Swimming: Summer McIntosh – top facts that you did not know about Canada’s rising star

When the 2022 Swimming World Championships begin on 17th June in Budapest, Hungary, one of the youngest stars to keep an eye on will be 15-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh.

The Toronto-native made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, and now, she's full steam ahead with Paris 2024 just over a two years away.

Get to know the up-and-coming swimmer that Olympic gold medallist Penny Oleksiak described as 'all gas, no brakes.'

Sporting success runs in the family

You may already know that McIntosh is the daughter of 1984 Olympian Jill Horstead, who won a bronze medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

And, having an Olympian swimmer for a mum has come in handy.

“I just noticed throughout my swimming career my mom has been able to understand where I’m coming from when I have a bad race or a bad practice, and (when we) talk about swimming in general," she told FINA.org. "She is really able to grasp the concept and understand where I’m coming from and that has been really helpful just so I can talk to her on the same level. She has been a great support throughout my career.”

But, did you know that McIntosh's older sister, Brooke, is a world-class figure skater. Brooke McIntosh has competed at the 2019 ISU junior worlds, 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lausanne (finishing fourth), and the 2021 junior worlds where she won pairs bronze with partner Benjamin Mimar.

More than just swimming for the Canadian

McIntosh was talented in more than just swimming. She was involved with soccer, gymnastics, figure skating, horseback riding, and artistic swimming, according to an interview with FINA.org.

Her sister, Brooke, has gone on to achieve success as a pairs skater, but many years ago, it seemed like she might be the swimmer while Summer appeared to have more aptitude for figure skating herself.

“It was a little ironic we chose what we were worse at,” McIntosh said.

Age is just a number

At last year's Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, McIntosh, 14 at the time, was Team Canada's youngest Olympian in any sport and its youngest Olympians since Robin Corsiglia (1976) and Barbara Hounsell (1964). Both were 13 when they competed at the Games.

McIntosh's presence at the Games highlighted youth in Tokyo, alongside fellow youngsters like skateboarders Sky Brown and Rayssa Leal.

A cat named after a GOAT

'Mikey' McIntosh, the family's pet cat, is named for - who else - Michael Phelps, widely considered the greatest swimmer of all time after claiming 28 Olympic medals, a record 23 of them gold.