By: Alyssa Wan

In the Olympics, Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh starred in the 400 Individual Medley (IM), in which she set a world record.

McIntosh was under her own world-record pace but couldn’t keep it going. Her time in the Olympics 2024 was 4:27.71, more than three seconds off the world record of 4:24.38 she set at the Canadian trials in May.

Summer McIntosh states that games are unpredictable when it comes to swimming.

“I get more nervous for these races than any other. But I’ve actually figured out how to channel that and turn it into a positive thing rather than a negative thing. Anything can happen in a final,” McIntosh said.

When McIntosh was eight, she had to choose between figure skating and swimming. McIntosh said she was happy she chose swimming because she was probably too tall for figure skating.

McIntosh made her first Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 when she was 14. Now, in the 2024 Paris Olympics, she chose to skip the 800-meter freestyle in Paris because she is even better at the 200 Individual Medley, which took place 10 minutes earlier on the same night. Other than the 200 IM and 400 IM, r McIntosh also had the 400 butterfly and 200 freestyle.

This gold medal is Canada’s second one they have won in this Olympics. Christa Deguchi won gold on Monday in women’s 57-under-kilogram judo.