Now, fresh off winning three individual gold medals in Paris, she has declared her bold ambition to take out five individual world titles this week.
She’s nearly halfway there, with the 200m butterfly, 800m freestyle and 400m individual medley still to come.
“My goal was to get my hand on the wall first, so to get that done is good,” McIntosh said. “I’m not super happy with the time, but honestly, at a world championships, my goal is just to go as fast as I can against my competitors.
Summer McIntosh of Canada celebrates after winning gold. Credit: AP
“Still happy with the gold and hoping to keep up my streak next time.”
Michael Phelps after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Credit: Getty
Since the world championships began in 1973, only one swimmer – Phelps – has claimed five individual golds in a single meet.
Katie Ledecky won four in Kazan in 2015, while Phelps’ quintuple of individual wins in Melbourne 2007 was the prelude to his eight-gold masterclass at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
McIntosh’s most difficult assignment will be the 800m freestyle against Ledecky, widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all-time, on Saturday. The Canadian is the only swimmer to beat Ledecky across the distance in 15 years and it will be a mouthwatering duel.
For swimmers at this level, the challenge isn’t the racing; it’s the recovery.
On Sunday, McIntosh had just 22 minutes between her 400m freestyle final and the 200m IM semi-final. Throw in warm-ups and warm-downs and media commitments and refuelling, it’s as arduous as it sounds.
McIntosh’s performances at Canada’s trials were electric. She broke three world records in the same meet, taking Titmus’ 400m freestyle mark, plus all-time bests in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
No woman had achieved that many world records at a single meet since the Netherlands’ Inge de Bruijn at Sydney 2000.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Alex Perkins picked up her first longcourse medal after finishing third in the women’s 100m butterfly.
Australia’s Alex Perkins is congratulated by USA’s Gretchen Walsh after the women’s 100m butterfly final. Credit: Getty Images
World record holder Gretchen Walsh overcame illness to win in 54.73, ahead of Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) and Perkins (56.33).
“I couldn’t be happier,” Perkins said. “I tried not to expect anything going into that final.
“I think [my improvements] have probably just come from the confidence in racing and having that self belief and backing myself a little bit more.”
Australia still leads the medal tally after two days, with two golds, one silver and a bronze. They will look to extend that advantage on Tuesday when Kaylee McKeown lines up for the 100m backstroke – the event she has won at the past two Olympics.
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McKeown is keeping expectations in check, despite having beaten American Regan Smith multiple times in the past. Smith qualified 0.23 seconds faster for the final, but both swimmers looked to have something in reserve.
“I’m just here for a good time,” McKeown said. “I don’t really care if I come first or if I come last. I just want to find the love for the sport again.
“I didn’t actually want to do the 100. I wanted to come in and do 200 and relays.”
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