McIntosh breaks longstanding 200 fly world record
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- Summer McIntosh swam the women's 200-meter butterfly in 2 minutes, 1.65 seconds at the Canadian trials in Montreal, eclipsing Liu Zige's 2:01.81 set in 2009 during the super-suit era
- McIntosh had targeted the record after finishing 0.18 seconds shy at last year's world championships with a 2:01.99
- Bob Bowman, the coach who guided Michael Phelps to 23 Olympic golds, is now training the 19-year-old in Austin, Texas after her high-profile move
- McIntosh is a three-time gold medalist from the 2024 Paris Olympics and will contest the 400 IM Monday, 400 free Tuesday, and 200 IM Wednesday
- The Canadian trials double as a tune-up ahead of the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California
Why it matters: McIntosh erased a 16-year-old world record in a non-super-suit era, marking only the second time in history a woman has broken this mark — signaling a new generation of textile-era times that may soon rival the super-suit benchmarks. With her next major test just weeks out at Pan Pacifics, the record raises expectations for her individual-event showings against a global field.
