SINGAPORE鈥擳here were times this week 鈥 three, to be exact 鈥 when Summer McIntosh could be found in the pool at the Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy hotel. It鈥檚 maybe 40 feet long, rectangular, not great for laps. But the goal was to get the 18-year-old superstar in the water, to work on technique rather than take the 20- to 30-minute bus ride to the world championship pool to fight for space, then a bus back. It was a way to preserve energy in a punishing week.
What McIntosh attempted here was grand, and both her own greatness and Katie Ledecky鈥檚 invincibility almost masked the grandiosity of it, the audacity. Only Michael Phelps had ever won five individual golds at a world championship: in 2007, which was the final-stage ascent to his eight-gold masterpiece at Beijing 2008. So McIntosh chose the hardest event she could win as her fifth race, the 800-metre freestyle, and painted five of her nails gold. When she and coach Fred Vergnoux arrived in Singapore their luggage was on carousel 41, and McIntosh noted that added up to five.
She wanted this, and there is no shame in how she fell short. Sunday, McIntosh capped the meet with her fourth gold, in the 400 individual medley in 4:25.78, short of her own world record of 4:23.65. She truly owns this race, but also had a 4x100 medley relay to swim 20 minutes later where Canada finished fifth. Perhaps notably, it was the second time she had raced here next to 12-year-old Chinese phenom Yu Zidi.听
Canada鈥檚 Summer McIntosh capped a dominant world swimming championships with her fourth gold medal on Sunday, winning the women鈥檚 400-metre individual medley in championship-record time. (Aug. 3, 2025)
The Canadian PressMcIntosh had already won gold in the 400 freestyle, the 200 IM聽and the 200 fly, in her best swim of the week. The list of swimmers who won at least four individual golds at a single worlds is Phelps in 2005 and 2007, Ryan Lochte in 2011, Ledecky in 2015 and Caleb Dressel in 2019. All but Phelps in 2005 were lead-ins to Olympics, not postscripts after them.
Moreover, Sweden鈥檚 Sarah Sj枚str枚m was the only other female who had won five individual medals at a worlds, in 2019. This was still a historically significant accomplishment for McIntosh; it just wasn鈥檛 the one she reached for.
鈥淚 mean, I think it was very obvious that my goal was five golds,鈥 said McIntosh. 鈥淭imes didn’t matter. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall first five times. I fell short of that, but I think it’s just gonna keep me hungry and keep me moving forward 鈥 I mean, I say I didn’t care about times, but in the 200 fly I definitely cared about the time, as you saw my reaction.
鈥淏ut I think this meet I learned more than any other meet ever, and that says a lot. And the thing I’m learning from the most was the bronze in the 800 freestyle, and that’s going to keep me hungry moving into next season and into L.A. So I mean, overall, happy with my meet but always wanting more. And even if I were to get five golds, I mean, I would still want more.鈥
She did a double swim in one night for the first time; swam five individual events for the first time; slept better at a meet than she ever has, because she usually has trouble sleeping; she had never swum the greatest distance racer of all time before. She said doing all that gave her confidence.
What an attempt. The 200 fly world record was a combination of incredibly suspicious Chinese swimming and since-banned supersuits, and McIntosh came within 0.18 seconds of wiping that stain off the record books. Those F-bombs she dropped after the race told you how bad she wanted it.
And then there was the 800 free, which will echo in swimming history. To challenge Ledecky in the 800 is to try the impossible, and this 800 was immediately acclaimed as the greatest distance race ever,聽and one of the best ever, period: the three swimmers racing stride for stride, McIntosh’s valour, Aussie Lani Pallister鈥檚 slightly bemused stubbornness (she said: 鈥淚 feel like I was kind of just watching them two go about their business, and I was kind of on the side, like, oh, who’s going to win?鈥) and Ledecky鈥檚 regal, steely indomitability. No 800 had ever seen three women go under 8:10. Fourth place, 8:12.81 by Italy鈥檚 Simona Quadarella, was a European record.
It still feels more than anything like a moment where McIntosh ran up against the limits of her confidence, within the confines of her limited experience in the 800. She didn鈥檛 attack Ledecky early, which was the plan. It was like she abandoned her audacity. She鈥檒l think about that for a while.
Still, what a week. McIntosh completed her first double-race night on Sunday and said she wanted to do more, but was at the pool late and up early. She swam slower than she wanted in the 200 IM, then nearly broke the 200 fly record two days later. And Saturday night, she swam in what was truly the race of this century.
And she is still so early in her race with history. There are miles to go.
鈥淚 think she could be the first one to go under eight minutes in the 800 metres, long course,鈥 says Vergnoux. 鈥淚 think she can be the first one to go under two minutes in the 200 fly, long course. She can still improve the 200 IM record, the 400 IM, the 400 freestyle, world records. She could also take on the 200 freestyle world record, because freestyle is something that she could be very good at. The 200 backstroke, no question, two minutes. If she decides to do that, she could break the world record.
鈥淪o there’s quite a lot of things that she can look at, you know. Going for six medals, why not? It’s for her to do, to decide. But from a training perspective, her range is from the 200 all the way to the 1,500. I personally don’t think she would take on the decision to focus on the 1,500 as well. But if she does so, she could win the (freestyles in the) 1,500, the 800, the 400, the 200, the 400 IM, the 200 IM, the 200 butterfly.
鈥淭hat’s because I’ve been with her for more than seven months now. And it’s not like a statement that I made, just a reality that I witness every day.鈥
McIntosh’s improvement under Vergnoux has been meteoric, even from last summer’s Paris Olympics. The decision to focus on longer events has helped McIntosh’s entire program, and she talks about how their relationship has been simpatico from the start. Vergnoux is demanding but has a deeply human touch, an artist鈥檚 soul and a Zen calm. The plan was always for McIntosh to go to iconic coach Bob Bowman at the University of Texas in Austin in the fall, and that remains the plan.
鈥(Bowman) had a huge impact on me and all of us the last three, four years,鈥 said French superstar L茅on Marchand, who set one of the few world records here after four gold medals in Paris. 鈥淚 think he’s really, really peaceful, like he knows how to be calm in every situation. He also has a lot of experience at the biggest stage, so I just trust him fully, you know. And I’m excited to see Summer training with us. She still has a lot to do, and it’ll be really fun to train with her.鈥
Is Bowman the right choice? He was Phelps鈥 coach and is a king of the swim world, but he manages a stable 鈥 McIntosh is not a University of Texas student 鈥 while Vergnoux, who runs the CN Antibes club in France, has taken on McIntosh as his main project, and the two mesh so well. Vergnoux鈥檚 altitude work paid off in Victoria, too. A good swimmer is a happy swimmer. We鈥檒l see if McIntosh is happy in Texas. Maybe Bowman lifts her even higher. Maybe she goes higher no matter what.
For now, she gets to take a break. McIntosh’s annual cottage trip with friends has been planned, and she will be able to unspool from this pressure-packed run to Singapore. She turns 19 later this month, and her next Olympics is three years away, with a long-course world championship staging camp in Budapest in 2027. As Vergnoux says, she has no limit.
So now, the next stage of what is still the innocent climb. This past week in Singapore fell short of expectations that were, in the term they use for the largest mountains in the Tour de France, hors cat茅gorie: beyond categorization. McIntosh trained for a race she doesn鈥檛 like for seven months with a genius coach, and nearly took down Ledecky. She seemed a little scattered, briefly cracked, by the experience.
But what an experience, and it will likely harden her. It’s possible, really, that falling short on those two incredible goals here is the best thing that could have happened to her. After all, Summer McIntosh still has oceans, and more oceans, left to conquer.
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