By: Ethan Tong

Summer McIntosh, won the first gold medal of her swimming career. She took part in all four styles of swimming in one contest.

The four styles of swimming include freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke. It took her 4 minutes, 27 seconds, and 71 milliseconds to earn first place. American Katie Grimes, was second with a time of 4 minutes, 33 seconds, and 40 milliseconds. Third place was an American, Emma Weyant, who finished with 4 minutes, 34 seconds, and 93 milliseconds.

Mcintosh said that at the start when she was doing breaststroke, she felt she was going to win first place because she saw how big her lead was.

“I have been doing this since I was 14,” McIntosh said. “Every single time I get to race on the world stage, I learned more and more about handling (it) mentally and physically and emotionally. I try not to get too high or too low depending on my race results.”

Mcintosh said that she had looked up to Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps when she was young. She had a poster with Ledecky on it and had a cat named Mikey after Micahel Phelps.

“She’s an inspiration to everyone,” said teammate Kylie Masse, who swam in the women’s 100-meter backstroke semifinals Monday night. “For so many young swimmers in Canada to be able to see her and see her success here on the international stage, (they’ll know) that they can dream big and continue to do whatever they put their mind to.”