Canadian Olympic star Summer McIntosh breaks another world record

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Canadian teenage swimming sensation Summer McIntosh is on top of the world once again.

Competing at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary, the 18-year-old Canadian swimmer set a new world record in the 400m freestyle event on the way to a first-place finish.

With a time of 3:50.25, McIntosh was more than three seconds ahead of her next closest competitor, Australia’s Lani Pallister, who came in at 3:53.73.

It was a double podium day for the Canadians, with Marie-Sophie Harvey finishing third at 3:54.88.

The previous record was set in 2022 by Chinese swimmer Li Bingjie, who put up a time of 3:51.30.

McIntosh’s mark was set on the first day of the short course world championships, which run until December 15 at the Duna Arena in Budapest.

The short course events take place in a 25-metre pool, as opposed to the 50-metre pool used at the world championships and Olympic events. The shorter pool allows for more flip-turns at each interval, resulting in a slightly quicker time over the same distance on most occasions. For comparison, McIntosh swam a time of 3:58.37 in the same distance this past summer at the Olympics on the 50-metre pool.

McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and was named Canada’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony.

The Toronto native picked up gold medals in the women’s 200-metre butterfly, 200-metre medley, and 400-metre medley Olympic events and a silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle.

She is anticipated to win the North Star Award for the top Canadian athlete, as selected by members of the press. The votes will be announced later today.

Though it’s over three-and-a-half years until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, McIntosh is also widely expected to be a major medal threat to defend her titles at the next Summer Games.

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