Swimming in her mother’s main event, McIntosh makes more history at Paris 2024
Some will argue that Summer McIntosh has begun to enter “generational Olympian” status. But there’s no debate about her being a second-generation Olympian.
McIntosh’s mother, Jill (née Horstead), competed for Team Canada in the women’s 200m butterfly at Los Angeles 1984, placing ninth. On Thursday, she was cheering on her daughter to a gold medal in the same race she competed in 40 years ago.
READ: McIntosh wins third medal of Paris 2024 — gold in women’s 200m butterfly
“It’s pretty cool winning the 200 fly because that, by far, was her main event,” McIntosh said about her mother following Thursday’s races. “So to share that moment with her is pretty cool. I know she is so proud of me along with the rest of my family. I can’t thank them enough.”
McIntosh won her second gold medal of the Games on Thursday, becoming the first Canadian to ever capture a medal in the women’s 200m butterfly. She did so in an Olympic record time of 2:03.03.
“Pretty surreal. I’m really happy with the time,” said the Toronto native. “I need to rewatch it, I think my finish was a little bit weird, but I can never be upset with a best time, especially by that margin.”.
That wasn’t the only bit of history McIntosh made. She became the first Canadian woman to win two gold medals in individual events in one edition of the Olympic Summer Games. Earlier in the week, McIntosh dominated the women’s 400m individual medley to take gold. She also captured a silver in the 400m freestyle.
READ: Under pressure and expectation, McIntosh delivers gold for Team Canada
McIntosh also became the first Canadian swimmer since Alex Baumann at Los Angeles 1984 – and just the third Canadian swimmer all-time – to win two gold medals in one Olympic Games.
She’s done all this at 17-years-old. In just her second Olympic Games. And there’s potentially another to come. McIntosh still has one more individual event remaining: the 200m individual medley, which has heats taking place Friday.
“It’s pretty surreal. I am not reflecting on it too much right now. I got [200m individual medley] tomorrow, so I really need to focus on that right now.
“Going into tonight I knew it would be a big night. I had the 4 x 200 [freestyle relay] right about an hour after the fly, so I’m trying to focus on that. I’m not done yet and there will be lots of time to celebrate with my friends and family after.”
READ: McIntosh captures first Olympic medal in highly anticipated women’s 400m freestyle race
McIntosh has said the 200m butterfly is one of her favourite events. It makes since, given how she’s performed in it recently.
Much like her gold medal performance in the 400m IM, McIntosh touched the wall with time to spare in Thursday’s final, finishing 0.81 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Regan Smith of the United States. McIntosh trailed China’s Zhang Yufei in the first 100m but passed her in the third 50m. Once McIntosh took the lead, she never trailed again.
“Fly, it’s kind of hard to see people sometimes,” said McIntosh. “Tonight I could feel out where I was. At the 125 mark, I wasn’t trying to race yet. I was really controlling it as much as possible. Usually I go out a bit faster. But for whatever reason I decided to take it home as best as possible. It worked out.”
McIntosh posted the best time in Wednesday’s semifinals to secure a spot in the final. Her time of 2:04.87 was 0.52 seconds faster than Smith. The Canadian, who preserved some energy in the morning heats by posting a time of 2:07.70, turned up the pace in the final 50m to edge Smith.
While this is McIntosh’s first Olympic medal in the event, she’s no stranger to winning 200m butterfly medals on the world stage, capturing gold at the 2022 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships. She’s become one of the world’s best butterfly swimmers, an event she didn’t participate in at Tokyo 2020.
While McIntosh has a growing collection of medals, those Olympic medals weigh differently – both figuratively and literally.
“The first night, when I actually put the silver around my neck, I was actually in shock, because no medal has been that heavy before.”