Summer McIntosh Dominating 400 IM At Spectacular Level
An athlete’s dominance of an event can be measured in multiple ways. The number of consecutive global titles in a specific discipline. The gap between a world-record performance and the No. 2 performer in history. How many of the all-time top marks an individual owns in a single event.
The power of the United States’ Katie Ledecky and Great Britain’s Adam Peaty has long been known, with Ledecky ruling the distance-freestyle realm and Peaty dominating the sprint-breaststroke events. Historically, they have compiled stunning statistics that illuminate their supremacy.
As a sample, Ledecky boasts the 12-fastest times in the history of the 1500-meter freestyle, and holds 26 of the 27-fastest performances of all-time. As for Peaty, he owns the 14-fastest efforts in the 100 breaststroke and 16 of the 18-quickest swims. The respective gaps over the No. 2 performer in their events is massive, Ledecky at 1.22% and Peaty at 1.41%.
Over the weekend, while racing at the Austin stop of the USA Swimming Pro Series, Canadian star Summer McIntosh took another step toward joining the level of single-event authority enjoyed by Ledecky and Peaty. En route to overwhelming the field in the 400 individual medley by nearly 12 seconds, the 19-year-old McIntosh clocked 4:28.13, good for the ninth-fastest performance the event has seen.
There is no argument concerning McIntosh’s status as the premier female swimmer on the planet. Aside from owning the world record in the 400 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 400 IM, McIntosh – now training under coach Bob Bowman at the University of Texas – sits No. 2 all-time in the 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle. But what she has done in the 400 medley is difficult to comprehend.
Consider:
- McIntosh is the reigning Olympic champion in the event, having prevailed by 5.69 seconds on the biggest stage in the sport. She also owns three world titles, the last captured by more than seven seconds last summer in Singapore.
- The Canadian’s world record of 4:23.65, set last June, is nearly three seconds faster than anyone else has covered the event. The second-ranked athlete is Hungarian Katinka Hosszu, whose best of 4:26.36 is 1.02% back of McIntosh.
- Only six women have cracked the 4:30 barrier in the 400 IM. McIntosh has breached the threshold by six-plus seconds and has made 11 trips inside that cutline. In addition to holding the four-fastest swims ever, McIntosh owns eight of the fastest nine.
- McIntosh’s world record is faster than the time that American Rod Strachan (4:23.68) registered for men’s Olympic gold in the 400 IM at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. More, it’s swifter than Debbie Meyer’s 400 freestyle world record (4:24.30) from 1970.
- In the 2025 world rankings, McIntosh was 9.61 seconds faster than Japan’s Mio Narita, who was slotted second in the event at 4:33.26.
Initially an age-group standout with the Etobicoke Swim Club, McIntosh has been guided by premier coaches throughout her career. Brent Arckey molded the teen during her stint with the Sarasota Sharks while French coaching legend Fred Vergnoux prepped McIntosh for her sensational 2025 campaign. Now, she is working with Bowman, the Hall of Famer who guided Michael Phelps and Leon Marchand, among others, to Olympic glory.
Barring a change to her schedule, McIntosh’s focus this summer will be on the Pan Pacific Championships, slated for Southern California. The meet will utilize a four-day schedule, so it will be interesting to see what events McIntosh prioritizes in a setting not far from the site of the 2028 Olympic Games.
How low can McIntosh take the world record in the 400 individual medley? Time will provide that answer, but there is no reason to believe she won’t slice additional time from her global standard. While she ranks among the world’s elite in the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, her breaststroke has developed through the years and is likely to improve further. Package her skills together and there doesn’t seem to be a ceiling.
