Sports
At 17, swimmer Summer McIntosh is ready to be a breakout star at Paris Olympics
Follow our Olympics coverage in the lead-up to the Paris Games.
TORONTO — Summer McIntosh waited before making her entrance.
It was mid-May, the fourth night of the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials. McIntosh, who swam the first two nights, was ready to race the 400-meter individual medley, an event in which she is already, at age 17, a world-record-holder and a two-time world champion.
“Summer McIntosh!” yelled the public address announcer.
McIntosh stood underneath a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. She was the last swimmer to be called. McIntosh walked to Lane 5, serenaded with roars from the crowd. She adjusted her goggles, putting her hands over the lenses as she stepped onto the starting blocks.
The beep sounded, and McIntosh dove into the pool. Eight lengths. One hundred meters for each stroke: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle.
Ten seconds into the race, McIntosh had the lead. Through 100 meters, she was a body length in front. By the final 50 meters, McIntosh was the only swimmer visible on the broadcast. She was that far ahead of her competition.
The cheers crescendoed as McIntosh swam the finishing length. Her parents, Greg and Jill, stood up and waved their arms.
McIntosh broke her own world record as she touched the wall, posting a 4:24.38, almost a second and a half faster than her previous mark.
The 10 fastest women’s 400m IMs ever
| Rank | Swimmer | Nationality | Time | Year | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Summer McIntosh |
Canada |
4:24.38 |
2024 |
Canadian Olympic trials |
|
2 |
Summer McIntosh |
Canada |
4:25.87 |
2023 |
Canadian swimming trials |
|
3 |
Katinka Hosszu |
Hungary |
4:26.36 |
2016 |
Rio Olympics (final) |
|
4 |
Summer McIntosh |
Canada |
4:27.11 |
2023 |
World Aquatics championships |
|
5 |
Kaylee McKeown |
Australia |
4:28.22 |
2024 |
Australian national championships |
|
6 |
Shiwen Ye |
China |
4:28.43 |
2012 |
London Olympics |
|
7 |
Katinka Hosszu |
Hungary |
4:28.58 |
2016 |
Rio Olympics (heats) |
|
8 |
Summer McIntosh |
Canada |
4:28.61 |
2022 |
Toyota U.S. Open |
|
9 |
Summer McIntosh |
Canada |
4:29.01 |
2022 |
Commonwealth Games |
|
10 |
Katinka Hosszu |
Hungary |
4:29.33 |
2017 |
FINA world championships |
It was a crowning achievement at an Olympic Trials where, in several instances, she swam the fastest times in the world this year.
This is McIntosh’s stage. Racing in front of energetic crowds. Where she has fun and feels at ease.
“The crowd was absolutely electric,” McIntosh said of the fans during her world-record swim. “I heard all you guys during the breaststroke — it really kept me going.”
In a few weeks, McIntosh will go from swimming in front of an Eiffel Tower replica to the confines of Paris La Défense Arena, home of the swimming events for the 2024 Paris Olympics, eight kilometers from the actual Eiffel Tower.
In the “City of Lights,” the Canadian swimming sensation is ready to shine.
McIntosh has deep swimming roots. Her mom, Jill, swam for Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. McIntosh followed in her mom’s footsteps, swimming competitively starting at 8 years old. Away from the pool, McIntosh drew inspiration from American stars Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps. In her childhood room, McIntosh hung up posters of Ledecky. She named one of her cats “Mikey” in honor of Phelps. And she watched highlights of Phelps’ historic 2008 Beijing Games, where he won eight gold medals.
Swimming at the Etobicoke Swim Club, McIntosh gained national attention. At 12, McIntosh lowered a 45-year-old Canadian age-group record in the 800-meter freestyle. At 14, she beat Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s most decorated Olympian, in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Canadian Olympic Trials, securing her place on Canada’s team for the Tokyo Olympics.
She didn’t win any medals in Tokyo. But success soon followed.
Two Commonwealth Games gold medals in her first appearance there. Four world championship golds combined in 2022 and 2023. World-record-holder in the 400-meter IM. All by 17 years old.
At Canada’s Olympic trials, 17-year-old Summer McIntosh set a world record in the 400-meter IM. She’ll be a medal contender in five events in Paris. (Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star / Getty Images)
One major reason is McIntosh relocating to Sarasota, Fla., to train with coach Brent Arckey of the Sarasota Sharks. With COVID-19 pandemic restrictions still in Ontario, McIntosh needed a pool to swim full-time.
The Selby Aquatic Center in Sarasota, known as the “Shark Tank,” was the perfect place. Olympic-sized pool. A friendly yet competitive environment. A coach in Arckey, who has experience coaching Olympians.
It’s a regimented training program for McIntosh. Four days a week she swims twice, early morning (6:30 to 8:30 a.m) and late afternoon (3 to 5 p.m.). The wake-ups can be as early as 4:15 a.m.
Dry-land training exercises. Two hours in the pool. Repeat.
This is what it takes to be among the world’s best swimmers. Even on tough days, McIntosh relishes the preparation for Paris.
“Motivation isn’t something that you always have every single day,” McIntosh told The Athletic in November. “It comes in waves. But I always have that discipline to no matter how I feel when I wake up, I get to the pool and I try my hardest.”
The Paris Olympic swimming program opens with a seismic race. The women’s 400-meter freestyle — on July 27, the first full day of events in France — will likely feature a clash between McIntosh, Ledecky and reigning Olympic and world champion Ariarne Titmus.
The last time these three raced together was the 400-meter freestyle at last year’s world championships. Titmus swam to a world record. Ledecky finished second while McIntosh was off the podium in fourth.
WORLD RECORD! 🚨
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus clocks 3:55.38 in the women’s 400m free for the world title and Katie Ledecky grabs the silver.
📺 @peacock | #AQUAFukuoka23 pic.twitter.com/Rm7WyrbQQV
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 23, 2023
It’s from the bad races where McIntosh says she learns and grows. After a conversation with Arckey and a day off from competition, McIntosh responded with four medals the rest of the meet: two gold (200-meter butterfly and 400-meter IM) and two bronze (200-meter free and 4×100-meter medley relay).
McIntosh raced Ledecky, her idol, at the Toyota U.S. Open almost five months after the 2023 worlds, beating the American in the 400 free with a meet-record time. They met again in Orlando last February, where McIntosh ended Ledecky’s 13-year reign in the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky, who has recorded the 29 fastest 800-meter times in history, hadn’t lost a final in the event since 2010.
At the Canadian Olympic trials, McIntosh won the 400-meter freestyle in 3:59.06. It’s the fastest 400-meter freestyle of 2024, faster than McIntosh’s world-championship run but almost four seconds slower than Titmus’ world record (3:55.38). For most of the race, McIntosh was under the world-record pace. But she was frustrated after, believing she could do better.
“I know I can go faster. I’ve got to keep pushing forward,” McIntosh said.
Arckey sees McIntosh’s 400-meter freestyle result differently. Two months out from Paris, there’s a pathway for improvement.
“You’re not going to be making wholesale changes,” Arckey told The Athletic after trials. “It’s her second fastest time ever and the fastest time in the world currently. She’s hard on her herself. Certainly some things to do better, no doubt. That’s what the good ones do.”
McIntosh trials times vs. last Olympics
| Event | McIntosh at 2024 trials | Gold at Tokyo Games | McIntosh’s time vs. Tokyo field |
|---|---|---|---|
|
200m freestyle |
1:53.69 |
1:53.50 (Ariarne Titmus) |
Silver |
|
400m freestyle |
3:59.06 |
3:56.69 (Titmus) |
Bronze |
|
200m butterfly |
2:04.33 |
2:03.86 (Zhang Yufei) |
Silver |
|
200m medley |
2:07.06 |
2:08.52 (Yui Ohashi) |
Gold |
|
400m medley |
4:24.38 |
4:32.08 (Ohashi) |
Gold |
It’s the end of the Canadian Olympic trials and McIntosh, qualified for the Olympics, is again waiting to be called to the pool deck, joining her Swimming Canada teammates. As she walks out with Arckey, who is also a coach for the Canadian national team, she has a long embrace with her mom.
Jill has been with Summer every step of her young swimming career. And the family will be in Paris watching Summer compete for her first Olympic medals.
After trials, McIntosh travels back to Sarasota to train at the Shark Tank. A couple days of rest and then back to the pool for the final eight-week push.
Arckey said that he and McIntosh will reflect on trials before sharpening the areas to improve for Paris, where the big 400-meter freestyle showdown with Ledecky and Titmus awaits, along with the four other individual events in which McIntosh qualified. After fine-tuning in Sarasota, McIntosh will travel to Normandy for a staging camp with her Swimming Canada teammates. Then the Paris Games.
McIntosh has achieved greatness at international events before. It’s time to do it in Paris, a chance for the Summer Games to be Summer’s games.
“I know I can go faster,” Summer McIntosh says of her 400-meter freestyle. McIntosh, Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky have combined for the 26 fastest-ever times in the event. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
GO DEEPER
Summer McIntosh, at 17, has everyone’s attention. Now she’s after Olympic glory
(Top illustration: Daniel Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Top Milwaukee Brewers prospect Frank Cairone was hospitalized after being involved in a serious car accident near his New Jersey home on Friday, the team announced.
“Frank is currently being cared for at a hospital in New Jersey with the support of his family,” read a statement from the team, via MLB.com. “The Brewers’ thoughts and prayers are with Frank and his family during his difficult time.”
Pitcher Frank Cairone (left) with Green Valley High School (NV) infielder Caden Kirby during the MLB Draft Combine high school baseball game at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The left-handed pitcher turned 18 this past September. He was drafted out of Delsea Regional High School in Franklinville, N.J. at No. 68 overall in the 2025 Draft.
News of the Brewers’ young prospect’s accident came shortly after the team announced it was not in contact with several players in Venezuela after U.S. military strikes in the country and the capture of its President Nicolás Maduro.
MLB TEAM UNAWARE OF STATUS OF PLAYERS IN VENEZUELA AFTER US MILITARY STRIKES
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio (11) is seen before the fifth inning of an MLB game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays on August 31, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON. (Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold revealed the team is unaware of the status of the players in a statement Saturday.
“We don’t have much info at the moment but are trying to follow up,” Arnold said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We know the airports have been shut down but not much beyond that.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Pitcher Frank Cairone during the MLB Draft Combine high school baseball game at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The team’s players in Venezuela include star outfielder Jackson Chourio, infielder Andruw Monasterio and catcher Jeferson Quero, according to the outlet.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
It might be time to write a folk song about the demise of City Section basketball using the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title, “Where Have All the Players Gone?”
The talent level clearly has hit rock bottom only a year after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth High and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Section schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early to join USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep school.
Westchester is where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons until his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is where Willie West won 16 City titles and eight state titles. Taft is where Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is where Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and earned most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won City championships before leaving.
None of the City schools once considered among the best in Southern California are even close to resembling their glory days, and they aren’t alone. The City Section has lost most of its talent, and it was truly Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Sun Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There were decades of success.
There’s no one person to blame. You can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the City Section.
But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend and didn’t help matters by opening so many new schools in such rapid fashion that longtime legacy schools lost their luster amid declining student enrollment. Things became even more disruptive by the rise of charter schools and private schools taking away top athletes. Adding to that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucracy issues and rules that force programs to secure permits and pay to use their own gyms in the offseason helped further the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season and an example of where City Section basketball stands. Two top players from last season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t even have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won its first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster sent his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.
Charter schools Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in virtually all City Section sports including basketball. They have no enrollment boundaries as long as there’s a seat for a student. Palisades lost so many students after the wildfire last year that transfers have been big additions for its teams this school year. Online courses are being offered to help students enroll and compete in sports at charter schools.
The old powers from the inner city — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — experienced big changes in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and not teachers. The legacy schools have to compete with charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When young players are discovered and developed, rarely will they stay when one of the private schools or AAU coaches searching for talent spots them in the offseason.
So what’s left? Not much.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the three top teams this season. All three added transfers to help buck the downward trend. And yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.
Maybe this can be a fluke one-year plunge to the bottom and the climb back up can begin, aided by coaches who recognize their job is to teach lessons in basketball, life and college preparation. Parents need a reason to send their kids to a City Section school. It’s up to LAUSD and principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches with integrity, passion and willingness to embrace the underdog role.
There are plenty in the system doing their best. It’s time to start hearing and answering their pleas for help.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Escondido officials need to enforce rules on illegal fireworks
Milwaukee fatal shootings Sunday; 2 dead, 1 in custody
Atlanta weather: Foggy Monday morning, warming trend ahead
Icy Roads Expected Across Twin Cities As Freezing Rain, Sleet Move In
Colts fans react to Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen keeping their jobs: ‘What an embarrassing joke’
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Dan Bongino officially leaves FBI deputy director role after less than a year, returns to ‘civilian life’
Hundreds march in silence to honour Crans-Montana fire victims
Here’s a partial list of U.S. elected officials opposing Trump’s invasion of Venezuela
Crans Montana organises solemn march for the victims • FRANCE 24 English
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
-
Entertainment1 week agoHow the Grinch went from a Yuletide bit player to a Christmas A-lister
-
World7 days agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
Business1 week agoGoogle is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
-
World1 week agoBest of 2025: Top five defining moments in the European Parliament
-
World1 week agoSnoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, Huntr/x and Andrea Bocelli Deliver Christmas-Themed Halftime Show for Netflix’s NFL Lions-Vikings Telecast
-
News1 week agoDOJ says it may need a ‘few more weeks’ to finish releasing Epstein files