The lifeguard: Summer McIntosh’s Olympian mom works to smooth waters for star swimmer
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The Summer of Summer begins in less than 10 days, when Canada’s greatest swimming prospect in a generation is expected to heat up the Paris pool and bring home a potential record medal haul.
Summer McIntosh is only 17, but she’s been in the national spotlight ever since she burst on the scene as a 14-year-old three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics.
As she’s racked up world championships and world records, the demands for her time and attention — from sponsors, media, fans, the national sport organization — has only increased, and along with it the scheduling conflicts with training, competition and just being a teenager.
But protecting her is a mama bear who knows the Olympic woods better than most parents, who also had to navigate the choppy waters of being a teenaged Olympic swimmer for Canada.
Jill McIntosh will do whatever she needs to ensure the waters are as smooth as they can be for her daughter as she prepares for the Paris Olympics.
Sitting on a wooden bench and looking out across Siesta Beach in Sarasota as the Florida sun slowly starts to set, Jill is soaking up some last serene, stress-free moments before Summer begins her Olympic programme on the first official day of competition on July 27.
WATCH | McIntosh sits down with Devin Heroux ahead of Paris Olympics:
CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux speaks with 17-year-old swimming sensation from Toronto one week out from the start of the Olympics.
This is where Summer has spent the past couple of years preparing for these upcoming Olympics, somewhat sheltered from the predictions and expectations and pressure.
But it’s always there.
“I actually think Summer kind of embraces the outside noise. I don’t think she looks at it as pressure. She just looks at it like support,” Jill says. “So far I think she’s managed it very well. I mean, she’s still only 17 years old. But she does have some pretty big expectations of herself.”
There’s a good reason for those lofty goals. Summer has quickly established herself as the one to beat in Paris, and NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines recently called her Canada’s Michael Phelps.
The once-in-a-generation talent is now ready to really send her career into orbit at the Games this summer. She’s once again the youngest swimmer on the team.
WATCH | Full-circle moment for Summer and mom Jill:
Jill Horstead was a swimmer who specialized in the 200-metre butterfly. On Wednesday, she watched her teenage daughter Summer McIntosh become a world champion in the same event.
Summer is preparing to swim in at least four individual events and will likely compete in the relays as well. These are the final weeks of preparation, and her mom is doing her best to protect her daughter’s peace.
“I think she has a very tight circle of really good friends. And she’s surrounded herself with people who support her and lift her up. And she does the same to them,” Jill says. “And I think that’s a key success factor for Summer, is she’s always been deliberate about making sure that she is surrounded by people with like values and people who are supportive and that she can support and keeps it fun.”
There isn’t a conversation with Jill where the word fun isn’t involved. Perhaps something she learned from her own swimming career. This is all too familiar for her. In fact, she swam at the University of Florida in Gainesville, less than three hours away from the bench she’s sitting on right now. And like her daughter who rose to success early in the sport, Jill was also making international appearances for Canada in her teens.
As a 16-year-old, Jill competed at the 1983 Pan Am Games in Venezuela, where she placed fourth in the 200m butterfly. A year later, Jill represented Canada at the 1984 Olympics in L.A.
Jill knows first-hand the level of dedication, commitment and attention to detail it takes to be the best in the world, which is why she wants to make sure she’s getting everything she needs along the way.
To be the best, Jill understands there is a level of sacrifice that has to happen. But as she reflects on her own career, she realizes that perhaps at times she became too singularly focused on swimming and success, and that she missed out on some of the fun and experiences along the journey. It’s a theme that plays out for many elite athletes, leaving many of them wondering who they are when their athletic careers inevitably end.
It’s had Jill thinking a lot about her own daughter, about making sure that swimming isn’t the end all, be all. And that there’s a life for Summer outside of the pool.
“I was way harder on myself for sure. I think back when I swam I probably didn’t have as much fun as her. So I admire that in Summer, that she can just go with the flow,” Jill said. “She’s very good at putting things into perspective.
“I actually have learned a lot from her. I think it helps her get over any disappointing races or any kind of disappointments in life. I think that kind of lightheartedness is really a huge asset to her.”
WATCH | Summer McIntosh breaks 400IM record at trials:
Toronto’s Summer McIntosh broke her own world record in the women’s 400-metre individual medley, with a new best time of 4:24.38 at the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Trials in Toronto.
Time management, especially in this final push, is critical. The morning wakeup calls for practice are early and training days are long, so Jill is making sure her daughter can stay focused on the task at hand, spend some downtime to hang out with friends, and conserve as much energy as possible for the things that truly matter in these crucial closing weeks before the Olympics.
“I think as a parent, you just try to put them in the best position for success. But I think like the day-to-day training and the day-to-day commitment, you can’t tell a 17-year-old you’ve got to go to practice this morning,” Jill says. “Like they have to be willing to get up and do it. And as long as you see that fire, we will support our kids as much as they need, whatever they need.”
From the outside looking in, it would seem as though Summer’s career has been without turbulence and laced with unparalleled success.
When asked if it really has been as smooth as it appears to the outside observer, Jill pauses for a second.
WATCH | Canadian swim team primed to compete at Paris Games:
After a week of Olympic trials, Canada has its team of swimmers ready to hit the pool in Paris. The team has the expected big names like Summer McIntosh as well as some lesser known athletes with inspiring stories.
“The Tokyo Olympics, the lead into that was anything but calm. I mean, she was a 14-year-old navigating going to a Games in a pandemic. But on top of that she had her coach pass away suddenly. And then her father had cancer,” Jill says. “It definitely wasn’t a calm road for Summer into Tokyo.
“But I think that her adaptability, being able to kind of digest that and still keep pushing forward and kind of using her sport as her outlet, has helped shape who she is today and how she handles adversity.”
Jill concedes there is a hint of trepidation and worry about what all of this success might mean for a young woman trying to navigate sponsors, journalists and social media. But a lot of those fears are quelled when she considers the team of people who are assembled around Summer.
From her family, dad Greg and sister Brooke, to her friends, coach Brent Arckey and many more, Jill is confident her daughter is prepared for whatever might come her way.
And perhaps more than anything, she’s calmed by who Summer has become and continues to evolve into — never too fazed by anything and always able to keep things in perspective.
“Summer is not like a nervous Nellie. So I actually have to keep myself in check. Because I can be the one thinking of all these scenarios and thinking what you’ve got to do, and she’d be like, it’s fine. It’s fine,” Jill says.
“I just think that comes back to her adaptability. I think we would just have to take it one day at a time. And and again, make sure that she’s surrounded by the people who bring her up and have her very best intentions. And I would say Summer is beyond fortunate in every direction. She has surrounded herself with amazing people.”
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