World Aquatics champion won gold in the 400 metres individual medley, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley, as well as taking silver in the 400 freestyle.
But things felt different at the Canada trials.
“I just felt so strong throughout, and that’s never been the case in the 400 freestyle for me. That last 100, I’m always really, really hurting.
“But I flipped at the 200 and I was just cruising, so I knew that I was having a strong swim. I could tell by the crowd and knew the way they were cheering that I was probably close to the world record.
“So I really tried to push that last part for them.”
