Summer McIntosh Named Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year

Add Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year to Summer McIntosh‘s long list of honors in 2023.

McIntosh was announced as the winner of the award, which is voted on annually by members of the Canadian press, on Wednesday, marking the first swimmer to be recognized since Penny Oleksiak in 2016.

After a remarkable year that included setting two world records in the women’s 400 free (3:56.08) and 400 IM (4:25.87) at the Canadian Trials in the spring, and then defending both of her world titles in the 400 IM and 200 fly at the World Championships in the summer, McIntosh received 46 percent of the votes cast (24 out of 52).

“I’m very honored to have it and it’s just really cool,” McIntosh said, according to the Canadian Press.

“What I’m most proud of is just how much I’ve learned about myself and kind of how much I’ve gained from each experience,” she said.

“Going into big meets like a world championship, I don’t really have exact expectations of myself especially when it comes to placement or medals, but I definitely tried to just reach my full potential in each one of my races and I think I did that for the most part.”

McIntosh spoke on how she was able to rebound from a disappointing finish in the 400 free in Fukuoka, missing the podium in fourth after breaking the world record earlier in the year, to have a successful remainder of the meet that included bronze medals in the 200 free and 400 medley relay to go along with her victories in the 200 fly and 400 IM.

“I needed to learn how to get back up just after a race that I wasn’t happy with,” she said.

“Mentally and physically repairing myself and getting ready for the next race was super-important. That was my first race of the meet. I had lots of other opportunities to do well so I kind of just put it behind me and kept moving forward.”

Having only turned 17 in August, McIntosh didn’t see her record-breaking swims coming this year, having dropped a significant chunk of time in both 400-meter events to produce the fastest swims ever at the Trials.

“This time last year, I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d break two world records or previous world records. I think it’s still a bit surreal to be honest,” she said. “That just kind of comes back to trying to just keep my head down and keep working and not focus too much on records like that, but it’s a really cool part and kind of a timestamp in history.”

In addition to her four World Championship medals and two world record-breaking performances, McIntosh also finished the year ranked in the top three in the world in five individual events, including sitting #1 in the 200 IM, an event she didn’t even race in Fukuoka.

“Summer McIntosh is simply the best and is achieving unbelievable results at an incredibly young age,” Whitehorse Star sports editor Morris Prokop said on his ballot.

Maggie MacNeil, who won individual silver in the 100 fly at the World Championships, was the second-highest vote-getter at 23 percent, with her five-gold, seven-medal haul at the Pan Am Games also playing a large role in her receiving nearly a quarter of the votes.

McIntosh and MacNeil dominated the voting, with tennis star Leylah Fernandez and hammer throw world champion Camryn Rogers tying for third with eight percent of votes.

The 2022 award went to ice hockey player Marie-Philip Poulin, while Fernandez won in 2021 and soccer legend Christine Sinclair was the 2020 recipeint.

Along with Oleksiak in 2016, Phyllis Dewar (1934), Irene Strong (1949), Marilyn Bell (1954, 1955), Mary Stewart (1961, 1962), Elaine Tanner (1966), Wendy Cook (1974), Nancy Garapick (1975) and Cindy Nicholas (1977) have also won the award as swimmers.

The men’s award, won by NBA player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this year, was last won by a swimmer in 1992, when Mark Tewksbury claimed it.