Summer McIntosh wins 400 IM gold but misses her own world record at Canadian trials

MONTREAL — There was no record-breaking encore for Summer McIntosh one day after the emotional high of rewriting swimming history.

McIntosh won the women’s 400-metre individual medley Monday at the Canadian swimming trials, but fell short of her own world record.

The Toronto phenom finished in four minutes 27.35 seconds, more than three seconds off her world-record time of 4:23.65 set last year in Victoria, ending a run of three straight national trials where she reached new benchmarks in the event.

“Streak’s finally broken,” McIntosh said at Montreal’s Olympic pool. “I need to look back at my splits and see where I went wrong, but I know I have a lot more in me to give.”

Ella Jansen, of Burlington, Ont., placed second in 4:38.17, while Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Trois-Rivières, Que., was third in 4:43.26.

McIntosh opened the meet Sunday by breaking the longest-standing individual women’s world record in the 200-metre butterfly, a milestone she’s been chasing since childhood.

The once-unthinkable performance made waves in the swimming world, with American swimming icon Michael Phelps — McIntosh’s idol — writing “Let’s gooooo!!!!” in an Instagram story to congratulate her.

McIntosh said she’s learned how to reset quickly after landmark swims, but couldn’t quite find another top performance Monday before an energized crowd.

“There was a lot of excitement, but I try to compartmentalize it and just focus on the next races to come,” said the holder of four world records. “You have to dumb it down and underappreciate it in a way, you don’t want to get too cocky or too confident in yourself.

“I broke the world record last night, but tonight wasn’t my best swim, so that’s why you really got to take it one step at a time.”

The 19-year-old McIntosh is entering her first summer under the guidance of Bob Bowman, a renowned U.S. coach who oversaw Phelps’ record-setting 23 Olympic gold medals.

Bowman, who coaches McIntosh and French star Léon Marchand in Austin, Texas, said McIntosh excelled in the breaststroke but lost pace in the backstroke on Monday.

“Sometimes when you have a really big swim like that, it’s hard to come back the next day. We’ll see how she does. It’s not a terrible swim, not a great swim either,” he said.

“She expects to beat (the record) every time she gets on a block of every meet, but she’s going to have to learn that these things don’t happen all the time.”

McIntosh returns to the Olympic pool for the 400 freestyle Tuesday and the 200 IM on Wednesday — both events in which she also holds the world record — ahead of next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.

She won four medals — including three gold — at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is aiming for five gold medals at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Shortly after McIntosh left the pool, Calgary’s Lorne Wigginton swam the men’s 400 IM in 4:11.32 to lower a long-held Canadian record set by Brian Johns at the 2008 Beijing Games (4:11.41).

Wigginton claimed his second gold medal of the meet following his victory Sunday in the 200 free.

“I don’t think my smile has left my face,” said the 20-year-old Paris Olympian. “I’ve just been working so hard this year. I felt like I was very happy with what I’m doing this year and just myself in general. All the work has just been paying off and it’s just such a great feeling.”

Five-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse added another title in the women’s 50-metres, finishing the race in 27.35 seconds. The 30-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., will lead Canada at the Commonwealth Games later this month in Glasgow.

“I’m super pleased with that,” Masse said of her time. “I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this meet. My focus is on the Commonwealth Games, so I wanted to come in here and just get a few reps in, try and take some things away to work on over the next two or three weeks or so.”

In other Monday results, Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., won the women’s 100 free (53.06) for her second gold of the meet. Ruslan Gaziev took the men’s 100 free (48.69) and fellow Torontonian Javier Acevedo won the men’s 50 backstroke (25.10).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press