"It was just never in the plan" – Summer McIntosh clarifies decision to skip 800m at Paris Olympics

Summer McIntosh is a prominent competitive swimmer from Canada and earned four medals at the Paris Olympics 2024 with her impressive performances. While recently appearing for a discussion, the swimmer shared her thoughts on her Olympic events, including her absence in the 800-meter race.

McIntosh has amassed eight medals in the World Championships long course and eight medals in the World Swimming Championships short course. The 18-year-old has become one of the top talents rising from the Great White North. She recently appeared for a discussion on the “Unfiltered Waters” podcast with Olympic champions Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin and expressed her thoughts on the Paris Olympics and not participating in the 800m.

“When it came to choosing events, me and my coach Brent sat down at the beginning of the season last year and we just kind of picked basically what we thought we were going to do then and we thought no matter what, we're going to really stick to that and those four events. So, I think people were surprised that I didn't do the 800 just because I did a really good time later on that season but it was just never in the plan. So, we like my training was never based around to the 800 at the Olympics so I was never going to change it,” she said. [13:31 onwards]

McIntosh, who is a six-time Commonwealth Games medalist, revealed the reason why she did not partake in the 800m race events and concentrated on other events. At the Southern Zone South Sectional Championships 2025 in Plantation, Florida, she upgraded her Canadian and Commonwealth records and finished the 800m race in 8:09.86, a new national record.

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Summer McIntosh shared her take on receiving the World Aquatics female swimmer of the year award

Summer McIntosh at the Swimming - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 6 - Source: Getty

Summer McIntosh is a four-time World Aquatics champion and has secured many prominent feats during her career. Last year, she was honored with the World Aquatics female swimmer award. She shared her thoughts on receiving the award via CBC Sports.

“To get an award like this, it's once in a lifetime. So, it's just a great way to end off an amazing year and meet overall. But I'm just so honored to be standing here and be able to accept this. And it's not just me that's put in all this work it's my family, my teammates, of course, my coaches as well. So, I owe so much of this to them,” Summer McIntosh said.

Along with her notable achievements, McIntosh also surpassed junior world records in three individual events in 2022. At the FINA Swimming World Cup 2022, she defeated legend Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle and surpassed her world junior short-course record and Canadian record.