World Championships, Day 1 Women’s Prelims: Summer McIntosh Opens With Double
The 2025 World Championships could be a historic week for Summer McIntosh. It starts off for the Canadian teen from Day 1 in Singapore.
McIntosh will be in the water twice in the first session at the World Aquatics Championships Arena with four swims on the first day of the meet.
McIntosh’s heat in the 200 individual medley, the fourth of four, goes off at 10:15 a.m. local time. She’ll be in the water for the fourth and final heat of the 400 free at 11:59 a.m. The night session is tighter, with the 400 free final at 7:33 p.m. in Singapore with the 200 IM semifinals at 8 p.m. on the dot.
McIntosh has a massive program ahead, chasing five individual gold medals. She enters with newly minted world records in both IMs and the 400 free, plus a chance to duel with Katie Ledecky in the 800 free and take aim at a hallowed, super-suited 200 fly world record. It could be a meet that vaults the Canadian into the stratosphere of swimming history. It all starts pretty much as soon as the meet does.
Quick Links
200 individual medley
Summer McIntosh delivered an uneventful opening swim, which is just fine by her given what’s ahead. She went 2:09.45, luxuriously into the semifinals with the second fastest time. First went to Australian Tara Kinder, who beat her head-to-head in the final heat by .01 seconds.
Alex Walsh qualified third in 2:09.50. Mary-Sophie Harvey was fourth in 2:09.95. The other American, Phoebe Bacon, finished 12th to make the semifinals.
Yu Yiting, who selected the 200 IM-100 butterfly double, was fifth in 2:10.33. Also into the semifinals is China’s 12-year-old Yu Zidi.
There was a tie for 16th place requiring a swimoff between Emma Carasco of Spain and Tamara Potocka of Slovakia. Carrasco won the swim-off in 2:12.21, eight hundredths quicker than the deadlocked time from prelims. Potocka went 2:12.99.
100 butterfly
The 100 fly took a blow with the withdrawal of Torri Huske, but her fellow American picked up the slack. Gretchen Walsh led the way in prelims in 55.68. She was within .15 seconds of the meet record set in 2017 by Sarah Sjostrom, a record you’d have to think it living on borrowed time with the world record holder lurking.
Germany’s Angelina Kohler finished second, riding behind Walsh in the sixth and final heat. She went 56.49, and Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium was also quick in that event in 56.66. Fourth was Mizuki Hirai of Japan.
China’s Yu Yiting navigated the double by finishing fifth in 56.83. Zhang Yufei finished seventh in 57.11 to get through. Rikako Ikee is also into the semis in 57.75. The highest-profile miss might well be Louise Hansson of Sweden in 22nd.
400 freestyle
The 400 free is about who will be there and who will not be there Sunday night.
Katie Ledecky will be there, posting the fastest time in prelims in 4:01.04. Summer McIntosh will be there, the Canadian navigating her double by tying with Li Bingjie for third in 4:03.11.
But Claire Weinstein of the United States will not, a DNS, presumably due to the illness sweeping through the U.S. camp. And neither is reigning world champion Erika Fairweather, disqualified for movement at the start.
Fairweather finished fourth in the third heat of four, won by Katie Ledecky with Li second and Yang Peiqi third (and fifth overall). Fairweather’s time of 4:03.39 would’ve placed her sixth, but she was DQed for motion at the start. That means only three members of the sub-4 club – Ledecky, Li and McIntosh – will be in the final.
Lani Pallister won the fourth and final heat in 4:02.36 to remind everyone she’s a medal threat. Fellow Aussie Jamie Perkins was sixth. Germans Isabel Gose and Maya Werner round out the final eight.
Special mention for Ching Hwee Gan, the Singaporean swimmer who won the second heat and finished 13th overall.
400 free relay
For all the consternation surrounding the American swimmers, the four selected for the 400 free relay took care of business in prelims.
Erin Gemmell, Kate Douglass, Anna Moesch and Simone Manuel went 3:33.57 to prevent any bad surprises and secure the A team the center lane in tonight’s final. Gemmell was the fastest flat start in either heat at 53.52, quicker by seven hundredths than even Italy’s Sara Curtis. Douglass was the fastest in the race by splitting 52.04 and making it all but impossible to lead her off the final side. Moesch debuted at Worlds in 53.80, and Manuel came home rock solid in 54.21.
The night’s final will have Torri Huske to add, plus Gretchen Walsh. Douglass, Manuel and Gemmell will vie for two spots.
Second in prelims was Australia, which won the second heat in 3:34.64. Olivia Wunsch, Abbey Webb, Hannah Casey and Milla Jansen led a young squad that has Mollie O’Callaghan and Meg Harris waiting in the wings.
Third was the Netherlands, Marrit Steenbergen bringing them home in 52.37 to get third in 3:35.47, finishing second in the first heat to the U.S. China and France both made the final out of the second heat, China in 3:35.36 (with Zhang Yufei held in reserve) and France in 335.76. The Neutral Athletes B, Italy and Hungary round out the final, the latter edging Canada by .46 seconds.
