Swimming star Summer McIntosh headlines Canadian trials in Montreal

MONTREAL — Summer McIntosh crafted an all-time great performance the last time she entered the pool at the Canadian swimming trials.

A year later, she’s back for an encore.

The 2026 trials run from Sunday through Thursday at the Olympic pool in Montreal as swimmers look to qualify for this summer’s Pan Pacific Championships. McIntosh, meanwhile, could be eyeing more history.

Here are things to watch for over the next week.

SUMMER’S SCHEDULE

A triple gold medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, McIntosh lowered a stunning three world records over five days last year in Victoria, setting new benchmarks in the 400-metre freestyle, 400 individual medley and 200 IM.

She followed up that showing with a five-medal haul at the world championships, claiming four gold and one silver in Singapore.

In Montreal, the 19-year-old Toronto phenom will compete in four races — down from five last year — beginning with the 200 butterfly on Sunday evening. That’s one event where McIntosh has yet to break the world record, coming within a fraction of Liu Zige’s 2009 mark of two minutes 1.81 seconds in what was known as the supersuit era.

The trials will also mark the first chance for most fans to see McIntosh race since she moved to Austin, Texas, last fall to train under renowned coach Bob Bowman — and alongside men’s star Léon Marchand of France — at the University of Texas.

Bowman guided Michael Phelps to his record 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold. McIntosh has also borrowed from the Phelps playbook in another way: in May, she signed with Octagon, the agency that represents the American swimming icon.

McIntosh will also compete in the 400 IM on Monday, the 400 free on Tuesday and the 200 IM on Wednesday.

BRIDGE YEAR

This year’s Canadian trials are not a qualifier for the Olympics or world championships. The next World Aquatics Championships are scheduled for next summer in Budapest, Hungary, while the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics remain two years away.

This summer’s major international meets include the Commonwealth Games from July 23 to Aug. 2 in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Pan Pacific Championships from Aug. 12 to 15 in Irvine, Calif.

Kylie Masse and Joshua Liendo lead Canada’s 12-swimmer team for the Commonwealth Games, while McIntosh is expected to headline the Pan Pacs, a competition that features swimmers from Canada, the United States and Australia, among other countries, as an alternative to Europeans.

WHO’S MISSING?

A couple of notable names will be absent from the men’s field in Montreal. Toronto’s Joshua Liendo, 23, who won Olympic silver in the 100 butterfly in Paris, is racing a condensed schedule and focusing on the Commonwealth Games.

It also marks the first Canadian trials since Ilya Kharun, a two-time Olympic bronze medallist, switched allegiances to the United States in January, a significant loss for the national program. Born in Montreal and raised in Las Vegas, Kharun had represented Canada since 2022 as a dual citizen.

Headlining the men’s field is Finlay Knox, who won world championship gold in the 200 IM at Doha 2024.

BREASTSTROKE BREAKER

One name to watch is up-and-comer Oliver Dawson.

The 18-year-old from Grande Prairie, Alta., broke a pair of long-standing Canadian records at the AP Race London International last month. First, he posted a time of 27.29 in the 50-metre breaststroke to surpass Scott Dickens’ 2009 mark, then went 59.55 in the 100 to beat another Dickens standard from 2012.

Before the summer is over, Dawson expects to lower the national 200 record of 2:08.84 set by Mike Brown at the 2008 Beijing Games.

VETERAN LINEUP

Beyond McIntosh, the women’s field features multi-time Olympians Kylie Masse, Taylor Ruck and Mary-Sophie Harvey.

Masse, a 30-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., is a three-time world backstroke champion and five-time Olympic medallist. She’s on track for her fourth Summer Games in L.A. The 26-year-old Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., is also a three-time Olympian with four relay medals at the Games.

Harvey, meanwhile, will be the local favourite as a 26-year-old from Trois-Rivières, Que. She won a world championship bronze in the 200 IM last year in Singapore.

The Canadian women’s team has lost some key faces in recent years. Olympic butterfly champion Maggie Mac Neil has retired, so has longtime national team member Sydney Pickrem, and seven-time Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak is serving an anti-doping sanction for whereabouts failures until July 2027.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press