Summer McIntosh Posts Big Time Drops in 100 Breast, 100 Fly at Orlando Sectionals

2023 SOUTHERN ZONE SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (ORLANDO)

Summer McIntosh is off to a blazing fast start to 2023.

The 16-year-old Canadian added two huge personal-best times to her tally in the 100-meter breaststroke and 100 butterfly at the Orlando Sectionals on Friday, one day after debuting with a new lifetime best in the 800 free (8:20.19) that ranks second in the world this season.

McIntosh began her evening with the 100 breast, where she clocked a 1:10.39 to shave nearly four seconds off her previous best from last May’s Mare Nostrum stop in Canet-en-Roussillon. That time was good enough for a slim victory ahead of Sarasota Sharks teammates Danica Aten (1:11.00) and Gracie Weyant (1:11.73). Aten, just 14 years old, dropped more than six seconds off her previous best to take over the top time this season by more than three seconds and move up to No. 30 all time in the girls’ 13-14 national age group (NAG) rankings.

McIntosh had just one event’s worth of rest after her 100 breast, but she still threw down another personal best in the 100 fly with a time of 57.92. That’s more than two seconds faster than her previous best from last summer’s World Championships, where she won the 200 fly while setting a new world junior record. Only Swedish standout Louise Hansson has been sub-58 in the event this season.

Top 2022-23 Performers, Women’s 100 Fly 

  1. Louise Hansson, 57.25
  2. Regan Smith, 57.65
  3. Hiroko Makino, 57.73
  4. Summer McIntosh, 57.92
  5. Ai Soma, 58.24

McIntosh triumphed in the 100 fly by more than two seconds as Laker Swimming 17-year-old Addison Reese, a Kentucky commit, placed second in 1:00.21. Reese shaved nearly a second off her previous best from last February.

Reese’s Laker Swimming teammate, 16-year-old Ryan Erisman, recorded a massive new lifetime best in the 400 IM to win the event and climb the NAG rankings in the process. Erisman reached the wall in 4:22.12, nearly seven seconds ahead of the field. He shattered his previous best from last summer by almost eight seconds, becoming the fastest 16-year-old this season and the No. 21 performer ever in the boys’ 15-16 NAG.

Other Day 2 Winners:

  • In the session-opening women’s 200 free, Gator Swim Club 16-year-old Lillie Nesty (1:59.37) held off Sarasota Sharks 18-year-old Michaela Mattes (1:59.72) for the title. It was Nesty’s first time breaking the two-minute barrier as she lowered her lifetime best from last July by nearly four seconds.
  • In the men’s 200 free, 18-year-old Tomas Koski posted a 1:49.63 to earn the victory while 15-year-old Ethan Ekk took second place in 1:52.82.
  • South Florida Aquatic Club 24-year-old Julio Horrego won the 100 breast in 1:03.23.
  • In the tightest finish of the day, Jupiter Dragons Swim Team 18-year-old Leif Bouwman (55.80) edged Azura Florida Aquatics 21-year-old Davidson Vincent by .01 seconds in the men’s 100 fly.
  • After just missing out on a 200 free victory, Mattes topped the podium in the women’s 400 IM with a time of 4:46.98, about a second ahead of 17-year-old Sarasota Sharks teammate Bailey O’Regan (4:48.19).
  • The Sarasota girls dominated the 400 free relay (3:46.97) and the Bolles School boys similarly cruised to victory with a 3:28.74 in the final event of the evening.

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Mike McCormack
1 year ago

Has any woman ever threatened 4:00 in the piecemeal (by 100m best times) 400 I.M.? I’d have to say ‘no’ in my ignorance of the deep history of the sport, but possibly Regan or Katinka? The breast would be the problem, wouldn’t it (except for Hosszu)? Summer’s getting there fast, y’all! It’s more than merely amazing.

Mike McCormack
Reply to  Mike McCormack
1 year ago

Emma?

Chris
1 year ago

she swims dirty fast

Jackson
1 year ago

Summer is the bomb!!

Tracy Kosinski
1 year ago

So excited for her to break her first WR! Looks like it’ll be the 400 IM 🙂

Anything is possible with Summer! She’s simply spectacular. She is definitely the most diverse swimmer of her generation!

🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦🔥

Riser
Reply to  ooo
1 year ago

By looking at that chart SM went from somewhere between 250-300 best time to 87th with her swim last night. It will be interesting to see how far she can continue to move up in the rankings over the next 18 months before Paris.

jpm49
Reply to  Riser
1 year ago

And without having to swim a 100 breaststroke just before!

Riser
1 year ago

The continued drops in the 100 breast and 100 fly times bodes well for her continued progression in both IM’s and 200 Fly.

The Real AJC
1 year ago

Nesty dropping time. If trajectory continues could be one to watch next year.

chickenlamp
Reply to  The Real AJC
1 year ago

And she just committed to Texas

Stephanie
1 year ago

Summer McIntosh in Fukuoka prediction:

200 IM gold🥇

400 IM gold 🥇

200 fly gold🥇

400 free silver🥈

And 3 relay medals

Summer McIntosh in Paris prediction:

200 IM gold🥇

400 IM gold🥇

200 fly gold🥇

400 free gold🥇

And 3 relay medals

Bo Swims
Reply to  Stephanie
1 year ago

4×200 Gold

Sub13
Reply to  Bo Swims
1 year ago

You reckon? MOC with a 1:54 flat lead off and Titmus with a 1:52 split would be pretty hard to beat

Jfhhfd
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

Depends on how Penny, Taylor and Rebecca Smith are… assuming Summer can get to Titmus level thats a 1:52,154,154,1:55

Bud
Reply to  Jfhhfd
1 year ago

Summer isn’t getting to Titmus level in the 200 by WCs. Maybe 1:53 high with a flying start.

jeff
Reply to  Bud
1 year ago

idk why this is being downvoted but considering Titmus is pretty much world record level in the 200 free right now, I very much doubt that that McIntosh will be at Titmus level by this summer. 1:54 low/1:53 high I can see, but Titmus is probably able to go 1:52 high flat start lol

Sub13
Reply to  Jfhhfd
1 year ago

Canada definitely has a formidable team for sure. Titmus is the only woman to ever split a 1:52 so I think it’s pretty generous to assume Summer will do the same by Paris, but I won’t say it’s impossible.

MOC’s flat start, plus Ariarne, Neale and Melverton best splits (all 4 legs swam 2022) is a 7:37.50 exactly.

If we give Summer a 1:53.50 lead off just for academic purposes, plus the best ever legs of Oleksiak (1:54.70), Ruck (1:54.44) and Smith (I’m giving her a 1:55.90 based on her great SCW split, but her fastest LCM split I could find was a 1:57 mid), you get a 7:38.54.

So yeah, definitely not saying Canada can’t win (this relay… Read more »

Jfhhfd
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

Best ever splits from Oleksiak is 1:54.36 (2019) Ruck 1:54.08 (2018), Smith 1:55.99 (2021)Its all on the swim Canada website if you want to check

Robbos
Reply to  Jfhhfd
1 year ago

You are sleeping on MOC, she has the chance to match both Summer & Titmus going forward, she is 1.54 flat start as an 18 year old, she has much more improvement in her.

Riser
Reply to  Robbos
1 year ago

MOC is one of the better young talents around and her versatility and back end speed is a real asset for a very strong and deep Aussie relay team.

Sub13
Reply to  Robbos
1 year ago

I agree to an extent. She definitely showed some incredible times last year, but she also showed a little inconsistency. Her 100 was pretty good, getting below 52.85 five times, but she never got within a tenth of her trials time for the rest of the year. In the 200 she went 1:54 flat, 1:54.9 and 1:55.2 as her 3 best times, showing there was quite a bit of variance.

I think hoping her to repeat her 1:54 flat is pretty good. I’m definitely not expecting significant time drops from her again this year.

Sub13
Reply to  Jfhhfd
1 year ago

Ah true. I read the wrong Nuoto list and used the flat start times for Ruck and Oleksiak. Smith’s split wasn’t on any list because it’s not top 100 all time but let’s use her Tokyo split that I missed.

Making those adjustments, Canada is a 7:37.93.

Again, that’s half a second off Australia’s times from 2022, and assuming massive improvement from Summer and assuming Ruck and Oleksiak repeat their PB splits which they haven’t been close to for 4-5 years. It also assumes no improvement on any of Australia’s 2022 legs,

Canada definitely has a shot but the evidence certainly suggests Australia should be considered the favourites.

Last edited 1 year ago by Sub13
"we've got a boilover!"
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

Oleksiak was 154 to win Bronze in ’21, so you know she can drop that on a relay, especially if the Relay is truly ‘in it’ come her leg.

Ruck returning to 154 level would be remarkable come back for her, but not yet forseable. She has been 156 flat start so a 155 split is not out of question.

Smith went that 155.9 once as you mentioned, salivating our hopes at the time with the “4th” best at 155! She’s been awesome SC but not LC since, so we’ll have to see.

Canada should have a national “155 project” to get any one or 2 rising teenagers down to that level to take advantage of Penny’s prime and Summer’s… Read more »

commonwombat
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

W4X200 is, quite frankly, the relay from hell when it comes to predicting. One can put forward very cogent pro/con arguments for all the 4 major players …… and yes, I still do include CHN.

Should SM make the next step to relay “monster” status; as is suspected to be the case; then CAN will most likely step up from their usual “third wheel” status to making this a very clear 3 way slug-fest. Their one remaining major issue is their 4th leg where Sanchez’s loss is a clear hit. Maybe Smith can consistently step up or maybe a next generation like Jansen can fill the gap.

At present, it still looks fairly line-ball between AUS & USA. The state… Read more »

Lisa
Reply to  commonwombat
1 year ago

I would still say that Canada at best in 4×200 is bronze right now and yes I agreed that right now it’s between USA and Australia with advantage to Australia because they are world record holder and China could deliver if they could performed like in Tokyo.

commonwombat
Reply to  Lisa
1 year ago

I have it as line-ball USA v AUS. Over a series of races, the results are likely to split fairly close to evenly; probably somethng like 3-2 either way

CAN = current 3rd seed due to lesser depth and current question mark over 4th member. Should SM attain Titmus/Ledecky quality (capacity to produce 1.53 leg or better) then they move up.

CHN = the “catchers”. Do not necessarily possess the biggest hitters but will generally be thereabouts and, as was the case in Tokyo, be in position to profit when the favourites don’t bring their A game.

"we've got a boilover!"
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

True. Aussie has not only the raw speed but also the depth. Their 5th or 6th or 7th could take a final spot if one of top 4 a bit off.

Canada now and for past 5 years has had ‘hope’. 3 of the top 15 200 free stylers in history. Penny, Taylor and Summer 154s.

“If” Penny can swim a big 154 again when it counts as she’s proven to do.
“If” Taylor can come anywhere near her past form, 155 even.
“If” Rebecca can go another 155.9 or better in finals like she did in Tokyo prelims. Or Ella or other youngster can get down to that speed.
“If” Summer can be the it… Read more »

Teddy
Reply to  Stephanie
1 year ago

She could get silver in the 800 if she were to swim it too, but that’s too much and she won’t

Hooked on Chlorine
Reply to  Stephanie
1 year ago

Titmus will win the 400 free. Again.

Deal with it.

Bob
Reply to  Hooked on Chlorine
1 year ago

No she won’t…….deal with it.

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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