Summer McIntosh has set a world record for the second time in three days at the Canadian Swimming Trials, with the 18-year-old eclipsing Hungarian great Katinka Hosszu’s 200m individual medley mark set 10 years ago.
Three-time Olympic champion McIntosh, who set a world record on the weekend in the 400m freestyle by bettering Ariarne Titmus’s previous mark by 1.2 seconds, touched the wall in 2:05.70.
That beat Hosszu’s time from the 2015 world championships in Kazan by 0.42 seconds.
“It’s been one of those records that’s always been in the back of my mind since trials two years ago,” McIntosh, who won Olympic gold in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM at the Paris Games, said.
“I’ve been knocking on the door on this one. I’ve just tried to chip away, chip away at it. To finally do it, it’s kind of like, ‘Wow, I’ve finally got that done.'”
McIntosh, who also won a 400 freestyle silver in Paris, has been in dominant form at Saanich Commonwealth Place, swimming the third-fastest women’s 800 freestyle in history on Sunday.
She said setting a new mark in the 200 IM was a confidence booster heading into the world championships in Singapore in July and August.
“It’s awesome and 200 IM I think is my main race out of my top five, six races where I really have to execute perfectly,” she said.
“There’s no room for mistakes and it’s kind of a sprint event for me.
“Overall, I’m really happy with that and it gives me a lot of confidence heading into Singapore.”
McIntosh also holds the women’s 400m IM world record after setting a time of 4:24.38 at last year’s Canadian Olympic trials.
