Leah Hennel/COC
Some will argue that Summer time McIntosh has begun to enter “generational Olympian” standing. However there’s no debate about her being a second-generation Olympian.
McIntosh’s mom, Jill (née Horstead), competed for Crew Canada within the girls’s 200m butterfly at Los Angeles 1984, inserting ninth. On Thursday, she was cheering on her daughter to a gold medal in the identical race she competed in 40 years in the past.
READ: McIntosh wins third medal of Paris 2024 — gold in girls’s 200m butterfly
“It’s fairly cool profitable the 200 fly as a result of that, by far, was her major occasion,” McIntosh mentioned about her mom following Thursday’s races. “So to share that second together with her is fairly cool. I do know she is so happy with me together with the remainder of my household. I can’t thank them sufficient.”
McIntosh received her second gold medal of the Video games on Thursday, changing into the primary Canadian to ever seize a medal within the girls’s 200m butterfly. She did so in an Olympic document time of two:03.03.
“Fairly surreal. I’m actually proud of the time,” mentioned the Toronto native. “I must rewatch it, I believe my end was a bit bit bizarre, however I can by no means be upset with a greatest time, particularly by that margin.”.
That wasn’t the one little bit of historical past McIntosh made. She turned the primary Canadian girl to win two gold medals in particular person occasions in a single version of the Olympic Summer time Video games. Earlier within the week, McIntosh dominated the ladies’s 400m particular person medley to take gold. She additionally captured a silver within the 400m freestyle.
READ: Underneath stress and expectation, McIntosh delivers gold for Crew Canada
McIntosh additionally turned the primary Canadian swimmer since Alex Baumann at Los Angeles 1984 – and simply the third Canadian swimmer all-time – to win two gold medals in a single Olympic Video games.
She’s finished all this at 17-years-old. In simply her second Olympic Video games. And there’s probably one other to return. McIntosh nonetheless has yet one more particular person occasion remaining: the 200m particular person medley, which has heats happening Friday.
“It’s fairly surreal. I’m not reflecting on it an excessive amount of proper now. I received [200m individual medley] tomorrow, so I really want to deal with that proper now.
“Going into tonight I knew it could be an enormous evening. I had the 4 x 200 [freestyle relay] proper about an hour after the fly, so I’m making an attempt to deal with that. I’m not finished but and there will likely be a number of time to rejoice with my family and friends after.”
READ: McIntosh captures first Olympic medal in extremely anticipated girls’s 400m freestyle race
McIntosh has mentioned the 200m butterfly is certainly one of her favorite occasions. It makes since, given how she’s carried out in it lately.
Very similar to her gold medal efficiency within the 400m IM, McIntosh touched the wall with time to spare in Thursday’s ultimate, ending 0.81 seconds forward of second-place finisher Regan Smith of america. McIntosh trailed China’s Zhang Yufei within the first 100m however handed her within the third 50m. As soon as McIntosh took the lead, she by no means trailed once more.
“Fly, it’s sort of laborious to see individuals generally,” mentioned McIntosh. “Tonight I may really feel out the place I used to be. On the 125 mark, I wasn’t making an attempt to race but. I used to be actually controlling it as a lot as attainable. Often I’m going out a bit quicker. However for no matter purpose I made a decision to take it house as greatest as attainable. It labored out.”
McIntosh posted the perfect time in Wednesday’s semifinals to safe a spot within the ultimate. Her time of two:04.87 was 0.52 seconds quicker than Smith. The Canadian, who preserved some vitality within the morning heats by posting a time of two:07.70, turned up the tempo within the ultimate 50m to edge Smith.
Whereas that is McIntosh’s first Olympic medal within the occasion, she’s no stranger to profitable 200m butterfly medals on the world stage, capturing gold on the 2022 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships. She’s change into one of many world’s greatest butterfly swimmers, an occasion she didn’t take part in at Tokyo 2020.
Whereas McIntosh has a rising assortment of medals, these Olympic medals weigh in another way – each figuratively and actually.
“The primary evening, once I really put the silver round my neck, I used to be really in shock, as a result of no medal has been that heavy earlier than.”