2024 Swammy Awards: Female Swimmer of the Year – Summer McIntosh

See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.

No female swimmer won more individual Olympic gold medals than Summer McIntosh in Paris, and coupling that with world records in long course and short course, multiple SC world titles and ranking in the top three globally across six events, she runs away as our 2024 Female Swimmer of the Year.

The Canadian, who turned 18 shortly after the Olympics, was on fire all year, making headlines every time she hit the water.

EARLY YEAR SUCCESS

McIntosh kicked off her year at the Pro Swim Series stop in Knoxville, where she set a new PSS Record and moved to world #1 in the women’s 200 IM (2:07.16), and she also secured wins in the 200 free (1:55.41) and 200 fly (2:05.73).

One month later at the Southern Zone Senior Championships in Orlando, McIntosh, who trains under coach Brent Arckey with the Sarasota Sharks in Florida, sent shockwaves around the swimming community when she beat Katie Ledecky head-to-head in the women’s 800 freestyle, handing the most dominant distance freestyler in history her first loss in the event in more than 13 years.

McIntosh’s time of 8:11.39 moved her to #2 all-time in the event behind Ledecky, breaking the Commonwealth and Canadian Records in the process. She added personal bests in the 50 free (25.54), 100 back (59.64) and 200 breast (2:27.23) at the meet.

CANADIAN OPEN & OLYMPIC TRIALS

In a tune-up meet for the Canadian Olympic Trials, McIntosh took on a busy program one month earlier at the Speedo Canadian Open in April.

She set personal best times in the 100 free (53.90) and 100 fly (57.19), and added wins in the 200 free (1:54.21, a season-best) and 200 IM (2:08.19). Her swim in the 200 free stood up as one of the fastest “in-season” ever.

McIntosh put on a masterclass at the Canadian Olympic Trials in May, as she went wire-to-wire with five wins in five events over seven days of racing.

After topping the women’s 400 free (3:59.06) and 200 free (1:53.69) during the first two days of racing, McIntosh had arguably the best swim of the year on Day 4, obliterating the field in the 400 IM and smashing her own world record in a time of 4:24.38.

The swim broke the world record of 4:25.87 she set at the 2023 Canadian Trials, which took down Katinka Hosszu‘s longstanding mark of 4:26.36 from 2016. With her swim at the Olympic Trials, McIntosh put herself a staggering 1.98 seconds faster than anyone else in history.

McIntosh finished the competition with wins in the 200 fly (2:04.33) and 200 IM (2:07.06), both season-bests to give her five individual events at the Olympics. However, due to a scheduling conflict, she opted to drop the 200 free from her Paris lineup.

THE OLYMPICS

All eyes were on McIntosh in Paris as she faced a tidal wave of pressure in Canada and heightened expectations in the sports world after a dominant couple of years after making her Olympic debut in Tokyo at the age of 14.

The 17-year-old managed to live up to the hype and then some, starting things off in the women’s 400 free, where she earned silver in a time of 3:58.37, finishing as the runner-up to world record holder and defending champion Ariarne Titmus (3:57.49) while topping bronze medalist Ledecky (4:00.86).

This swim came one year after McIntosh failed to reach the podium in the 400 free at the 2023 World Championships after having set the world record at the Canadian Trials—perhaps the nerves got the best of her in Fukuoka, but this swim was a sign that wasn’t going to be the case in Paris.

McIntosh ran the table from there. She was dominant on the way to gold medal victories in the women’s 400 IM (4:27.71) and 200 fly (2:03.03), the latter marking the 2nd-fastest swim ever and a new Olympic, World Junior and Commonwealth Record.

Then, everything came to a head in the 200 IM, where McIntosh met two other individual gold medalists in Paris, American Kate Douglass (200 breast) and Australian Kaylee McKeown (100/200 back), plus American Alex Walsh, the 2022 world champion in the event.

In an epic final that came down to the wire, McIntosh had the extra gear coming down the stretch, pulling away from Douglass to win gold in a time of 2:06.56, breaking the Olympic, World Junior and Commonwealth Records to rank #3 all-time.

That gave McIntosh three individual gold medals at the Games, the most of all female swimmers, and four individual medals tied her with Leon Marchand for the most among all swimmers.

McIntosh was also busy on the Canadian women’s relays, splitting 53.22 on the 4×100 free relay, leading off in 1:53.97 on the 4×200 free relay, and anchoring in 53.29 on the 4×100 medley relay, all of which finished 4th in Paris. Her lead-off time in the 4×200 free relay would’ve notably been good for bronze in the individual race.

McIntosh’s performance in Paris made her the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games, and she also tied Penny Oleksiak for most medals won at a single Games with four.

SHORT COURSE WORLDS

McIntosh closed out her year with a bang at the Short Course World Championships, opting to race three of her primary events—400 free, 200 fly, 400 IM—and one secondary race, the 200 back, while sitting out of some like the 200 free, 800 free and 200 IM where she would’ve been a contender for gold.

She was flawless in her three primary events, breaking world records en route to SC world titles in the women’s 400 free (3:50.25), 200 fly (1:59.32) and 400 IM (4:15.48).

Her swim in the 400 free broke Li Bingjie‘s world record by more than a second, her performance in the 200 fly erased the decade-old world record previously held by Mireia Belmonte, and then the 400 IM was a tour de force as she registered a stunning time of 4:15.48, obliterating Belmonte’s seven-year-old record of 4:18.94.

To close out her individual program McIntosh raced the 200 back, putting up a time of 1:59.96 in the final to win silver behind Regan Smith, who broke the world record. Although she was clear she was going for gold and wasn’t thrilled with her performance, McIntosh broke the World Junior and Canadian Records and became the seventh swimmer in history under the 2:00 barrier.

McIntosh added a bronze medal to her tally after splitting 51.81, the fastest on the Canadian team, as they won bronze in the women’s 4×100 free relay.

WORLD RANKINGS

Looking strictly at long course meters, McIntosh ranked 1st in the world in three events for the 2024 calendar year, and was in the top three in three more races. In total, she ranked in the top 30 in eight events, and was 36th and 63rd in two others.

McIntosh’s World Rankings, 2024 Calendar Year (LCM)

• Women’s 200 fly – 1st (2:03.03)
• Women’s 200 IM – 1st (2:06.56)
• Women’s 400 IM – 1st (4:24.38)
• Women’s 800 free – 2nd (8:11.39)
• Women’s 200 free – 3rd (1:53.69)
• Women’s 400 free – 3rd (3:58.37)
• Women’s 100 fly – 16th (57.19)
• Women’s 100 back – t-28th (59.64)
• Women’s 100 free – 36th (53.90)
• Women’s 200 breast – 63rd (2:27.23)

Beginning in 2025, McIntosh will no longer be eligible to break World Junior Records. She wraps up her eligibility as the owner of the World Junior Record in the LCM 200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM, and the SCM 400 free, 200 back, 200 fly and 400 IM.

There was no shortage of contenders for Female Swimmer of the Year in 2024, as three other women won double gold individually in Paris, but McIntosh winning three golds (and a silver) to go along with her triple gold/triple world record performance at Short Course Worlds sewed it up for her.

In December, McIntosh was announced as the winner of the Northern Star Award, voted by Canadian media for Canada’s top athlete in any sport for the year.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – Our 2023 Female Swimmer of the Year, McKeown had another phenomenal 12-month stretch in 2024, highlighted by defending her Olympic titles in the women’s 100 and 200 back. The 23-year-old tied the Olympic and Oceanian Record in the final of the 100 back in Paris, clocking 57.33 to top American Regan Smith (57.66), who had stolen Smith’s world record in the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials. McKeown then completed the double in the 200 back, setting a new Olympic Record of 2:03.73, and finished things out individually in Paris by winning bronze in the 200 IM. She walked away from the Games with five medals, tied for second-most among all athletes at the Games, having added a silver on the Aussie women’s 4×100 medley relay and a bronze on the mixed 4×100 medley relay. Prior to the Olympics, McKeown set new Australian Records in the 200 IM (2:06.99) and 400 IM (4:28.22) at the Australian Open Championships in April. She finished the calendar year ranked in the top two in the world in five events: 1st in the 50 and 200 back, and 2nd in the 100 back, 200 IM and 400 IM. Although she withdrew from Short Course Worlds, McKeown still broke a SCM world record in 2024, doing so in the 100 back at the Aussie SC Championships, where she clocked 54.56 to erase fellow Aussie Minna Atherton‘s five-year-old mark of 54.89.
• Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – Sjostrom had a magical performance at the Olympics, returning to the top step of the podium in incredible fashion in the women’s 100 free eight years after winning her first Olympic gold medal in the 100 fly in Rio. Initially noncommital to swimming the 100 free in Paris, the then 30-year-old Swede made it a late addition to her program in July, and then stormed to gold in the final in a time of 52.16, her fastest swim in seven years. Sjostrom’s post-race reaction said it all. “I mean, I came here for the 50 free,” Sjostrom said. “I never thought a 30-year-old woman would win [the 100 free].” She followed that up by winning gold in the 50 free, setting an Olympic Record in the semis (23.66) before topping the final in 23.71. Sjostrom also contributed to the Swedish women’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays that finished 5th and 7th, respectively, throwing in a 51.99 split in the 4×100 free prelims. Her Olympic success came after Sjostrom won double gold at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, claiming her third straight world title in the women’s 50 free (23.69) and her sixth straight in the women’s 50 fly (24.63). She finished the year ranked #1 in the world in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 fly.
• Katie Ledecky (USA) – Like McKeown, Ledecky successfully defended both Olympic titles she held coming into the year, winning the women’s 1500 free for the second straight time and then historically making it four in a row in the 800 free. After winning the 1500 free in its Olympic debut in Tokyo, Ledecky defended the title in Paris in a time of 15:30.02, marking a new Olympic Record and the 8th-fastest swim ever to give her the 20-fastest performances of all-time. In the 800 free, Ledecky held off Ariarne Titmus to win her fourth straight gold in 8:11.04, becoming the second swimmer in history to four-peat in an event at the Olympics. The other? Michael Phelps. Ledecky also won bronze in the 400 free, and added a silver medal on the U.S. women’s 4×200 free relay, giving her four for the competition and 14 Olympic medals in her career, which ties for 5th all-time among all athletes and 2nd among women. Her nine career Olympic gold medals ties for 2nd all-time with five other athletes, only trailing Phelps’ 23. In addition to her swims in the 400, 800 and 1500 free, Ledecky also went 1:54.97 in the 200 free at the San Antonio Pro Swim, ranking her 7th in the world in 2024.

Past Winners:

• 2023 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
• 2022 – Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 2021 – Emma McKeon (AUS)
• 2020 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
• 2019 – Regan Smith (USA)
• 2018 – Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 2017 – Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
• 2016 – Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 2015 – Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 2014 – Katie Ledecky (USA)
• 2013 – Katinka Hosszu (HUN)