Summer McIntosh has capped off one of the most impressive swimming meets ever by setting another world junior and Canadian record at the national trials.
A night after an electrifying world record-breaking swim in the 400-metre individual medley, McIntosh powered her way to another memorable swim, this time in the 200m freestyle.
The 16-year-old phenom lowered her record with a time of 1:53.91 on Sunday night at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
“I mean I’m pretty exhausted at this point but it’s been a lot of fun to compete in my home pool with all the Canadians in the stands, and honestly the only reason I can do this is because of everyone surrounding me, my teammates, friends, family and my coaches,” McIntosh said.
“It was pretty hard. I tried to leave it all in the pool. Overall I’m pretty happy with the race. There are always things to improve on but to finish this week this way I’m overall happy.”
More records fall at Canadian swim trials courtesy of Summer McIntosh
Summer McIntosh broke the Canadian and world junior record Sunday, this time in the 200 metre freestyle event clocking a time of 1:53.91.
In her five events this week, McIntosh broke five world junior and Canadian records, including two world records.
“Learning how to recover in between events with this big lineup. It’s not just recovering physically but mentally too. You don’t want to get too high or too long because that can really distract you. You just want to stay as chill as possible,” McIntosh said.
Worlds roster finalized
After a week of extraordinary performances, not only by McIntosh but many other athletes, Swimming Canada finalized its roster for worlds this upcoming July in Fukuoka, Japan.
Canada is sending one of its most competitive teams ever to a swimming world championships, including 31 athletes.
The talent is jaw-dropping and the depth in the program is unparalleled — nine Canadian records were broken throughout the six days of competition in Toronto.
Along with McIntosh other household names include Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil, most decorated FINA swimmer Kylie Masse, rising star and NCAA champion Josh Liendo, 18-year-old Ilya Kharun as well as Katerine Savard who is making her sixth world championship appearance for Canada.
Here is the full list:
Javier Acevedo — Toronto
Sophie Angus — Weston, Conn.
Jeremy Bagshaw — Victoria
Eric Brown — Pointe-Claire, Que.
James Dergousoff — Christina Lake, B.C.
Brooklyn Douthwright — Riverview, N.B.
Emma Finlin — Mississauga, Ont.
Edouard Fullum-Huot — Montreal
Ruslan Gaziev — Moscow
Collyn Gagne — Milton, Ont.
Mary-Sophie Harvey — Trois-Rivières, Que.
Hanna Henderson — Mississauga, Ont.
Patrick Hussey — Montreal
Ella Jansen — Burlington, Ont.
Ilya Kharun — Montreal
Finlay Knox — Okotoks, Alta.
Josh Liendo — Markham, Ont.
Maggie Mac Neil — London, Ont.
Kylie Masse — LaSalle, Ont.
Summer McIntosh — Toronto
Hugh McNeill — Langley, B.C.
Emma O’Croinin — Edmonton
Penny Oleksiak — Toronto
Sydney Pickrem — Clearwater, Fla.
Taylor Ruck — Kelowna, B.C.
Katerine Savard — Pont-Rouge, Que.
Brayden Taivassalo — Markham, Ont.
Lorne Wigginton — Calgary
Ingrid Wilm — Norwich, England
Kelsey Wog — Winnipeg
Mabel Zavaros — Burlington, Ont.
“Team is looking awesome. We’re looking good. Last year I showed the world that I can compete at the highest level. Now it’s about going back there and improving on that performance,” Liendo said.
Liendo set a Canadian record in the 50m fly in a time of 23.27 to finish his competition on Sunday night.
“It’s been so much fun. It was just good to be back,” he said.
“Last year bronze and silvers. But the goal is to be at the top of the podium and I’m going to keep working and keep fighting to get there.”
Josh Liendo sets another new Canadian record, this time in 50 metre butterfly
Toronto’s Josh Liendo swam to a new national record time of 23.27 in the 50 metre butterfly at the Canadian swim trials Sunday.
High performance director John Atkinson has called this the golden generation of Canadian swimming.
“Like I said at the beginning, it’s here and it’s now and it’s coming to Fukuoka, Japan this summer,” Atkinson said.
“Everyone can enjoy this moment and enjoy the celebratory feeling of making a Canadian team going to the world championships, which is always special.”
But for as good as the Canadian swimmers and Atkinson are feeling right now, it’s back to business in short order to start preparing for worlds.
“I think this team is competitive. When you look at the selections you’ll see we have really established athletes and new athletes. I think there are few areas to get back on track,” he said.
Last summer at the world championships in Budapest Canadian swimmers won an historic 11 medals, including breaking five Canadian records.
Many are still talking about McIntosh’s performance at these trials.
The Toronto native started the event by breaking the 400m freestyle world record, stopping the clock in a time of 3:56.08, breaking the record held by Ariarne Titmus of Australia.
McIntosh is the first swimmer in history to hold both the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley long course world records at the same time.
Experience Summer McIntosh’s 2nd world record poolside, with her family in the stands
Canadian Summer McIntosh broke the world record in the 400m IM at the swim trials in Toronto, her second world record of the week.
On Thursday night, McIntosh broke her own world junior record in the 200m individual medley. Her time of 2:06.89 yesterday would have won gold at worlds last summer. It also would have won gold at the Tokyo Olympics by more than a second.
On Friday night, McIntosh set a world junior and Canadian record in the 200m butterfly.
Her time of 2:04.70 took down her previous record time (2:05.05) set earlier this month.
The swimmer that has been called a once in a generation talent has certainly lived up to that billing after an unforgettable national trials.
“It’s amazing to have all the Canadians in the stands. I feel all of their support and I just want to say thank you to everyone for supporting me and cheering me on. It really does mean the world,” McIntosh said.
Live the moment poolside, when Summer McIntosh broke the 400m freestyle world record
Feel as though you are right next to Summer McIntosh as she breaks her first world record at 16 years old, at the Canadian national swimming trials.
Now she has her sights set on the world championships.
Her Sarasota Sharks coach Brent Arckey has been named to the Canadian support staff.
“I’m there for Summer. I’m there to help Canada be the best they possibly can be. I’ll be the guy who will do whatever anybody needs. I’m there to help Summer work through a big problem and also there to help the team,” he said.
“My job as the coach is to have high expectations and help her dream big, and we’ve had some great conversations about doing great things. I’m just proud of her and how she’s managed all of this.”
Arckey says this was optimal preparation for worlds.
“Really special. We have a 16-year-old girl here that every time she gets in the water we have super high expectations. We should all be super proud of her and what she’s doing for her country,” he said.
“We had to come to a six-day swim meet, swim multiple things and we’ll go and evaluate next week. I’m already thinking about some things and I’m sure she is too. We’ll put our heads together and figure out how we’re going to make ourselves better for worlds.”
Summer McIntosh shatters records at national swimming trials
Summer McIntosh stuns the swimming world, breaking records in multiple events at the national swimming trials. The teenager is just one of the world-class talents competing on the Canadian women’s team thanks to the success of a system that finds talent early and helps to develop it.
Other results
Savard won a close battle with Masse in the women’s 50 butterfly, beating the fellow Tokyo Olympian by just 0.03 seconds with a time of 26.56.
Javier Acevedo wrapped up a strong week by topping the podium in the men’s 200 freestyle (1:47.72). The 25-year-old from Toronto lowered his Canadian record in the men’s 50 backstroke to 24.90 on Wednesday.
Sunday’s Para winners were Shelby Newkirk in the women’s 100 backstroke multi-class (1:21.06) and Nicholas Bennett in the men’s 100 backstroke multi-class (1:02.57).
Eric Brown won the men’s 1,500 freestyle in 15:26.85 for his third national title of the week, while Mabel Zavaros won the women’s 800 freestyle (8:38.17).
2023 Canadian Swimming Trials: Day 6 finals
Watch the finals on the sixth day of the 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials from Toronto.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
