Summer McIntosh has potentially revealed her event lineup for 2024 Canadian Trials that will take place from May 13-19. The event lineup was revealed in a release with one of McIntosh’s sponsors, Ninepoint Partners, who announced their sponsorship in January.
If the published schedule holds up, then her biggest event choice would be opting for the 200 IM over the 800 freestyle.
While her coaches declined to confirm the lineup, the listing seems like a plausible list for the teenage phenom.
McIntosh’s Proposed event lineup for Canadian Trials:
- 400 freestyle
- 100 backstroke
- 400 IM
- 200 butterfly
- 200 IM
McIntosh had two potential conflicts (with a few more potentially as well) as the 200 IM final and 800 freestyle final were back-to-back event finals on August 3rd, the second to last day of competition. Another potential conflict would have been the final of the 400 IM and the final of the 200 freestyle. Those were about an hour apart from each other. McIntosh will avoid both doubles with her event lineup that she has set for Canadian Trials.
Opting to do the 200 IM brings us one swimmer closer to the race of the year as Kaylee McKeown of Australia has already committed to the event. Other potential swimmers in the event in Paris include Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass of the US as well as Yu Yiting of China.
McIntosh currently leads the world in the 800 freestyle and is ranked #3 in the world this season in the 200 freestyle. McIntosh did compete in the 800 freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics as she finished 11th but will not swim the event in Paris. She instead will look to contend for gold in the 200 IM where she is #3 in the world so far this season.
With her event selection of the 400 IM over 200 freestyle, McIntosh looks to win the event at another major international meet after winning the 2022 and 2023 World Championship titles in the 400 IM. She also was on the podium in the 200 freestyle at 2023 Worlds as she finished 3rd.
McIntosh will most likely have a shot at swimming a time in the 200 freestyle, whether that is off a flat start of relay start, though as she will most likely swim on the 4×200 freestyle relay. That relay is just over an hour after the final of the 200 fly in Paris.
Perhaps her most interesting event selection is the 100 backstroke as she is currently 18th in the event in the World this season with a 59.64 that she swam in March at the Southern Zone Senior Championships. That was her first time ever under the 1:00 mark and she swam under the 1:00 mark again just over two weeks ago at the Canadian Open. Fellow Canadians Kylie Maase and Ingrid Wilm sit at #6 and #9 in the event in the world this season respectively. McIntosh has shown she has the endurance in backstroke as she is #4 in the world in the 200 back this season with a 2:06.81. This could, however, be a bid to prove that she should have a spot on the Canadian 400 medley relay in addition to likely assured bids on the 800 free relay and 400 free relay.
At this point i believe that SwimSwam could put out an article called Summer McIntosh with the content of the article being only a picture of her and the text being her name and the article would still get over 100 comments
I need Yanyan to do this
I think everyone needs to remind themselves, SHES 17
Swimming the 200 and 400 IM, 200 fly, 400 free and 100 back is still EXTRAORDINARY for someone her age. And also the fact that the events she is swimming are some of the most demanding events to swim.
And everyone is saying she is backing out of versing ledecky in the 800 when (although i do think she could’ve won the event) she will verse her in the 400 as well as Titmus who just broke the WR.
The 2IM is also another great example of this versing (arguably) prime Kaylee McKeown who swam a 2:06.99 at Aussie championships, as well as Douglass and Walsh who are going into… Read more »
I’ve read all these comments and don’t see “everyone” saying she is backing out of anything
I haven’t seen anyone criticise her for dropping the 200 or 800 free. Just people saying they would have liked to see the swim. I think you’re reading into it a bit too much
i love this lineup for her she is set up better for 400 free this time compared to last year at Worlds
Day 1 400 free Day 3 400IM
worlds last year Day 1 400 Free Day 8 400IM
with 200’s in between
Literally no one said she’s backing out of anything.
People recognize her extraordinarily talent and she’s a generational talent and are hoping she’s swimming in some event that people think will take her to the next level of greatness.
Surely she won’t swim 100m back she is behind Regan and mckewon by some time and be lucky to qualify for the national team. If she doesn’t swim 800m Free robs us from a another great race.
Robs you?? Gimme a break. She’s not beholden to anyone to swim anything.
The Canadian taxpayer
This Canadian taxpayer’s eyes have rolled so far of of their head that they’ve dropped onto the floor.
of course the fun of this site is speculation & what if. But perhaps, just perhaps, her team & her know what they are doing 🤷🏻♂️. Her world championship golds & other medals would seem to be evidence this is possibly true. 😉
A lot of people in this site are still unaware that Summer McIntosh is as much a Generational Talent as Ledecky, Egerszegi, Evans, Caulkins, Gould.
She is the second fastest swimmer ever in her 6th best event, 800 free, where she seldom swims it and was the first swimmer to beat Ledecky in 800 free in 12 years!
She is the only swimmer, male or female, who broke both 400 free and IM WRs.
At the age of SIXTEEN yo, she defended world titles in 200 fly and 400 IM.
Her only blemish is that 400 free in Fukuoka. She was clearly overcome by pressure of being WR holder and the favorite and her first final of the meet. But… Read more »
If she’s second fastest in history in the 800 then by definition it isn’t her 6th best event. Technically 200 fly is her 6th best event where she’s ranked equal 5th.
I mean, she’s not going to even swim it. She’s swimming the other 5 individual events.
It’s like 400 IM is Kaylee McKeown’s fifth best event even though she’s the third fastest swimmer ever in 400 IM.
The same logic applies for McKeown. The 400 IM is her 4th best event (behind the 3 she holds the WR in).
It is very reasonable to think that McIntosh might not beat Ledecky in the 800. I personally think it’s a 50/50.
Also, I don’t think anyone here is unaware that she is a generational talent, she just plain and simple isn’t unbeatable.
“Also, I don’t think anyone here is unaware that she is a generational talent, she just plain and simple isn’t unbeatable”
Obviously you haven’t read much comments sections.
1. Most people strongly think Summer won’t beat Ledecky in 800
2. Many people still think Regan Smith will beat Summer in 200 fly.
3. Many people still think Kate Douglas will beat Summer in 200 IM.
Which is weird if they are aware Summer is a generational talent.
Even Titmus who is not a Generational Talent beat Ledecky in 400 free in Tokyo.
Those people also never believed Titmus would beat Ledecky in Tokyo. Go back and read those comments if you don’t believe me
When pointed out that… Read more »
My brother in Christ, people thinking that someone might beat Summer means that they think she is beatable, because she is, not that she isn’t a generational talent.
We’ll see if Kate Douglas and Regan Smith beat Summer in Paris.
I’ve bookmarked this page.
Also by the way, I’m not a Christian.
Dude, bookmark all you want, it doesn’t make her any more of a gold medalist in the 200 and 400 free in Fukuoka 2023. Those races prove that she is beatable, which means that thinking that someone might place ahead of her isn’t unreasonable. And that won’t change whatever the outcome of her races be in Paris.
Greg P, are you family??? For what it’s worth, she will basically be 18 at the Olympics btw. And, she’s never won an Olympic medal yet. She’s got lots of swims to go before she could be close to swimmers like Ledecky, Caulkins, Hossu, Sjostrom, Schoenmaker, etc. in terms of longevity, records, medals and results time and time and time again at the highest levels of international competition. Of course she’s a very good swimmer but a long way to go before she’s in the same sentence as that group (and a few others as I am sure SS readers will mention). I hope for her to have great swims at Paris but let’s ease off the pedal here.
She,s a very good swimmer…….gee that’s big of you..she,s a great swimmer.Basically 18? No she,ll be 17 at the Olympics.If she had been born in July or June you could have said she,s barely 18 but you’re gaslighting here.You hope she has great swims in Paris?..I,ll have to call bullshit on that one.
You say Michael Phelps is a Generational Talent but also that he will lose a 200 fly at the Olympics to an African??
Both things cannot be true
“to an African”
Hmm, interesting way of phrasing it.
Also, this doesn’t make much sense.
She is a generational talent (agree of course) mainly because she is so versatile. Doesn’t mean she can’t be beaten in any particular event. Personally I think Summer has better chances in 200 fly than 200 IM but all of those will be tough, she is massive favorite only in 400 IM
I’m going to have to side with SnailSpace on this one. Someone can be a generational talent and still be beatable or beaten in their best events. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Someone doesn’t have to consistently win every single race at every competition to be considered a generational talent.
I think most people would agree she is a generational talent. It doesn’t mean she can’t be beaten in some events. Even Michael Phelps occasionally got beat. He was arguably one of the best back strokers in the world but Piersol usually (barely) beat him, for example.
I would argue. But the point is that there are plenty of examples of him getting beaten in events where he was right at the top.
Backstroke was just one example of course.
But for a little while Phelps could legitimately claim to be one of the best backstrokers in the world. He never dominated backstroke the way he dominated 400IM or 200 fly, but he was up there.
At one point, Peirsol’s WR in the 100 back was something like 0.01 faster than Phelps best time. That was ages ago so I don’t quite remember the year. But this was pre-supersuits when the WR was around 53.0.
As a fan, I’m sad that she’s not swimming the 800 free, challenging the female GOAT at her per event like Phelps did by racing Thorpe in Athens
Unless she throws down a 2:06 mid or faster in the 200IM at Canadian trials to clearly differentiate herself from the competition, I also think it’s a mistake if the goal is maximising Olympic medals.
She’s still the favourite in the 200IM but I’d say it’s a 35% chance at gold given her competition is McKeown (25%), Douglas (25%) and a RESTED Walsh (15%) (let alone all the others hovering around 2:07/2:08) and there’s a slim (maybe 10%) chance she misses the medals entirely (like in Fukuoka’s 400free)
Whereas if she… Read more »
I completely agree with you, in my opinion she has less chance of winning the 200im than the 800, because there are many more girls who have a chance of winning the 200im than the 800. Moreover, she rarely does the 800m, know she arrives and do 8:11, it’s amazing, I think her last one was about a year ago and wasn’t under 8:20. Also, can someone tell me the last time Ledecky went under 8:11. I can be wrong !
Iunno, it seems like it would be a poor idea for Canada to have Summer swim the freestyle relays, who would only have a narrow chance of medaling… and tiring her out and risk her chances at individual golds.
I still have nightmares over Sjostrom who had to swim all relays prelims and finals, plus 3 rounds of 200 free and massive battle vs Ledecky in the final. She was so spent that she didn’t qualify for 50 free final!!
I really hope they don’t swim summer in the prelims as well. If they can’t qualify for the finals without her, they won’t win a medal with her
As a fan/spectator, I wished she chose 800 free over 200 IM.
Without McIntosh in 200 IM, we are still guaranteed great race with Douglas/Walsh/McKeown/Yu
Without McIntosh in 800 free, it will be a snoozefest
With McIntosh in 800free, we’ll watch 2 amazing race in 200IM and 800 free.
McIntosh did the best thing for her, she has a much better chance at gold in the 200im. That being said she’s also much more likely to miss the podium, although I don’t see it happening even with McKeown Walsh Douglass and Yiting. Plus she’ll get lots of rest between her other races and that as it’s on one of the last days.
This is not her final event selection is it?
If it’s her event selection for trials then it excludes her from swimming the 800 in Paris because she doesn’t have the OQT.