History on the Line: Summer McIntosh and the Chase for Five World Records

Summer McIntosh has had an incredible few years.

In 2024, she was a three-time individual Olympic champion (women’s 200 Fly, 200/400 IM) and won silver in a fourth event (400 free).

In 2025, she was even more spectacular — setting three world records in five days during Canadian Trials and then winning four individual World titles (400 free, 200 fly, 200/400 IM) and bronze in a fifth (800 free). Those four wins weren’t just in dominating fashion; she very nearly broke the infamous-or-legendary (depending on your perspective) supersuited record in that 200 fly.

It’s worth taking a minute to try to get some perspective on McIntosh’s resume so far. Very few people have ever won at least three individual events at a single Olympics (11, although Michael Phelps did it twice) or four individual events at a single LC Worlds (four).

However, let’s instead discuss the records. McIntosh currently holds three long course world records: the women’s 200 IM (2:05.70), 400 IM (4:23.65), and 400 free (3:54.18). In the modern era (which I’m arbitrarily defining as starting in 1968), only 25 swimmers have ever broken world records in three different individual long course events. Of those, three never held them all at the same time (Shirley Babashoff, Barbara Krause, and Grant Hackett). If we look at the longest time that a swimmer has held at least three individual world records at the same time, we get this table:

Notably on this chart, Phelps has two very long streaks that are separated by a single day — he lost the 100 fly world record to Milorad Cavic on July 31st, 2009, only to get it back the next day on August 1st. So he did hold at least three individual records on every calendar day from June 29, 2003, to July 24, 2019 — just not quite continuously.

Sarah Sjostrom has to hold her three records for another 551 days to pass the longer of Phelps’ streaks — that would happen on July 15, 2027. Notably, though, even summing both of Phelps’ streaks is still shorter than Janet Evans‘ 18-year stretch.

McIntosh is quickly working her way up this list. Her three records are very safe. But let’s talk about her other events. She is not even two tenths of a second away (2:01.99) from Liu Zige’s record in the 200 fly (2:01.81). It was not that long ago that I thought that record would never go down — and suddenly it’s only a matter of time. If McIntosh does break it (and you can bet I am rooting very hard for her to do so), she would be on a very short list of people who have broken four individual world records (9) and even fewer (8 — all but Tim Shaw) who have held four individual world records concurrently:

Speaking of records that we all thought were untouchable, we have to talk about the 800 free (another event in which she is the #2 performer in history). There have been seventeen sub-8:10 swims in history, thirteen of them by Katie Ledecky. The other four were all in 2025: McIntosh three times (an 8:09.86 in February, 8:07.29 at Worlds, and 8:05.07 at Canadian Trials) and Lani Pallister once (the 8:05.98 at Worlds).

Suddenly, even that record is in jeopardy. It’s not like Ledecky will give it up easily, nor that McIntosh is the only threat to it. But were McIntosh to break this record too, then she would join the even smaller set of people who have broken individual world records in *five* events. That list is Mark Spitz (men’s 100/200 fly, 100/200/400 free), Shane Gould (women’s 100/200/400/800/1500 free and 200 IM), Michael Phelps (men’s 200 free, 100/200 fly, 200/400 IM), and Kornelia Ender (women’s 100/200 free, 100 back, 100 fly, 200 IM).

Of those who held at least five records at the same time?

Note that in the table above, Ender broke the world record in the women’s 200 IM on June 5, 1976, at the East German Championships, but lost her world record in the 100 back on the same day to Ulrike Richter. Although it’s not fully clear which event happened first, since Richter broke the 100 back record leading off the 400 medley relay, we can presume Ender briefly held five world records simultaneously, even if it was less than an hour.

Only Shane Gould has broken the world record in six individual events. Even that feat somehow seems within the realm of possibility for McIntosh. In her sixth-best event, McIntosh is the #5 performer all-time (1:53.65 in the 200 free). Her seventh best event would probably be the 200 back, in which she is merely ranked 30th all-time (2:06.81). Somehow, I doubt that will last either. Will  McIntosh break the world record in the 200 fly, 200 free, and 800 free at some point in her career? Obviously, we don’t know. All three just seem inherently unlikely. But with the last few years that she’s had, I’m not about to start rooting against her. I certainly can’t wait to find out what happens next.