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McIntosh splashes the water ahead of a race at the 2026 Fort Lauderdale Open. (Devin Heroux)<\/p>\nFor as dominant as Canadian swimming superstar Summer McIntosh has been the last number of years, there\u2019s no sign of complacency or let up from the 19-year-old from Toronto.<\/p>\n
In fact, she says she\u2019s continuing to learn from each race and trying to push herself harder than ever during training as the next Olympics come into focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pursuit of putting all the puzzle pieces together in the pool continued this week at the Fort Lauderdale Open with a stacked field of competitors assembled in Florida. McIntosh posted two impressive victories on back-to-back nights beginning Thursday in the 400-metre freestyle.<\/p>\n
In what was the marquee race of that evening, McIntosh found herself locked in a spectacular battle with American legend Katie Ledecky.<\/p>\n
The two swimming powerhouses went stroke-for-stroke throughout much of the race. Just when it appeared McIntosh would pull away, Ledecky surged and reeled the Canadian back in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As both fought doggedly in the final 50 metres, it was McIntosh who had more left in the tank, stopping the clock in 3:58.91.<\/p>\n
Her time is the fastest in the world this calendar year. McIntosh is the world record holder in the event in 3:54.18.<\/p>\n
After the race, McIntosh wasn\u2019t overly pleased with her time but was happy to touch the wall first.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great race. It\u2019s always good getting those close quarter reps in. Again, my time wasn\u2019t where I wanted it to be but I felt strong. After the race I wasn\u2019t as laboured as I had hoped,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could have kept going. I waited too long. All good learning experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘More in the tank’<\/p>\n
Coach Bob Bowman, who is leading a jaw-dropping group of talented swimmers including McIntosh at the University of Texas in Austin, was happy with McIntosh\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think she had more in the tank there. I thought that was a really solid swim. I’m very happy with it. I just think summer was swimming to win the race instead of to swim the best time she could swim,\u201d Bowman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is OK, but sometimes that holds you back from seeing what’s really in there. I think there’s more in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two have been working together since last fall, trying to put together a complete five-event program that they hope will culminate in five gold medals at the L.A. 2028 Olympics. Bowman famously guided Michael Phelps to the most Olympic gold medals in history and now wants to help McIntosh reach the highest levels of the sport.<\/p>\n
On Friday, McIntosh cruised to a relatively easy victory in the 200m freestyle. This is an event that she is starting to reintroduce into her program.<\/p>\n
With the wind swirling around and the sun beating down on the open-air pool across from the Fort Lauderdale beach, McIntosh powered her way through the water to stop the clock in a time of 1:54.36. The second-place finisher, Anna Moesch, was more than two seconds behind McIntosh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Again, the Canadian wasn\u2019t overly pleased with her time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a bit disappointed with my time. I felt a lot better than I did this morning in the water, which seems to be the theme. I love racing in this pool. It\u2019s a great vibe. I just thought I\u2019d be a bit stronger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
McIntosh jumped out of the pool and went immediately to Bowman to debrief the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was thrilled with the time and the race. We\u2019re just focusing on my turns. We are in deep training right now so that\u2019s something to take into account. The 200 free is something I\u2019m reintroducing to my lineup so it\u2019ll be a little bit of a work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIntosh splashes the water ahead of a race at the 2026 Fort Lauderdale Open. (Devin Heroux)<\/p>\n
Bowman echoed McIntosh\u2019s comments, specifically relating to her turns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said it’s a pretty good race. She’s not happy with the time. She’s never happy with the time, which is OK. But in context the training we’ve been doing is quite good, much better than the 400 in quality, I think,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe mainly talked about her turns which are still holding her back in that race, so she’s got to improve the technique of her turn. She kind of hesitates in the middle of the turn, which is not a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIntosh closed out the meet Saturday evening by competing in the 200m breaststroke, an event she doesn\u2019t normally compete in but that she wanted to use a chance to help with her technique to improve her individual medley events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She finished sixth in a time of 2:29.92.<\/p>\n
Big summer ahead<\/p>\n
McIntosh will head to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in the coming weeks for altitude training before the Canadian trials taking place in Montreal at the beginning of July. This will all lead to her competing at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Swimming Canada high performance director John Atkinson says the Canadian star is perfectly placed going into a big summer of swimming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing the work Summer has been doing coming into this competition and working through still building the base for later this year, the results have been really solid,\u201d Atkinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom an overall Swimming Canada perspective we are really excited to be in Montreal for our Pan Pacific Championships trials in July and an exciting summer of racing with a team in Glasgow for Commonwealth Games and then into LA for Pan Pacs, and the Junior Pan Pacs in Vancouver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liendo finishes 2nd behind Kharun\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fellow Canadian swimmer Josh Liendo, who is coming off a scintillating finish to his NCAA caree which saw him successfully defend his 100-yard title for four consecutive years, finished the Fort Lauderdale Open on Saturday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n