McIntosh reclaims world record on opening weekend of Bell Canadian Swimming Trials
The women’s 400m freestyle world record once again belongs to Summer McIntosh.
The 18-year-old clocked 3:54.18 on the first night of finals at the 2025 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria on Saturday. She celebrated her fourth long course world record by slapping the water twice with her right hand and then pumping her fist.
“You can see my outburst of emotion because I was really not expecting that time,” said McIntosh.
McIntosh had set her first ever world record in the 400m freestyle when she swam 3:56.08 at the 2023 Trials. The mark was lowered to 3:55.38 by Australian Ariarne Titmus just a few months later at the World Aquatics Championships. McIntosh took silver behind Titmus in the 400m freestyle at Paris 2024 before going on to win three Olympic gold medals of her own.
“Just seeing the time, after two years of really pushing my hardest every day and training, not seeing the results. It is just all that energy and anger, blood, sweat and tears built up. Having an amazing swim is just really satisfying,” McIntosh said.
She followed up on Sunday by swimming to a Canadian record in the women’s 800m freestyle. Her time of 8:05.07 shaved almost five seconds off her own national mark and was the third fastest time ever in the event. McIntosh was just 0.95 of a second off the world record that American legend Katie Ledecky set in May.
Also on Sunday night, the two Canadian men who shared the Olympic podium in the 100m butterfly last summer went head-to-head in a thrilling final. This time, Ilya Kharun touched the wall first, winning in a personal best time of 50.37, 0.09 of a second ahead of Josh Liendo.
“There’s definitely some tweaks I can improve on,” said 20-year-old Kharun. “I know it’s not perfect yet. There’s some things we’ve got to work on.”
At Paris 2024, Liendo had taken the silver in the event while Kharun claimed the bronze for Canada’s first double podium at the Olympic Summer Games since 1976.
“We always give our best when we race each other,” Liendo said. “It’s always fun. I’m excited for some more races. It was a good race. I just faded a little bit the last 50 metres.”
Five-time Olympic medallist Kylie Masse is two-for-two so far at the Trials. She started on Saturday with an easy victory in the women’s 100m backstroke, finishing in 58.18. That was faster than the 58.29 she swam in finishing fourth at Paris 2024. Masse was world champion in the event in 2017 and 2019. Taylor Ruck posted her fastest swim in the event in six years to come ahead of Olympic finalist Ingrid Wilm for second place.
“This year has been different, just taking a little bit of a step back but at the same time still putting in the work. I just feel like I have a different perspective on the sport. I’m really grateful to be here,” said Masse.
Masse then won the women’s 50m backstroke in 27.24 seconds, while Wilm came second in 27.58, a fine way to celebrate her 27th birthday. Masse is hoping to continue her streak of winning at least one medal at every major international championship and Games since 2015.
Mary-Sophie Harvey also posted two victories over the weekend, first in the women’s 200m breaststroke and then in the women’s 100m butterfly. Though Harvey has been competing at Trials since 2012, this is the first time she has been the winner of a race.
The Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, which continue through Thursday, are serving as the selection meet for the World Aquatics Championships which will take place in Singapore later this summer. The swimming competition at the worlds will be held July 26 to August 3.
Several other swimmers have also earned their spots on the world championship team. That includes Olympians Ella Jansen and Sophie Angus, who finished second in the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke, respectively.
Cole Pratt, who was unable to qualify for Paris 2024 due to shoulder, neck, and back injuries, earned his way onto his first national team since he competed at Tokyo 2020. He won the men’s 100m backstroke. Despite dealing with an ankle issue that made it difficult to kick, Blake Tierney won the 50m backstroke.
Ethan Ekk, 18, earned selection to his first senior national team by winning the men’s 400m freestyle. Another teenager, Oliver Dawson, 17, qualified for the worlds by winning the men’s 200m breaststroke.
You can catch all the action throughout the week. CBC Gem and https://www.cbc.ca/player/sports/live will stream each session beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT for heats and 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT for finals. Every session will also be live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CBCSports/streams
