Paris Olympics, Day 6 Finals: Summer McIntosh Crushes Second-Fastest Time Ever, Olympic Record For 200 Fly Triumph

Summer McIntosh after winning Olympic gold in the women's 200 butterfly -- Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics, Day 6 Finals: Summer McIntosh Crushes Second-Fastest Time Ever, Olympic Record For 200 Fly Triumph

There was one race of significance when Summer McIntosh cracked. Entering the World Championships final of the 400 freestyle in 2023 as the world-record holder, McIntosh never reached her preferred pace and ended up falling entirely off the podium. But was she rattled? Of course not. This day one disappointment was quickly remedied with an individual bronze and two golds in her remaining events.

Already in her fourth global-level competition but still short of her 18th birthday, McIntosh has been reliably brilliant in every other moment with medals on the line. She is not undefeated in World Championships or Olympic finals, but she consistently comes through to match or exceed any reasonable expectations. Such was the case earlier this week in Paris, when McIntosh won a strong silver behind Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free or when she dominated the 400 IM final.

Now, McIntosh has done it again in the 200 butterfly, holding off a stellar final turn from American rival Regan Smith to secure her second Olympic gold medal. In the process, McIntosh smashed her lifetime best by a full second, recording a time of 2:03.03 for the second-fastest performance in history.

“It means the world, especially in that event. I’ve always loved the 200 fly growing up. It’s also just fun and such an enjoyable race,” McIntosh said. “I’m really happy with the time, even though I definitely think I had 2:02 in me. I think my finish was a little bit weird. But I can never complain about a best time, especially by that much.”

China’s Zhang Yufei, the gold medalist in the event three years ago, was out under world-record pace at the 50-meter mark, but McIntosh and Smith never let the Chinese veteran get too far ahead. McIntosh took over the lead on the third length by eight tenths, and she held on for gold despite Smith’s spirited closing effort. In the process, McIntosh broke the Olympic record of 2:03.86 that Zhang set three years ago in Tokyo.

“In fly, it’s kind of hard to see people sometimes, but tonight I could kind of feel out where I was,” McIntosh said. “At the 125 mark, I hadn’t even started trying in the race yet. I was really, really controlling it as much as possible. Usually I go out a bit faster, but I don’t know, for whatever reason, I decided to take it home as best as possible. Overall, it worked out.”

Smith won silver in 2:03.84, her second consecutive Olympic silver in the event. She knocked three hundredths off the American record she set last year and becoming history’s fourth-fastest performer behind China’s Liu Zige, McIntosh and Australia’s Jessicah Schipper.

Zhang took bronze in 2:05.09. Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers and Denmark’s Helena Rosendahl Bach tied for fourth in 2:07.11, with 17-year-old American Alex Shackell taking sixth (2:07.73).

World Record: Liu Zige, China – 2:01.81 (2009)
Olympic Record: Zhang Yufei, China – 2:03.86 (2021)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Zhang Yufei, China – 2:03.86

Summer Mcintosh — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

McIntosh is the first female to win multiple individual gold medals this week, and she joins French star Leon Marchand as the only swimmers to win three individual medals this week, with Marchand having stormed to gold in the 400 IM, 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. And just like her French counterpart, McIntosh is likely to add a fourth medal as she concludes her individual program in the 200 IM, an event in which she is considered a co-favorite for gold.

Swimming many different events over the course of the Games, McIntosh has required some significant focus to manage one event after another. Even after her 200 fly final, she had to quickly reset, forget about the golden individual performance and prepare to race with her Canadian teammates on the 800 free relay.

“It’s a lot more simple than probably people think behind the scenes,” McIntosh said of her process. “All I’m doing is eating and sleeping when I’m swimming. Just keep it simple, try to rest my brain as much as I do my body. That’s kind of what works best for me to prepare for my following races.”

Smith reached the medal podium for the second time this week, having previously taken silver behind Kaylee McKeown in the 100 backstroke, and fifth time in her career, with further chances to come in the 200 backstroke, women’s 400 medley relay and possibly the mixed 400 medley relay. The 22-year-old actually entered the race with a quicker best time than McIntosh, having broken into 2:03-territory in June 2023, but McIntosh has consistently beaten Smith head-to-head, including in World Championships finals in 2022 and 2023. She did the same here, even as Smith eclipsed her own best time.

Zhang won gold in this event three years ago but has made little impact on the 200 fly in the time since, falling to third at the 2022 Worlds and then scratching the race at the 2023 global meet to concentrate on sprints and relays. She has maintained more consistency in the 100-meter race, her bronze earlier this week securing her second consecutive Olympic medal in the race, and she also helped China’s 400 free relay to bronze on the opening night of the Olympics.

But so far, the star of this women’s team is McIntosh. Others could join her as multi-event winners, including McKeown, Katie Ledecky and Sarah Sjostrom, but perhaps McIntosh upstages them all with another gold, maybe even leading Canada to a relay medal before this week is complete. This Olympics is her second but the first with McIntosh established among the sport’s mega-stars, and she has come through.

“A lot of the times I do very well at big meets like this is just because I can feed off the crowd and knowing my family’s up there and being able to represent Canada, it’s such an honor, and I always want to make my country as proud as possible,” McIntosh said. “I wouldn’t call it nerves. Day one I get the most nervous because there’s a lot of anticipation, but I’ve definitely learned from that from the last World Championships. I would say instead of nerves, I just get adrenaline and anticipation.”

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