Summer McIntosh secured a gold medal at the Pan Pacific swimming competition by triumphing over Australia’s Jenna Forrester in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, setting a championship record in Irvine, California. McIntosh completed the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in four minutes and 28.01 seconds. Forrester followed closely behind, earning the silver medal with a time of 4:31.50, while Agostina Hein from Argentina claimed the bronze in 4:32.54. The previous Pan Pacs record of 4:31.99 was held by American Elizabeth Beisel since 2014.
After the race, a group of enthusiastic youths in the audience cheered loudly as the Canadian national anthem played. McIntosh expressed her delight at being able to entertain the crowd and contribute to the excitement of the event. Later in the evening, McIntosh played a pivotal role in securing a bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, alongside teammates Mary-Sophie Harvey, Emma O’Croinin, and Brooklyn Douthwright.
In the men’s 400 IM, Tristan Jankovics and Lorne Wigginton of Canada finished in 7th and 8th place respectively. Jankovics clocked a time of 4:14.14, with Wigginton closely behind at 4:14.94. Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita clinched the gold with a championship record time of 4:06.75, surpassing Ryan Lochte’s previous record set in 2010.
Taylor Ruck from Kelowna, British Columbia, secured a fifth-place finish in the women’s 100 free with a time of 53.16 seconds. The event saw Meg Harris of Australia emerge victorious, overtaking Gretchen Walsh in the final 25 meters to claim the gold.
Additionally, University of Calgary swimmer Alexanne Lepage achieved a personal best of 1:05.94 in the women’s 100 breaststroke, coming close to the Canadian record set by Annamay Pierse. Sophie Angus, also from Canada, finished in seventh place in the same event. McKenzie Siroky of the U.S. led the race, followed by Tang Qianting of China and Satomi Suzuki of Japan.
Several other Canadian athletes delivered commendable performances in various events, contributing to the nation’s success at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.