World Championships, Day Two Finals: Summer McIntosh Mines Gold in 200 IM; Silver for Alex Walsh
A little more than a month ago, during a tour de force week at the Canadian Championships, Summer McIntosh took the 200-meter individual medley into new territory. For the first time in history, a woman cracked the 2:06 barrier in the event, with McIntosh delivering a clinical performance.
On Monday night, she simply did what was necessary to grab her latest world title.
Leading fron start to finish, McIntosh capped the second night of action at the World Championships in Singapore with a gold medal in the 200 individual medley. McIntosh touched the wall in 2:06.69, which was nearly a second off her world record of 2:05.70. Nonetheless, the 18-year-old accomplished her goal – win.
McIntosh got to the finish nearly two seconds clear of American Alex Walsh, who pickd up the silver medal with a mark of 2:08.58. The bronze medal went to the other Canadian in the field, as Mary-Sophie Harvey narrowly clipped Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi for third place. Harvey recorded a time of 2:09.15, with Yu going 2:09.21.
Through two days of competition, McIntosh is 40% of the way to her goal of five solo crowns, with her first title secured in the 400 freestyle on Sunday. The opening day was more demanding for the Canadian, as she was asked to balance two races each of the 400 freestyle (prelims/finals) and 200 IM (prelims/semifinals). With 1000 fewer meters of racing to negotiate on Day Two, McIntosh had the opportunity to attack the 200 IM.
