McIntosh Makes The Living Look Easy In 1:53 Cruise Towards Summer-time in Paris, Harvey on Her Heels, Canada’s 4×200 In Fine Fettle
Summer McIntosh made it Paris Olympic tickets No2 and No3 in one race with a 1:53.69 victory in the 200m freestyle on the second day of action at the Canadian Trials in Toronto in a session that delivered a wave of qualifiers.
In a final that saw long-term contributors to Canada’s 4x200m free strength, Rebecca Smith, Penny Oleksiak and Katerine Savard, finish beyond Paris relay contention in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively, McIntosh and Mary-Sophie Harvey, boasting a new career high of 1:55.44, and 1:57s from Julie Brousseau and Emma O’Croinin, confirmed the long relay is in the hands of Maples on the move to medal-shot waters.
Just shy of her lifetime best of 1:53.69 – the World junior record she set last year at Fukuoka World titles as 5th fastest all-time – McIntosh established a strong lead by the half-way mark 2.26sec ahead of Harvey, who then not only stuck like glue to the ace pacemaker ahead of her but even gained a slither on the 17-year-old over the second half.
The power of McIntosh’s potential, shy of final preparations and full Summer taper for the big one in Paris, was to be found nestled in splits confirming she had raced inside world-record pace at the 50 and 100m marks.
McIntosh slipped just 0.07sec away from the time of top clock by the last turn before cruising home to the win she wanted; energy management in full flow as she finished 0.8sec adrift Mollie O’Callaghan‘s pioneering effort of 2023 in a world-title final that delivered bronze for the young Canadian.
The ebb, flow and fury down the years:
26.73; 55.43; 1:24.81; 1:53.69 McIntosh
27.66; 57.69; 1:26.82; 1:55.44 Harvey
Compared to the swiftest ever:
27.34; 55.60; 1:24.38; 1:52.98 (28.60) Federica Pellegrini (ITA) Rome 2009 WR
26.93; 55.94; 1:24.74; 1:52.85 (28.11) Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) Fukuoka 2023 WR
26.72; 55.23; 1:24.00; 1:53.01 (29.01) Ariarne Titmus (AUS) Fukuoka 2003
The win delivered McIntosh’s third career 1:53, while Harvey took another big bite out of her best: she had given warning of 200m free gains with a 1:56.76 career high at the Canadian Open last month, inside the 1:57.70 personal best she’d clocked at the US Open last year. Now, she’s a 1:55er.
Respective efforts of 1:57.60 and 1:57.86 for Brousseau and O’Crionin confirm Canada as a podium contender in the 4x200m free this summer, with Ella Jansen first in line for a reserve spot, in 1:58.25 as the first of three 1:58s, with Brooklyn Douthwright and Sienna Angove on 1:58.49 and 1:58.53 to put Smith, Oleksiak and Savard out of direct contention. They may, of course, make it to Paris in other events and put themselves back in the pool of potential relay swimmers depending on their prevailing form come July and August.
Meanwhile, McIntosh, a 3:59 400m free triumph in the bag on day 1 at trials, is on course to qualify for Paris in seven solo events before relays are even added to the frame. Her key solo targets are likely to be the 200 and 400m medley, 200m butterfly and the place where sprint free meets distance free.
Coached by Brent Arckey at the Sarasota Sharks in Florida, McIntosh also benefits from the multi-sport experience of Vern Gambetta, who noted earlier this year: “Working with World Record holder Summer McIntosh is very special. Not because because she is World Record holder, but because of the way she goes about her work. It is special. Highest intent & purpose I have seen in a long time. My mission as a coach is Coaching the Best to Be Better!”
Arckey has been a perfect pitch for the Canadian ace, too, as she approaches a Games gathering a momentum for success in a range of events that require rare and towering versatility.
No-one has covered the story of McIntosh, her coaches, skating sister, parents, family, friends, commitment and progress than Devin Heroux at CBC Sports.
In a 2023 feature that CBS has just republished (because it’s second to none when it comes to painting a watercolour rich in detail as Paris looms on the horizon), here’s what Arckey had to say about his charge on the deck at the Sarasota “Shark Tank”:
“I try hard to not lose perspective, that it’s just another person. You’ve got to treat them as the whole person, not just the swimmer. As I told the McIntosh family, I’m humbled that this is where they want to be. I appreciate the trust that they have. And listen, there’s no lack of pressure on me either.”
“She is very deliberate about what she does. She knows exactly what she’s doing. And that’s probably what makes her really good, is she’s never doing something by accident.”
Brent Arckey – image courtesy of Devin Heroux of CBC Sports (see link to feature in full below)
Heroux notes that McIntosh is not just working hard and smart but having fun. She tells him: “There’s a bunch of girls and guys down here that I’ve started to get really close to and get to know really well, and they’re also going to be travelling on the world stage and that’s really exciting for them and I’m very proud of all of them and what they’ve accomplished so far.”
As for Gambetta, functional sports training guru, his list of charges extends beyond Olympic champions to stars of football, track and field, hockey and beyond.
Now in his 70s, he’s helping to guide a swimming superstar in the making, a World Champion at 15 in the 200m butterfly and 400m medley who a year later retained both those crowns, setting world junior marks and, last year, the World senior 400IM record, along the way.
Gambetta tells Heroux: “She has that steely eyed look like a Michael Jordan or somebody like that. I don’t want to put pressure on her, but the champions have that. … she’s got that.”
Read the insightful feature in full:
The McIntosh sisters lean on family to reach their Olympic-sized potential: A behind-the-scenes look at the lives of teens Brooke and Summer, who are already turning heads in their respective sports – By Devin Heroux, CBC Sports
There were plenty of other encouraging signs in other finals on day 2 in Toronto.
Men’s 400IM – Jankovics Rattles Johns 2008 Canadian Mark For Paris Ticket
The qualifying time at 4:12.50, it was going to be a tough challenge but Tristan Jankovics rose to it and Lorne Wiggington almost got there, too.
Jankovics clocked 4:11.74, just shy of the 4:11.41 Canadian record that has stood to Brian Johns since the Beijing 12008 Olympic Games. Wigginton was not far back, on 4:13.60:
57.39; 2:01.88; 3:12.81; 4:11.74 Jankovics
56.66; 2:03.17; 3:14.87; 4:13.60 Wigginton
Third place went to Collyn Gagne in 4:16.90.
Men’s 100m backstroke – Tierney & Acevedo Inside Paris Cut
The cut set at 53.74, the clock rang out the happy news in 53.48 and 53.55, with bronze a 53.99 and a near miss at 54.06, the two at the top, Blake Tierney and HP Ontario training partner Javier Acevedo, set for an Olympic mission in Paris, selectors’ thumbs-up pending. Aiden Norman and Raben Domman completed the top four.
Women’s 100m breaststroke – Angus First In Line For Medley relay Berth
The solo cut of 1:06.79 was not met but Sophie Angus, HP Ontario, clocked 1:06.96 for the win and is first in line for a medley relay berth after a five-way, stroke-for-stroike final that looked like this at the turn, in the order the swimmers would end up in by close of battle: 31.57; 31.57; 31.46; 31.50; 31.87
Angus stopped the clock at 1:06.96, Kelsey Wogg closets on 1:07.00, followed by Sydney Pickrem, 1:07.27, Shona Branton, 1:07.54, and Alexanne Lepage, 1:07.59.