Canada’s Summer McIntosh after winning the women’s 400-metre individual medley final at the World Aquatics Championships Arena in Singapore on Sunday.Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Winning her fourth gold medal of the world swim championship in Singapore, Toronto teenager Summer McIntosh is a stroke closer to becoming one of the most decorated swimmers in history.
But at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, she’s already a legend.
“Canada’s fastest pool” is part of a 312,000-square-foot complex where the country’s best swimmers have smashed more than 300 records since 2014. It is home to two Olympic-sized, 10-lane swimming pools, Swim Ontario and the Canadian Sport Institute.
The 18-year-old triple Olympic champion can be seen everywhere here. She poses in colourful swimsuits in rolling television advertisements; she is wrapped in a Canadian flag on a wall celebrating homegrown Olympians; and she’s commemorated as the 2025 athlete of the year on the display in the Toronto Sport Hall of Honour.
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“She’s an example of who I want to become,” said Khadija Koubaa, the second top female swimmer in the 13- to 14-year-old age range at North York Aquatic Club.
“In the future I’ll go to the Olympics, but for now I want to make trials and nationals.”
McIntosh won three gold medals and one silver at the Paris Olympics in 2024. In the world swim championship in Singapore this week, she won gold in the 200-metre butterfly, 200-metre medley and 400-metre freestyle.
The day before winning the women’s 400-metre individual medley on Sunday, McIntosh took the bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle, hitting the wall 1.67 seconds after first-place U.S. veteran Katie Ledecky and 1.31 seconds after Australian Lani Pallister. Ledecky has been the undisputed champion of the 800-metre freestyle since 2013.
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The defeat ended McIntosh’s 2025 bid to match U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps’ record of five individual titles at a single world championship.
It was a disappointing loss for McIntosh, but competitive swimmers understand it is part of the process.
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“Everyone wins and loses. It happens. But we always strive to be better,” said Jane Palachik, who is currently the top female swimmer in the 13- to 14-year-old age range at NYAC and is headed to the Canadian nationals in Quebec on Tuesday.
Swim training is a “daily grind,” she said. Palachik and her teammates are in the pool six days a week, 11 months of the year.
It is not just a sport for Palachik, it is a lifestyle. Training means getting up at 5 a.m., day in and day out. Competing is constant travel. Racing is stressful and high-pressure. But she has resolved to one day win Olympic gold, just like McIntosh.
“She’s kind of like an idol,” Jane said.
Mcintosh competes in the final of the women’s 400-metre individual medley on Sunday.Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press