What to know
- Three-time Olympic gold medalist Summer McIntosh set a new women’s 200m butterfly world record at the 2026 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, swimming 2:01.65 to surpass Liu Zige’s 2009 time of 2:01.81.
- Dr. Joe Baker from the University of Toronto said the achievement further cements McIntosh as a “generational talent.”
- Baker argued comparisons between McIntosh and Michael Phelps should be made cautiously, noting differences in opportunities and support between men’s and women’s sports, while acknowledging McIntosh’s age makes her future especially promising.
- Baker said Canada is producing more elite athletes, possibly thanks to a stronger high-performance sports culture, but believes greater government investment is still needed, with McIntosh’s success demonstrating the potential impact of better athlete support.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Summer McIntosh broke yet another record during Sunday’s swimming trials.
The 19-year-old Toronto-born professional swimmer was competing in the 200m butterfly during the 2026 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials when she made history.
McIntosh won the race, clocking in at 2:01.65 and beating China’s Liu Zige record set in 2009 at 2:01.81, the oldest women’s swimming world record.
“This is something that I’ve been working on for a really long time,” the teenager said in her post-swim interview. “Getting so close after the World Championships in Singapore, and then it became a possibility. So, to now do it on the first day of Trials is a great way to kick off the meet.”
She added she thought it was the hardest record to break.
“I didn’t know if that was possible for me.”
This makes three world records under McIntosh’s belt, with the swimmer also holding the records for 400m Individual Medley at 4:24.38, and 400m Freestyle at 3:56.08.
What this means for Summer McIntosh
Dr. Joe Baker, the Tanenbaum Research Chair in Sports Science, Data Modeling and Sport Analytics at the University of Toronto, said this record shows the progression of McIntosh as a professional swimmer.
“She said it herself in the post-race interview, she didn’t think this was a record that was breakable,” Baker told Now Toronto. “So, that’s amazing to see the continued evidence that she is just a generational talent for swimming.”
Baker added that as athletes like McIntosh progress, it just means bigger and more records for mankind.
“All of these things that we think are unbreakable records, eventually we have humans come along that end up breaking them, which means that none of these sacred things in our sport are going to stand the test of time,” he explained. “Sport is just a continual progression towards better and better performance, which makes it really cool to keep watching.”
Comparison with other swimming giants
McIntosh tends to be compared against other record-breaking swimmers across the world, such as Penny Oleksiak, and most notably former American Olympian Michael Phelps.
This comparison is one Baker said isn’t fair.
“We’re comparing apples and oranges here,” he said. “The reality is women’s sport doesn’t get the same attention and support and those kinds of things that men’s sport does.”
Baker added that though swimming is a little bit different in terms of comparing skill, the public should stray from assuming growth looks the same.
“…We don’t want to assume that they’re able to grow up in the same kinds of developmental environments, that they get the same attention, they get the same support, they get the same resources,” he explained.
Ultimately, Baker said comparing ages shows McIntosh’s potential.
“…At the same time, Michael Phelps…when he started to really dominate, was when he was 19, and so, as much as it’s unfair to have those parallels, there are parallels there to be had, which again makes it so exciting to think about the future,” he said.
Is Canada producing more high-skill athletes?
When comparing the data, Baker said the country is definitely seeing an increase in notable athletes in recent years.
“We have a different culture of high-performance sport in Canada than we did a generation ago,” he said.
Baker said that when records are broken by Canadian athletes like McIntosh, it certainly helps the future of the sport in the country.
But despite millions of dollars going into Sports Canada, Baker said it hasn’t been enough.
“We have a lot of discussion in the Canadian government about additional funds for high-performance sport, and you know the reality that there hasn’t been a lot of influx of funding to support athletes in the system.”
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But as welcome as it would have been, McIntosh’s new world record means just that much more amid ongoing conversation.
“The fact that [McIntosh] is coming along and dominating it in this way is maybe happening at the perfect time to show what’s possible if we support our athletes better in Canada.”
As for McIntosh herself, Baker said she was in a class of her own compared to other professional athletes.
“The peak age for swimming is normally early to mid-20s, and so the fact that she’s still only 19 and sort of top of the world, tells us something about what we could aspire to see from her in the next few years.”
