McIntosh Eyes Five Golds at L.A. Olympics
Canadian swimming star Summer McIntosh is deep in training with legendary coach Bob Bowman in Austin, targeting five individual gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Summer McIntosh, Canada's 19-year-old swimming phenomenon, is settled into her new home in Austin with legendary coach Bob Bowman—the man who coached Michael Phelps to 23 Olympic gold medals. After nearly a year training with Bowman's elite pro team at the University of Texas, McIntosh has found the stability and mentorship she was seeking after years of nomadic coaching changes.
"As soon as I stepped on deck for the first practice, I felt like I fit right in," McIntosh said in a recent interview with CBC Sports. The intimidation she felt arriving at a group stacked with Olympic champions—Leon Marchard, Hubert Kos, Regan Smith, Simone Manuel—has melted into camaraderie and focus.
McIntosh's ambition is audacious: five individual gold medals at the 2028 L.A. Olympics. She's already a four-time Olympic medalist (three gold) from the 2024 Paris Games and holds world records in three long-course events. The training blocks are intense, with eye-popping pool mileage designed not for immediate results, but to bulletproof her fitness for the Olympics in two years.
Bowman's approach differs from typical competitive coaching. Right now, he's focused on process, not posting fast times or breaking records at smaller meets. "Everything we're doing is hopefully putting the pieces of the puzzle together for L.A.," he said. McIntosh agrees: "I'd rather have amazing training blocks and maybe not taper fully for every single meet because my confidence has always come from my training."
The 2028 Games will be different. The swimming finals will be held at SoFi Stadium—a converted football arena with a temporary pool that will hold upward of 40,000 spectators each night. McIntosh embraces the chaos. "I think I feed off the crowd," she said. For a swimmer chasing immortality, that roar will be fuel.