Summer McIntosh clinched a gold medal on Thursday evening, marking her first triumph at the Pan Pacific swimming contest by outperforming Australia’s Jenna Forrester in the women’s 400-meter individual medley at Irvine, California. The Toronto native, initially on track to surpass her world record from the previous year, completed the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in a record time of four minutes and 28.01 seconds. Forrester followed closely behind, securing the silver medal with a time of 4:31.50, while Agostina Hein from Argentina secured the bronze in 4:32.54.
Previously held by American Elizabeth Beisel since 2014, McIntosh set a new Pan Pacs record, expressing her thoughts on the race post-event, “My fly felt really easy and controlled this morning [in the heats] so I wanted to replicate that tonight. I think that probably made me hurt too much on the back end but definitely a learning experience. I’ll have to look back at my splits [times] and see where I went wrong in that race. I really thought I was capable of more tonight but I’m still happy to get my hand on the wall first for Canada.”
Following McIntosh’s victory, the Canadian national anthem resonated through the venue, eliciting cheers and excitement from the enthusiastic crowd, especially a group of youths in attendance. McIntosh acknowledged the support, stating, “That group of kids up there [in the stands] is cute to see. Even giving them a small wave, they went crazy. It’s an honor to give people a show every time [I race] and be part of that. I know all the swimmers here, that’s their goal.”
Later in the evening, McIntosh contributed to Canada’s third-place finish in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, alongside teammates Mary-Sophie Harvey, Emma O’Croinin, and Brooklyn Douthwright, securing a bronze medal with a time of 7:52.74. Australia claimed the top spot with a championship record time of 7:42.40, followed by the United States at 7:43.10.
McIntosh expressed her joy at the relay race, emphasizing how much she enjoyed the experience. In other events, Tristan Jankovics and Lorne Wigginton from Canada secured 7th and 8th positions, respectively, in the men’s 400 IM. Taylor Ruck from Kelowna, B.C., achieved a commendable fifth place in the women’s 100 free, while Meg Harris of Australia emerged victorious in the event.
Alexanne Lepage from the University of Calgary delivered a personal best in the women’s 100 breaststroke, narrowly missing the Canadian record. The article also highlighted other noteworthy Canadian performances across various swimming disciplines.