Summer McIntosh, who was just 14 years old when she competed in Tokyo 2020, was the youngest athlete on Team Canada.
She was the leadoff swimmer for the 4x200m freestyle relay and finished fourth individually in the 400m freestyle, reducing the Canadian record to 4:02.42. She missed qualifying for the 200m freestyle final by one position and also raced in the 800m freestyle.
McIntosh was a second-generation Olympian, following in the footsteps of her mother Jill (née Horstead), who participated in swimming in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Summer McIntosh professional career
McIntosh has set more than 50 Canadian Age Group records in her very short career. When she went beneath the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying criteria in the 400m freestyle in May 2021, she became a possibility for the Tokyo 2020 squad.
With a time of 4:05.13, she shaved more than ten seconds off her personal best and eight seconds off the previous national record for 13-14-year-old women.
McIntosh qualified for the 2020 Olympics after winning the 200m freestyle in the Canadian Olympic Trials in late June, defeating Penny Oleksiak to the finish line.
In the process, she dropped her own national record for the 13-14 age category to 1:56.19. She won the 800m freestyle the next day to qualify for her second event in Tokyo.
McIntosh shattered a 45-year-old Canadian record when she dropped the 800m freestyle record for the 11-12 age category to 9:07.16 in January 2019.
Before the season ended, she lowered the time to 8:51.71, shaving 20 seconds off the previous best while racing in the senior Canadian Championships. She won bronze in the 800m freestyle and 400m individual medley when she was 12 years old.
Mckourage