By: Kyle Xu

During the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, swim stars Ariarne Titmus and long-standing veteran Katie Ledecky both earned medals in the women’s 400 meter freestyle event. However, finishing outside the podium by just one second was Summer McIntosh, at that time only 13 years of age.

Now, McIntosh is back, winning the finals of the 400 meter medley event. McIntosh was the clear favorite going into the race, for she held the world record and had already won many times on an international stage.

This time, though, she astoundingly defeated second place by over six seconds, which is considered a huge margin for 400 meters. Even so, the 400 meter medley event is most commonly considered the most grueling, requiring 100 meters of each stroke: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, in that order. Completing the event is a challenge in itself, let alone winning a gold medal.

“I have been doing this since I was 14,” stated McIntosh. “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 isn’t done, though. The 400 IM was actually her second individual medal – she had placed second in the 400-meter-freestyle, where she battled two world record holders and olympic medalists Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky, whom she idolized when she was young.

Ledecky is a star distance swimmer who has already participated in many Olympics, swimming the 800 and 1500 meter freestyles. McIntosh had a poster of Ledecky on her bedroom wall, and even named her cat “Mikey” after Michael Phelps, a swimmer and also the Greatest Athlete Of All Time. It was her dream to compete at the Olympic level and win, and she has achieved it.

McIntosh will swim the 200 meter medley and the 200 fly, and will have high hopes to win them both, setting the stage for a potential future career comparable to Michael Phelps or even Katie Ledecky.