On Track and Pushing Forward

“It’s cool knowing your mother was a great swimmer, understands, gives you advice and encouragement.” 

- Summer McIntosh    

By David Grossman

Check the Canadian historical swim record books, and you might think someone has maliciously permeated the official statistics. Even tampered with names and times.

Not so, if you’re raising any questions about Summer McIntosh. Her triumphs and achievements speak for themselves. Remarkably, they are profound and strikingly accurate.

An extremely talented swim teenage sensation, McIntosh has been nothing short of unbelievable. It’s also no fluke, that almost every time the aggressive and ambitious youth enters the competitive pool, she’ll leave with a dazzling performance.

Imbued in genealogy success, McIntosh appears to be following the success of her mother – the former Jill Horstead, a 1984 Canadian Olympic swimmer, and former All-American swimmer who attended the University of Florida. The genetics are such that McIntosh, based on what she has been able to accomplish so far, certainly has the potential to be even better.

Exceptional is a word associated with McIntosh’s achievements.

A quick glance will reveal her establishing more than 50 Canadian age group records. Setting National records, in many cases, means the Provincial records also are supplemental to her triumphs. So, that number is, actually, far greater.

Simply put, Summer McIntosh is good – real good.

“I want to have fun, keep learning and be a strong competitor,” said McIntosh, who is dominant in the backstroke, freestyle and butterfly events, while contributing exceedingly well in the individual medley.

Of the dozens of age group records McIntosh has broken in the past couple of years, the longest standing one was 45 years old, in the 11 and 12-year old category for the 800 metre freestyle. A mark that was originally set by Shannon Smith in 1974. McIntosh broke this record by more than five seconds in a time of nine minutes, 07.16 at the Central Region A championship in January 2019.

By the end of the season, eight months later, McIntosh had taken an incredible 20 seconds off the original record clocked in an official time of 8:51.71. Just 12 years of age, she earned a bronze medal at her first Canadian Senior Swim Championship in Winnipeg.

Her times have been so impressive that Ontario age group individual medley records, once owned by Allison Higson (200m in 1986) and Joanne Malar (400m in 1988), both who competed at several Olympic and international events, now belong to McIntosh.

McIntosh has lots of decisions still to confront, like pondering a career.

There’s also contemplating her choice of schools for post-secondary studies. Much to the dismay of Canadian universities, it’s likely to be in the United States. McIntosh has what it takes to have the swim powerhouses in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) come knocking on her door with lucrative scholarship packages.

For now, with compliments and praise shadowing her, the focus is staying healthy and zeroing in on improving her skills.

She’s targeting the elite athlete program at Silverthorn Collegiate, not far from her Toronto home.  It’s something that caters to high performance cream-of-the crop athletes, allowing flexible timetables, allowing students to stick with their intense sports training schedules.

Some might wonder how this all bodes for McIntosh, a focused, articulate and polished individual with academic honors in the classroom as well. One who knows best, is her mother.

“She’s free spirited and what impresses me is her mix of talent and hardwork,” said Horstead. “The work ethic is much more than just talent and with that, there is no end to her excelling.”

McIntosh’s introduction to water came as a toddler benefiting from a family pool, one they heat up in the winter so Summer can stay in shape. Her rise to fame in the water came around age 10, when she was a student at Holycrest Middle School.

For two years, McIntosh was fortunate to learn from Kevin Thorburn, one of Canada’s best developers of international swimmers. He often called her efforts “relentless”.

Thorburn’s sudden passing in April of 2020 was a shock to the swim community – and devastating to McIntosh. He had been director of swimming and the high performance coach at the Etobicoke Swim Club. That, in fact, was the same club that didn’t have room for McIntosh when she was a seven-year old. Instead, she turned to the Lakeshore Swim Club.

Lindsay Watt remembers those early days of McIntosh in the pool. Watt was her first swim coach.

“She was quick, strong, very agile and ahead of her peers,” said Watt, who worked with McIntosh for three years at LSC before she switched to Etobicoke. “(Summer) just had something special. It became evident every year that there was no ceiling for her. Success made her keep chasing. Now, I know she has the capacity to be on the world stage.”

As for what lies ahead, time will tell.

“Coaching has been very important to me, building relationships, learning and improving – it’s what shapes you,” said McIntosh. “It’s cool knowing your mother was a great swimmer, understands, gives you advice and encouragement. I know I’m on track - and just keep pushing forward.”

McIntosh did manage to cause quite a bit of discussion in the fall of 2019, just months before the coronavirus pandemic shut down almost everything including the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. That’s when she posted the fastest time, of any woman in Canada, for the 1,500 freestyle.

David Grossman is a veteran award-winning Journalist, Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 45+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.