Summer McIntosh withdraws from Canadian swimming trials due to illness

MONTREAL — Two days after her record-breaking night, Summer McIntosh has withdrawn from the Canadian swimming trials due to illness.

Swimming Canada announced Tuesday that the star swimmer will not compete in the rest of this year’s meet after consulting with coach Bob Bowman and the organization’s medical staff following Tuesday morning’s heat in the women’s 400-metre freestyle.

“I’m so sorry, but on the advice of my doctors and coach, I’ve made the difficult decision to scratch from my remaining events at the 2026 Canadian Trials,” she said in a statement.

John Atkinson, Swimming Canada’s high-performance director and national coach, described her illness as a “sore throat, viral-type thing.”

McIntosh said she began feeling ill Monday, the morning after she took down the longest-standing women’s individual world record in the 200-metre butterfly, set in 2009 by Chinese swimmer Liu Zige in a since-banned “super suit.”

McIntosh won the 400 individual medley Monday night despite feeling under the weather, but finished nearly four seconds off her own world record. It was still the eighth-fastest time ever recorded in the event.

The 19-year-old from Toronto had hoped to continue competing, but called withdrawing “the right decision.”

“There is so much magic in this pool, and I’m incredibly grateful I got to experience it. I’m so disappointed that I can’t continue racing in front of these amazing crowds, but my focus now is on getting healthy so I can be ready to represent Canada at the Pan Pacific Championships,” she said.

“Thank you for all the love and support this week. I’m so sorry our time together was cut short and thank you for cheering me and all of the athletes on. Best of luck to everyone for the rest of the competition.”

McIntosh posted the fastest time in the 400 freestyle heats to qualify for Tuesday night’s final before withdrawing. She had been scheduled to end the meet with the 200 IM on Wednesday.

The four-time Olympic medallist will now focus on recovering ahead of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, scheduled for Aug. 12-15 in Irvine, Calif. The meet features swimmers from Canada, the United States, Australia, among other countries, as an alternative to Europeans.

McIntosh’s team wasn’t willing to risk compromising her preparation for this summer’s biggest meet.

“If you’re ill and you’re not right and you push through three more days, when you come out of the other end of that you then run the risk of pushing yourself further into illness,” Atkinson said. “Then that impacts the next phase of training because it’s a very short turnaround between here and PanPacs. So get back, rest, recover and then get back into training.”

“At the end of the day, if you’re at the Olympic Games, it’s a different story,” he added. “They come around every four years and then you make the most of where you are.”

McIntosh also pulled out three World Cup stops last year after falling ill in October with an ailment that went undiagnosed. A complication from a spinal tap to test for viral meningitis put her in bed for a week.

Atkinson said the latest illness is unrelated.

“It’s something that she’ll speak with medical staff on and review with Bob, but she went through the whole (illness in) October … and she’s been training hard and she has been racing well,” he said. “Sometimes illness just comes along when it’s not expected and then you have to adapt and deal with it.

“Great athletes will do that.”

McIntosh is competing in her first summer under the tutelage of Bowman, the renowned coach who guided U.S. Olympic legend Michael Phelps to a record 23 gold medals.

Already considered one of the greatest female swimmers of all time, McIntosh is aiming for an unprecedented five women’s gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

McIntosh plans to swim in four events at the Pan Pacific Championships because it’s only a four-day meet. Bowman said they’ve decided what her eventual fifth event will be but won’t reveal it publicly just yet.

“We know it. That’s it,” he said. “You’ll know soon.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July. 7, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press