Summer McIntosh in action at the Women's 200m Individual Medley in Nanterre, France, on Aug 2.Marko Djurica/Reuters
It may not look that way, given her medal haul in Paris, but Summer McIntosh says she does have a weakness.
“Turns are something that’s probably one of my biggest weaknesses in swimming,” Ms. McIntosh said recently, before the Paris Olympics.
“I’ve never been the best at them.”
The 17-year-old from Toronto has been focusing on her turns in training, speeding them up, looking to bounce off the wall faster in the middle of races without missing a beat.
But in the past few days, she may have turned them into a strength. Immediately after her gold-medal win in the 200-metre butterfly Thursday her coach Brent Arckey was asked to break down what he saw in the race.
Mr. Arckey said her last turn was flawless.
“Probably one of the best turns for her,” Mr. Arckey said. “Very well executed, very proud of her.”
So, it appears Ms. McIntosh had a weakness. But it’s past-tense. There was a glitch in her code but she patched it.
Such is the machine that is Ms. McIntosh in Paris. After winning a silver in the 400-metre freestyle to open the Olympics, she responded with back-to-back gold medals in the 400-metre individual medley and the 200-metre butterfly.
She is the only Canadian swimmer to win three individual medals at a single Olympics, and on Saturday Ms. McIntosh will be going for a fourth.
But the 200-metre individual medley presents challenges for her. It’s not a race she’s competed in much. In fact, while Ms. McIntosh specializes in the 400-metre medley, she’s actually only raced the 200-metre medley once internationally – at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She won gold.
But Ms. McIntosh admits the 200 is a bit of a different beast for her. She’s a distance racer. And even though the 400-metre individual medley blurs the lines between sprint and endurance events, the 200-metre version is that, but sped up.
“The 200 IM is definitely more of a sprint race. It’s probably my sprintiest race I can do at a high level,” Ms. McIntosh said.
Like the 400, the 200-metre medley is a race where a swimmer can’t hide. They must be good at all four strokes: the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
More important, they must be able to transition between each one seamlessly, starting with the turn, then the adjustment. And in the 200, it all happens faster.
“I know I’m really good at working transitions, switching stroke to stroke,” Ms. McIntosh said. “But at the same time I’ve got to work my speed.”
To get an idea of what makes the IM so challenging, The Globe and Mail turned to two of the best medley swimmers in Canadian history: Marianne Limpert, who won silver in the 200-metre individual medley at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and Elaine Tanner, who won three medals for Canada as a 17-year-old at the 1968 Summer Games.
Ms. Limpert has been watching Ms. McIntosh’s races from her home in New Brunswick and says she’s more nervous than she was competing.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Ms. Limpert said. She kept having to leave the room when Ms. McIntosh swam to gold in the 400 freestyle, unable to watch. “I don’t know how my parents did it back in the day.”
Ms. Limpert said the key to the 200 IM in her day was, “Being pretty good at everything and not really great at one thing.
“Although I don’t know if that necessarily applies to Summer. I think she kind of totally throws that argument out.”
She calls the 200 medley “a controlled sprint” because it’s a series of four 50-metre pushes that use different muscles each length of the pool.
“In essence you’re starting a whole different race because you’re swimming a totally different stroke,” Ms. Limpert said.
Ms. Limpert used to repeat a single word in her head for each stroke, like a mantra.
“For butterfly, it was ‘Flow,’ because I was just trying to flow and keep it smooth, like not get too excited because in the butterfly you need to pace yourself. And then the backstroke it was just ‘Tempo,’ because it was my weakest stroke. And the breaststroke I was just trying to keep it ‘Long.’ And then in the freestyle, I think at that point it was just ‘Go.’ Whatever is left in the tank, just go.”
There’s a lot of strategy, because each racer will have different strengths.
“You kind of need to keep your wits about you,” Ms. Limpert said. “You know who’s stronger in which stroke, so if you’re slightly behind or slightly ahead, it’s realizing the lead could change because not everyone is going to swim it the same way.”
From her home in B.C., Ms. Tanner has marvelled at Ms. McIntosh’s races.
Ms. Tanner, 73, was Canada’s original elite female swimmer, a teenage prodigy just like Ms. McIntosh. Except back when she swam the same events, they had different names.
“I had multiple world records in two of her favourite events, the 400 IM and 200 butterfly,” Ms. Tanner said with a laugh. “Except mine were in yards – 440 yards, 220 yards at that time, which makes me feel ancient.”
Still, some things never change. Ms. Tanner says the 200 IM is like a mini-decathlon, given the multitude of different skills needed, both physical and mental, including knowing when to make your move.
“The 200 IM was one of my favourite races. It was all out fast with lots of adrenalin,” Ms. Tanner said.
“I was weakest in the breaststroke so I had to make sure I had a big lead in the butterfly and backstroke, which were my strengths, and then hold on for dear life in the breaststroke,” Ms. Tanner said. “Then bring it home in the freestyle, which I was confident in.”
Ms. Tanner said racing the 200 IM is particularly difficult compared with the 400-metre version.
“Any strength or weakness in a particular stroke is exaggerated by a factor of two, which in a relatively mid-distance race can make a huge difference at the finish,” Ms. Tanner said.
But after watching Ms. McIntosh’s gold medal in the 400 IM, she came away in awe.
“I was so impressed with how Summer literally owns this race unlike any other I have seen,” Ms. Tanner said.
Heading into Saturday’s race, Ms. McIntosh said she had mixed emotions. Paris has been a wild ride. The 200 IM will be her last individual event.
“I kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel, which I’m a little bittersweet about because I’ve been obviously enjoying my time here,” Ms. McIntosh said. “It’s going to be a great race,” she added. “I’m pumped.”