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arena Swim of the Week: Summer McIntosh’s 800 Free Stuns In More Ways Than One

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By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.

Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Summer McIntosh unloaded a truly shocking performance on Thursday night at the Southern Zone Sectionals in Orlando.

Even for McIntosh, who has proven she can do the unthinkable, her swim in the 800 free turned heads and left commenters with their jaws on the floor.

At a lowkey, early February meet during the opening night of distance events, McIntosh put up a time of 8:11.39 in the 800 free, a clocking that only one swimmer, all-time great Katie Ledecky, has ever been faster than. Ledecky happened to be racing alongside McIntosh, finishing some six seconds back (5.73) in what was her first loss in an 800 free final in nearly 14 years.

Facts About McIntosh’s Swim:

  • Ranks #2 all-time to Katie Ledecky
  • Marks a near nine-second best time for McIntosh, who had previously been 8:20.19 in February 2023
  • Her previous PB ranked #33 all-time
  • Shatters the near decade-old Canadian Record of 8:20.02 by more than eight and a half seconds, set by Brittany MacLean at the 2014 Pan Pacs
  • Takes more than two seconds off the Commonwealth Record of 8:13.59, initially set by Australian Ariarne Titmus at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and then matched by Titmus at the 2023 World Championships en route to the bronze medal
  • Fell 39 one-hundredths shy of Ledecky’s World Junior Record of 8:11.00, set in June 2014 (under the new rules, which allows female swimmers to set WJR in their 18th year, Ledecky’s mark would stand at 8:07.39—McIntosh will turn 18 in August)
  • Would have won the Tokyo Olympic final over Ledecky (8:12.57)
  • McIntosh’s first 400 split of 4:03.63
    • Would rank #3 all-time in Canada behind only herself and MacLean (4:03.43)
    • Would have finished 6th (5th taking out herself) in the 2023 World Championship final of the 400 free
    • Would rank 6th (5th taking out herself) in the 2023-24 world rankings in the 400 free
  • McIntosh’s second 400 split of 4:07.76
    • Would rank #9 all-time in Canada in the 400 free, with only herself, MacLean and Emily Overholt having been sub-4:07
    • Would have been 11th (10th taking out herself) at the 2023 World Championships in the 400 free
    • Would rank 19th (18th taking out herself) in the 2023-24 world rankings in the 400 free
  • Not a fact, but a subjective opinion shared by most: The 800 free would have to be regarded as McIntosh’s sixth-best event, at best, coming into the meet—possibly even #7 given she ranks 28th all-time in the 200 back and was 33rd in the 800 free coming in

We’ve certainly become conditioned to expect excellence from Ledecky in the women’s distance events, and before every major international meet, it’s been a foregone conclusion that she’ll cruise to victories in the 800 and 1500. Her world record is still more than six and a half seconds clear of McIntosh’s time, and she’s been faster 16 times.

The response to McIntosh’s swim just speaks to how dominant Ledecky has been.

All-Time Performances, Women’s 800 Freestyle (LCM)

  1. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:04.79 – 2016
  2. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:06.68 – 2016
  3. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:07.07 – 2023
  4. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:07.27 – 2018
  5. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:07.39 – 2015
  6. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:08.04 – 2022
  7. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:08.87 – 2023
  8. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:09.13 – 2018
  9. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:09.27 – 2022
  10. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:10.32– 2016
  11. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:10.70 – 2019
  12. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:10.91 – 2016
  13. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.00 – 2014
  14. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.08 – 2018
  15. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.21 – 2015
  16. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.35 – 2014
  17. Summer McIntosh (CAN), 8:11.39 – 2024
  18. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.50 – 2017
  19. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.70 – 2018
  20. Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:11.83 – 2022

All-Time Performers, Women’s 800 Freestyle (LCM)

  1. Katie Ledecky, United States — 8:04.79 (2016)
  2. Summer McIntosh, Canada — 8:11.39 (2024)
  3. Li Bingjie, China — 8:13.31 (2023)
  4. Ariarne Titmus, Australia — 8:13.59 (2022/2023)
  5. Rebecca Adlington, Great Britain — 8:14.10 (2008)

Alongside Ledecky losing one of her pet events handily, the most jarring sight in the race was to see McIntosh pull away down the stretch.

Split Comparison

McIntosh Ledecky
28.10 28.16
58.72 (30.62) 58.24 (30.08)
1:29.33 (30.61) 1:28.78 (30.54)
1:59.81 (30.48) 1:59.66 (30.88)
2:30.65 (30.84) 2:30.61 (30.95)
3:01.65 (31.00) 3:02.05 (31.44)
3:32.57 (30.92) 3:33.33 (31.28)
4:03.63 (31.06) 4:04.67 (31.34)
4:34.56 (30.93) 4:36.03 (31.36)
5:05.63 (31.07) 5:06.96 (30.93)
5:36.49 (30.86) 5:37.96 (31.00)
6:07.45 (30.96) 6:09.49 (31.53)
6:38.43 (30.98) 6:41.25 (31.76)
7:09.69 (31.26) 7:13.28 (32.03)
7:41.01 (31.32) 7:45.56 (32.28)
8:11.39 (30.38) 8:17.12 (31.56)

Moving forward, we don’t know if McIntosh will race the 800 free at the Olympics. Although she was a distance prodigy from a young age, she hasn’t seriously contested the event internationally of late, primarily focusing on the 200 and 400 free, 200 fly, and the 200 and 400 IM.

In Paris, the 800 free will conflict with the 200 IM, an event McIntosh ranked #1 in the world in last year.

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SwimSwam: arena Swim of the Week: Summer McIntosh’s 800 Free Stuns In More Ways Than One

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