McIntosh sets personal best in 200m breaststroke, also wins 100m free at Florida meet
Canadian swimming phenom Summer McIntosh had a Saturday to remember at the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships in Orlando, Fla.
The 17-year-old Toronto native touched the wall in two minutes 27.23 seconds to win the women’s 200-metre breaststroke, beating her previous personal best of 2:29.64 from last May’s Atlanta Classic.
Less than 15 minutes before, McIntosh won the women’s 100m freestyle with a time of 54.48 — less than a 10th of a second shy of her personal-best mark of 54.39, set last year at the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
PERSONAL BEST FOR SUMMER <br><br>Less than 15 minutes after winning the 100m free, 🇨🇦 Summer McIntosh puts down a personal best time of 2:27.23 to win the 200m breaststroke. <br><br>A wildly successful meet. The Canadian swimming superstar just keeps getting faster. <a href=”https://t.co/UfirekxtI6″>pic.twitter.com/UfirekxtI6</a>
—@Devin_Heroux
The opening day of the meet on Thursday saw McIntosh win the 800m freestyle in Canadian-record time (8:11.39).
McIntosh handed American legend Katie Ledecky her first loss in the event since 2010. The event hasn’t been McIntosh’s priority or even part of her Olympic program, but she was using it to get in some valuable distance training.
The generational talent is poised to become a household name at this year’s Paris Olympics.
Sitting out worlds
McIntosh and Ledecky are both sitting out the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, where swimming events start on Sunday.
There are some experienced swimmers competing for Canada, including world medallist Javier Acevedo, Sophie Angus, Emma O’Croinin, Sydney Pickrem, Taylor Ruck, Katerine Savard, Rebecca Smith and Ingrid Wilm. Other veterans include Olympians Tessa Cieplucha and Finlay Knox.
Watch live coverage of the World Aquatics Championships on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, with swimming action starting Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.
WATCH | McIntosh shatters 800m free national record in win over Ledecky:
17-year-old Summer McIntosh set a new Canadian record in the women’s 800m distance at a meet in Orlando, Fla., swimming to a time of 8:11.39, which beat Katie Ledecky’s time of 8:17.12 by nearly six seconds. It’s the first time in more than 13 years that Ledecky has lost an 800m final.
