Summer McIntosh Becomes Third Woman Ever Under 4:29 in 400 IM at U.S. Open, Sets World Junior Record
Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh has already become one of the best middle-distance freestylers in the world and the world champion in the 200-meter butterfly, but the event that is truly her domain is the 400 IM. In March, she became the third-fastest woman in history and only the sixth ever under 4:30, and in June, she added a world title in the event. Less than two months later, she lowered the world junior record to 4:29.01 in a golden swim at the Commonwealth Games.
Friday evening at the U.S. Open in Greensboro, N.C., McIntosh dropped her time even further as she joined Olympic gold medalists Katinka Hosszu and Ye Shiwen under 4:29. Over the first 100 meters of butterfly, McIntosh went out in 59.40, a full 4.5 seconds clear of the field and one-and-a-half seconds under world-record pace. She remained under the record split through backstroke as she turned in 2:08.20 at the halfway point before falling slightly off the pace in breaststroke.
But after covering the final two lengths in 1:01.15, McIntosh was able to hit the wall in 4:28.61. That knocked four tenths off her previous world junior record. The only swims faster are Hosszu’s world record (4:26.36), Ye’s gold-medal-winning time from the 2012 Olympics (4:28.43) and Hosszu’s prelims mark from the 2016 Olympics (4:28.58). The consistent improvement that the 16-year-old is showing makes her a real threat to take down the Hosszu world record.
McIntosh ended up annihilating the field by 13.24 seconds, and this was not a shabby group with Olympic silver medalist and World Championships bronze medalist Emma Weyant competing one lane away. Weyant ended up touching second in 4:41.85, while Kathryn Hazle ended up third in 4:47.56.
“I’m really happy overall with my race,” McIntosh said, according to a press release from Swimming Canada. “It’s still pretty early on in the season so I didn’t really know what to expect from it. It’s my first time racing long course this season and I’m really happy with that.”
This win was McIntosh’s first at the U.S. Open after she previously finished second in the 400 free in an epic race against Katie Ledecky, with both swimmers cracking the 4:00-barrier.
A singular talent – she will get stronger and continue to improve. The next generation…