Summer McIntosh Shatters Own Canadian Record with 8:05.07 800 FR (#3 Performance All-Time)

2025 CANADIAN SWIMMING TRIALS

• Saturday, June 7 – Thursday, June 12, 2025
• Victoria, British Columbia
• Victoria Saanich Commonwealth Place
• LCM (50 meters)
• World Championship Selection Criteria
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1

WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – TIMED FINALS

• World Record: 8:04.12 – Katie Ledecky, USA (2025)
• Canadian Record: 8:09.96 – Summer McIntosh(2025)
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Standard: 8:34.62
• Canadian World Juniors Standard: 8:48.68

RESULTS:

1. Summer McIntosh – 8:05.07 (CANADIAN RECORD)
2. Ella Cosgrove – 8:35.72
3. Mabel Zavaros – 8:39.67
4. Emma Finlin – 8:42.86
5. Tori Meklensek – 8:53.02
6. Naomi Mynott – 8:55.20
7. Julia Strojnowska – 8:58.62
8. Laila Oravsky – 8:59.54

Summer McIntosh is on fire at the Canadian Trials in Victoria. After breaking the World Record in the women’s 400 free last night with a 3:54.18, McIntosh competed in the 800 free tonight, where she shattered her own Canadian Record.

McIntosh swam an 8:05.07, which took nearly 5 seconds off her own Canadian Record mark of 8:09.96, which she swam in February of this year. On top of the Canadian Record, McIntosh’s race tonight marks the 3rd-fastest performance ever, behind only Katie Ledecky‘s 8:04.12 World Record, which was set in early May, and Ledecky’s 8:04.79, which was swum in 2016 and stood as the World Record in the event for almost 9 years.

McIntosh put together a great race, holding up better on the back half than she previously has. She was 4:01.17 at the 400m turn, which was actually faster than Ledecky’s WR split (4:01.78). McIntosh then managed to come home in 4:03.90 tonight, which was, of course, slower than Ledecky’s back half split, but was still a marked improvement over her previous 800s. For example, when McIntosh swam her 8:09.96 back in February, she was out in 4:02.15 at the 400 and came home in 4:07.81 on the back half. That means she was nearly a second faster on the front half of the race tonight, but the vast majority of her improvement came in the back half of the race.

Of course, now we’ll be waiting eagerly to find out if McIntosh will opt to race the 800 free at the World Championships in Singapore this summer, which she hasn’t done historically. We don’t know whether or not she’ll keep this event for her schedule, however, we swim fans can selfishly hope she does, because it would present a situation we haven’t seen before. McIntosh is the first and only swimmer to rise to Ledecky’s level in the 800 free so far, and getting to see these two superstars go head-to-head would be spectacular.