Summer McIntosh was a whisker away from breaking a third world record in under a week at the Canadian Swimming Trials, posting the second-fastest 200m butterfly in history.
The 18-year-old posted a time of 2:02.26 in Tuesday’s race, just fractionally off Liu Zige’s world record of 2:01.81 set back in 2009.
Previously, no swimmer had gotten within a second of Zige’s long-standing mark, which was set just before the ban on super suits and had long been considered untouchable.
McIntosh, who finished more than seven seconds ahead of the swimmer in second, has already set world records in the 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley (IM) this week.
It’s fair to say McIntosh is putting together one of swimming’s all-time great meets.
“I actually rate this race higher than my other ones,” McIntosh said, per Olympics.com. “I would almost rate it higher than the 200 IM just because this world record is the hardest one to get in my personal opinion.
“Really happy with the 2:02 low. Going into tonight I didn’t know if it was possible because, in the 200 fly, I really like to have someone in my face so overall really happy with the time.
“I was kind of upset with myself with the finish, but I’m happy with the race overall. I’ll have to look over my splits, but I felt strong throughout so pretty pleased with it.”
McIntosh has also posted the third-fastest 800m freestyle in history at these trials – which are used to determine which swimmers qualify for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships – and is slated to compete in the 400m individual medley, the race where she already holds the world record.
The teenager was actually 0.01 seconds ahead of Zige’s world record time after 150m, but was unable to keep pace down the stretch.
Regardless of whether Zige’s world record is broken, it’s testament to McIntosh’s remarkable speed and skill that it now seems like a realistic target.
“The fact that I’m knocking on the door of that world record is really, really encouraging because that’s the one world record I never thought I’d even come close to,” McIntosh added.
“That is out-of-this-world fast so now to be pretty close to it is pretty wild, so I’m pretty happy. I really fought on that last 50, but I can just tighten up the turns, tighten up the under-waters and I’ll be good.
“I think world records are meant to be broken. At some point, maybe I can get closer and closer to it. I think it’s a great benchmark, great motivation so if I were ever to break it that would be pretty special.”
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