By: Lily Han

Splash! The contestants glide through the water gracefully. Who won?

Summer McIntosh, a talented 17-year-old Canadian swimmer won the 400 meter-individual medley on July 29th at the Paris Olympic Aquatics Center. She touched the final wall after 4 minutes and 27.71 seconds, claiming her first gold medal in the Olympics. While her win was not a surprise, many were stunned that she beat the Americans who won silver and bronze, Katie Grimes (4:33.40) and Emma Weyant (4.34.94), by a landslide. McIntosh also claimed a silver medal in the Paris Olympics for her 400m freestyle. These medals add to McIntosh’s total of 9 gold, 5 silver, and 5 bronze, for her collection of Aqua and Olympic medals.

Summer McIntosh is the daughter of Jill Horstead, an Olympic swimmer who competed for Canada in the 1980s. At the age of 14, McIntosh was the youngest swimmer in Canada’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics team and went on the international stage to finish in 4th place. In 2022-2023, she debuted in the World Aquatics Championship, winning gold in the 200m butterfly and 400m-individual medley, breaking the junior record in both events. She also claimed silver in the 400m freestyle, finishing after her idol, Katie Ledecky. Only weeks later, McIntosh earned 6 medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. People are excited to see McIntosh’s performance later this week in the 200 IM and 200 fly.

After her win in the 400-meter individual medley in the Olympics, McIntosh stayed calm despite the excitement of winning gold. McIntosh told reporters, “I have been doing this since I was 14. Every single time I get to race on the world stage, I learn more and more about handling mentally and physically and emotionally. I try not to get too high or too low depending on my race results.” She says she deals with Paris Olympics pressure just like any other swim meet.