Summer McIntosh wins gold at 400M individual medley at swimming world championships

SINGAPORE – Canada’s Summer McIntosh capped a dominant world swimming championships with her fourth gold medal on Sunday, winning the women’s 400-metre individual medley in championship-record time.

The 18-year-old from Toronto touched in four minutes 25.78 seconds, well ahead of Australia’s Jenna Forrester and Japan’s Mio Narita, who tied for silver in 4:33.26. 

Zidi Yu, the 12-year-old phenom from China, finished fourth in 4:33.76.

McIntosh also claimed gold in the 200 butterfly, 200 medley and 400 freestyle in Singapore.

Her bid for a record five golds ended Saturday as American star Katie Ledecky won the 800 freestyle ahead of Australia’s Lani Pallister. McIntosh settled for bronze in the event.

McIntosh now has 13 career medals at the world championships, including eight gold.

Also Sunday, Canada’s men’s 4×100 medley relay team placed sixth, while the women’s 4×100 medley relay team, which included McIntosh, finished fifth in the final event of the meet.

McIntosh accounted for five of Canada’s eight swimming medals at the world aquatics championships. Adding to the tally were Montreal’s Ilya Kharun in the men’s 100 butterfly, Mary-Sophie Harvey, of Laval, Que., in the women’s 200 individual medley, and the 4×100 mixed medley relay team — all earning bronze.

Montreal’s Simone Leathead added a silver in the women’s 20-metre high dive, her first career medal at worlds.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2025.