Canadian Summer McIntosh smashed the women’s 400-metre freesyle world record Saturday night, touching the wall in three minutes 54.18 seconds at the national swimming trials in Victoria.
McIntosh eclipsed the mark set by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus (3:55.38) back in 2023 at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
“Going into tonight I knew that my training had been strong the past couple months and I knew I was able to do something special, but I did not think I would be that fast,” McIntosh, who set the record by more than a second, told CBC’s Devin Heroux.
WATCH | Summer McIntosh demolishes world record:
Summer McIntosh demolishes world record in 400m freestyle at Canadian swimming trials
After becoming the first women ever to swim under 3:55.00, the world-record performance even surprised the three-time Olympic champion.
“I was really not expecting that time,” she said. “Just seeing the time after two years of really pushing my hardest every day… and then finally having an amazing swim in it is really really satisfying.”
In conversation with Summer McIntosh. <br><br>Who continues to rewrite history, breaking the 400m freestyle world record once again in a time of 3:54.18 — more than second faster than the previous Ariarne Titmus record.<br><br>Here’s 🇨🇦 Summer McIntosh after her latest brilliance. <a href=”https://t.co/ClRtu86l4U”>pic.twitter.com/ClRtu86l4U</a>
After hearing American icon Micheal Phelps was the last one to set a world record in the same Victoria pool, McIntosh shared a smile before saying, “I’ve always looked up to Michael, he is the GOAT of swimming”.
Saturday night’s event is only the beginning for McIntosh. She still has races in the women’s 800m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and both the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
“I’m really excited to see what I can do the next couple of days”.
Five-time Olympic medallist, Kylie Masse won the women’s 100m backstroke in 58.18 seconds, beating her own time she swam at Paris 2024.
After the race, the 29-year-old from LaSalle, Ont. explained what made this race special for her.
“This year’s been different for me, just taking a little bit of a step back but obviously at the same time still putting in the work.”
WATCH | Masse wins women’s 100m backstroke title:
Kylie Masse wins women’s 100m backstroke title at Canadian swimming trials
And with that step back Masse added that being able to spend time with her loved ones “fills your cup in a whole other way”.
After taking down her 50m Canadian backstroke record a few weeks ago, Masse told CBC Sports “I just feel like I have a different perspective on the sport and I’m really grateful to be here still and be able to put down a time that was faster than I did at the Olympics.”
Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Laval, Que., won the women’s 200m breaststroke in a personal-best time of 2:23.40. It was also her first trials win.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Harvey told CBC Sports’s Devin Heroux. “I was telling my coach I’ve never won an event at trials. I think I’ve had so many second places, and I never thought it would be the 200 breaststroke for the first one. I’m pretty happy where I’m at right now.”
Other winners include:
Coverage of the national swimming trials in Victoria B.C. continues on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem from June 7-12th.
WATCH | CBC Sports’ The Ready Room discusses storylines from national swim trials:
Will Summer McIntosh break a world record? And other storylines ahead of Canadian swim trials
Katie Ledecky won her third national title of the week on Saturday when she cruised to a victory in the women’s 1500 meters at the U.S. Swimming Championships in Indianapolis.
Ledecky won the event in 15 minutes, 36.76 seconds, which was 16 seconds shy of the world record she set in 2018.
“I just wanted to put together a pretty even swim, hold a good pace,” Ledecky said afterward. “That one hurt, but I’ll take it.”
Ledecky held a big lead throughout the entire race. Jillian Cox finished 29 seconds behind in 16:05.88 and Kate Hurst reached the wall in 16:16.06.
Ledecky earned titles in the 400 and 800 meters earlier in the meet.
