Reigning World Champ Summer McIntosh Withdraws from 200 Fly at Commonwealth Games
Summer McIntosh, the Canadian teen and reigning world champion in the women’s 200 butterfly, withdrew from that event at the Commonwealth Games.
Swimming Canada made the announcement on Wednesday, saying it was in consultation with team coaches.
“With the world championships and Commonwealth Games running back-to-back this year, it’s a very intense workload for our swimmers, especially one as young as Summer. The schedule at these Games is compressed into six days, Summer is adding the 200-m individual medley to her program for development purposes, and she will be an important contributor on relays as well,” Swimming Canada High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson said in the release. “She’s made the decision to withdraw from the 200-m butterfly with our full support. This will allow her to focus on the other events on her program here, and we will continue to support her on her path to Paris 2024.”
McIntosh won gold at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest in the 200 fly, clocking a Canadian record and world junior record of 2:05.20 in the final, dominating by nearly a second. Only one other Commonwealth swimmer, Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers, made the final.
McIntosh is still entered in the 400 individual medley, which she also claimed the world title in, and the 400 freestyle at the Commonwealth Games, which start this week in Birmingham, England. She won silver in the 400 free at Worlds.
Given the absences in the Canadian squad – veteran standbys Penny Oleksiak, Sydney Pickrem and Taylor Ruck passed on the meet, while Kayla Sanchez has switched nationalities to represent the Philippines – there are openings in the relays. McIntosh will likely swim on the 800 free relay, where she set a world junior record in the 200 free off the front in Budapest. She probably will get a chance on the 400 free relay as well.
