Summer McIntosh continued to display dominance at national swimming trials in Victoria on Sunday.
In front of a loud, inspiring audience at the Saanich Commonwealth Place pool, McIntosh set a Canadian record in the 800-metre final, finishing in a time of 8:05.07.
The 18-year-old from Toronto fell just short of American Katie Ledecky’s 8:04.12 world record.
Shaving nearly five seconds off her previous personal best, McIntosh’s time stands as the third-fastest women’s 800m performance in history.
WATCH | McIntosh sets national record in 800m freestyle at Canadian trials:
Toronto’s Summer McIntosh wins the women’s 800-metre freestyle final at the Canadian swimming trials from Victoria, B.C., with a national record time of 8:05.07.
“I’m always shooting to break records and push the boundaries of the sports, but overall I have to be happy with the best time. Those don’t come by very often once you get to the top level of the sport,” McIntosh told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux after the race.
Still relatively new to the 800m, McIntosh referred to the race as “a good learning experience” while she continues firming her grasp on the event.
“I’m still learning how to swim [the 800m] … I knew I was probably close to the world record but I had no idea where I was. It’s kind of hard for me to find the pace in the middle, I would say 400m, for me.
“I’ll have to go over splits with my coach, Fred [Vergnoux]” she said.
Kharun outlasts Liendo in latest showdown
Montreal’s Ilya Kharun swam to victory in the men’s 100m butterfly after touching the wall in a personal best time of 50.37 seconds, narrowly edging Toronto native Josh Liendo (50.46).
“I’m very happy about it. There [are] definitely some tweaks I can improve on, like the first 50 [metres] and things like that. Overall, I think it was a pretty good race and racing against Josh, it’s really great,” he said.
WATCH | Kharun dashes to 100m butterfly win at national swimming trials:
Ilya Kharun of Montreal finishes first in the men’s 100-metre butterfly final at the Canadian swimming trials from Victoria, B.C., with a time of 50.37. Toronto’s Josh Liendo places second with a time of 50.46
Acknowledging Liendo’s national record mark of 49.99 in the event, set during a silver medal-winning performance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Kharun said he looks forward to the two continuing to push each other going forward.
“[Josh] has that 49, and I know for a fact he’s probably not rested for this meet, so I’m excited to race him again [at world championships] in Singapore,” Kharun said.
Pair of Para records set on Day 2
Two other national marks were set on Sunday, as a pair of Para swimmers established new Canadian records on Day 2 of trials.
Aly Van Wyck-Smart of Toronto raced to a time of 4:48.05 in the women’s S3 200m freestyle final, overtaking Nikita Ens’s previous low of 4:48.21 set in 2022.
WATCH | Van Wyck-Smart sets national record in women’s S3 200m freestyle:
Toronto’s Aly Van Wyck-Smart sets a Canadian Para swimming record in the S3 200-metre freestyle with a time of 4:48:05.
Earlier in the day during preliminaries, Jordan Tucker of Guelph, Ont., raced to a women’s S4 200m record time of 4:03.87.
Competition runs from June 7-12, with preliminary heats beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET and finals at 8:30 p.m. ET each day.
The national trials will determine who represents Canada at the world championships in Singapore, which will be held from July 27-Aug. 3.
WATCH | CBC Sports’ The Ready Room discusses storylines from national swim trials:
Brittany MacLean Campbell and Devin Heroux both agree we’ll see at least one world record from Summer McIntosh when Canada’s swimmers meet in Victoria, BC for the 2025 Canadian swim trials. They break down the top storylines you should know before streaming begins June 7-12 on CBC Gem.
