It took a few lengths before John Atkinson realized that Summer McIntosh’s 400-metre freestyle at the Canadian Trials could be quite unique.
The 16-year-old from Toronto continued her rapid rise to swimming’s greatest heights on Tuesday night by setting a world record in the distance with a time of 3:56.08.
“I was sitting in my little restricted area and after the first 50 meters I was like, ‘Oh, okay,'” Atkinson, Swimming Canada’s high performance director and national coach, explained in a videoconference on Wednesday. .
“And then it runs at 56 seconds, you’re like, ‘Oh, okay.’ Then there are lengths at 29 seconds and I asked someone with me, but what are the world record times? What are they ? Go find them for me! »
McIntosh’s time eventually eclipsed the world record of 3:56.40 set last year by Australian Ariarne Titmus.
I don’t really focus on the records, but obviously it’s every athlete’s dream to get a world record or something like that, McIntosh said Wednesday. When it happened, I was…I think I’m still in shock.
Summer McIntosh
“It was an incredible moment to share with all the Canadians in the stands and with so many of my family and friends who were poolside in the stands. »
Atkinson admitted he felt the record was about to fall when McIntosh hit the 250-yard mark.
“I was like, ‘This is happening,’ you know? “It’s happening, it’s happening now,” he explained.
“I was standing there, waving my arms around and looking pretty silly at the end, but I didn’t mind. »
It is the first long course world record set by a Canadian since Kylie Masse’s 100 backstroke at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, and the first set by a Canadian at the trials since the 50m breaststroke mark. of Amanda Reason (30.23 s) during the 2009 competition in Montreal.
McIntosh has had a runaway success since rising to national prominence by finishing 4e in the 400 freestyle at the age of 14 at the Tokyo Olympics.
She won four medals (two gold, one silver, one bronze) at the World Championships in Budapest last year; six medals (two gold, three silver, one bronze) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England; and three medals (one gold, two silver) at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi.
McIntosh is back in his hometown after recently moving to Florida to train with the Sarasota Sharks under Brent Arckey.
“It’s a change from Toronto because this is where I live and always will,” she said.
“But I think everyone who supports me and around me has done a great job of getting me through this.
“I owe everything to my family and my friends, but especially to my mother, my father and my sister. They did so much to make it possible for me to live in Florida full time, and I’m very grateful to them. »
The Canadian swimming events, which began on Tuesday, aim to select athletes who will compete in the World Championships and Pan American Games later in the year.