Summer McIntosh breaks women's 200m butterfly world record in Montreal
The 19-year-old Toronto swimmer touched the wall in 2:01.65 on Sunday at Canadian trials, surpassing a record that stood for 17 years.
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Summer McIntosh is the new world record-holder in the women's 200-metre butterfly.
The 19-year-old from Toronto touched the wall in two minutes 1.65 seconds on Sunday night at the Canadian trials, breaking Chinese swimmer Liu Zige's mark of 2:01.81, set in 2009 during the super-suit era — the longest-standing individual women's record in swimming.
"That was the one world record that I've always dreamt of as a kid," an emotional McIntosh said. "To now do it is really incredible." She had come within 0.18 seconds of the mark with a time of 2:01.99 at last year's world championships in Singapore.
The triple Olympic gold medallist from Paris 2024 now holds four long-course world records. She set three at last year's trials in Victoria — in the 400 freestyle, 400 individual medley, and 200 IM — and added this fourth on Sunday.
McIntosh's mother, Jill, herself an Olympic swimmer at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, called the moment "extra special." "That world record was Summer's dream as a 10-year-old," she said. "This shows you when you dream bigger than you can possibly imagine, you can get anything done."
The Montreal venue is hosting the national trials 50 years after holding the swimming competition at the 1976 Olympics. McIntosh will also compete in the 400 IM on July 7, the 400 free on July 8, and the 200 IM on July 9, ahead of next month's Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California.
