Multiple events, and one big goal
Quick turnaround between races helps McIntosh get ready to chase her Olympic dream
On the first of four days of racing, Toronto’s Summer McIntosh was on the 100-metre backstroke podium half an hour after winning the 200 freestyle in the fastest time in the world this year.
On the final night of the Speedo Canadian Swimming Open in Toronto, she closed out the meet with her 12th race and a win in the 200 medley.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with that race, but there’s always room for improvement,” McIntosh said Saturday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
“I’ll just keep pushing forward, fine-tuning things leading into the Olympics.”
Her ability to swim fast in one event and be ready to do it all over again in another — sometimes with just minutes between races — will be key to achieving the very high goals she’s set: winning multiple individual medals and helping Canada win in relays at the Paris Olympics, which start July 26.
“Learning how to cope and deal with (quick turnarounds) is really important,” she said. “The more I do them, the better I get.”
Tokyo Olympics finalist at age 14, world champion at 15 and worldrecord holder at 16 adds up to the 17-year-old swimmer to watch in Paris.
Canada’s team will be determined at the Olympic trials starting May 13 in Toronto, but McIntosh is eligible to qualify in more events than she can realistically compete in. She’s the fastest there’s ever been in the 400 medley, second-fastest in the 400 and 800 freestyle and top six in the 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 200 medley.
“She has the opportunity to swim so many events, you have to choose,” said Brent Arckey, who coaches McIntosh in Florida. “We’re talking about a small group of people that have ever been able to do this. I mean, if it’s a dozen people I’d be shocked.”
In an ideal world, he added, McIntosh might do five individual events, which could mean more than a dozen races before the relays. Events 200 metres and shorter have heats, semifinals and finals; 400 and up have no semis.
Next month’s Olympic trials will indicate which relays Canada can be a medal contender in, and that may factor into McIntosh’s decisions.
“It’s a balancing act between great relays and her individual swims, where she can be in medal contention. We’re just trying to make sure that we set her up to be the best that she can be, and also be the best for Team Canada,” Arckey said.
McIntosh will have another very heavy schedule at the trials, including events that won’t be on her Olympic menu.
“Some will be for trying to qualify, but some of it will also be simulating a big program at the Games,” the coach said.
Winning multiple events on the biggest of stages is the stuff of lore. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps won five individual gold medals and three more in relays, while swimming 17 races (heats and finals) in nine days. It takes physical and mental strength under extreme pressure, but Arckey said McIntosh can manage it.
“She’s done this 100 times where she’s swum a bunch of events at a swim meet,” he said. “Obviously this is the Olympic Games, the stakes are higher and the stage is big. But part of my job is to keep it manageable and make sure that we just realize it’s a pool with some lane lines and some water in it.”
In early February at a meet in Florida, McIntosh set a personal best in the 200 breaststroke about 15 minutes after winning the 100 freestyle. She also broke the Canadian record in the 800 freestyle and handed American legend Katie Ledecky her first loss in that event since 2010.
To McIntosh, that meet and the Canadian Open are just steps on the road to Paris. It’s about racing under stress, fast turnarounds between events and learning about herself as a competitor.
“Everyone is different (on recovery): some people do a lot of swim downs, some people just like to sit,” McIntosh said.
“I’m just finding what works best for me, so I can recover as fast as possible. I just think they’re fun now, too, like learning how to manage them.”