'Insanity': 15-year-old phenom stuns swimming world with all-time feat
Swimming has a new star on the rise after 15-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh carried over her world championship form to win the 400m individual medley at the Commonwealth Games.
The teenager made her name at this year's world championships having won the 200m butterfly with a Canadian record and junior world record of 2:05.20 in the final.
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While she withdrew from the Commonwealth Games 200m event, she opted into the 400m individual medley.
And the superstar 15-year-old showed why she could become the biggest name in swimming clocking 4:29.01 in the final.
There wasn't a single swimmer in the broadcast frame at the end of the swim as McIntosh finished 7.07 seconds in front of Australia's Kiah Melverton.
The young phenom shattered a number of records including the Commonwealth Games record.
What a swim by Summer McIntosh in the women's 400m IM 🇨🇦
Kiah Melverton comes home fast for silver 🇦🇺#B2022 pic.twitter.com/Ytmspjbl1n— 7Sport (@7Sport) July 29, 2022
She also beat her own personal best and Canada's fastest ever 400m individual medley swim.
At just 15 years old, McIntosh also recorded the third fastest 400m individual medley swim of all time.
The swimming world was left in awe at the teenager's remarkable feat with huge things tipped for the Canadian in the coming years.
She has even been compared to the great Katie Ledecky, despite still being a rookie on the world circuit.
GOLD FOR CANADA 🇨🇦
Summer McIntosh, 15, has done it again. She breaks the Commonwealth Games record in the 400IM to win gold.
4:29.01
That’s now World Championship gold and Commonwealth gold in this event, one month apart. Extraordinary swimming continues for Summer. pic.twitter.com/voHgsXoaCY— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) July 29, 2022
For those of you that follow me and are unfamiliar with swimming beyond the US...Summer McIntosh is capable of being a Ledecky caliber swimmer over the next few (like 10+) years 🤯
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 29, 2022
PLAY O CANADA 🇨🇦
Get used to Summer McIntosh holding up gold medals and listening to our anthem as the flag goes up.
A once-in-a-generation athlete to be sure. pic.twitter.com/2Vu4Ckjcou— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) July 29, 2022
15-yr-old Summer McIntosh is simply unbelievable! 4:29.03 4IM to blow away, like, eveything.
— Loretta Race, MBA (@RettaRace) July 29, 2022
SUMMER MCINTOSH.
4.29.01 in the 400m IM.
Canadian record. Commonwealth Games record. Junior World Record.
First gold for Canada at #B2022 🇨🇦@cbcsports 🥇 pic.twitter.com/SKu7McwKSK— Anastasia Bucsis (@anastasure) July 29, 2022
Y'all do realize what swimming is going to be like over the next few years...right?
- Summer McIntosh (15 Years Old)
- Lorenzo Galossi (16 Years Old)
- Katie Grimes (16 Years Old)
- Leah Hayes (16 Years Old)
- David Popovici (17 Years Old)
- Mollie O'Callaghan (18 Years Old)
🤯— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 29, 2022
Summer McIntosh didn’t only set a Commonwealth Games and Canadian record with that 400m IM final.
She beat the silver medalist by 7.77 seconds.
🥇🇨🇦McIntosh - 4:29.01
🥈🇦🇺Melverton - 4:36.76
Astonishing stuff.— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) July 29, 2022
Ariarne Titmus breaks Commonwealth Games record
McIntosh is the third-fastest performer in the event’s history and is closing the gap on the world record of 4:26.36 set by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
“I was excited to re-do my time from (the) worlds and see what I can do to get better,” McIntosh said afer the race.
“I've been working on a lot of stuff in training so I can execute my 400 IM better than I did at (the) worlds, because I had so much room for improvement, and I still do.”
The Canadian’s triumph split Australian hat tricks, with Ariarne Titmus’s decision to sit out the world championships paying dividends in the 200 freestyle.
In one of the night's best races, Titmus broke the Commonwealth Games record with a stunning swim of 1:53.89 in Birmingham.
However, 18-year-old Mollie O'Callaghan surprised viewers and pushed Titmus right until the end with a brilliant time of 1:54.01.
Australia collected 1-2-3 with Maddie Wilson picking up bronze.
Titmus' swim was the fourth fastest of her career and the eighth fastest time in the 200m event of all-time.
with AP
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