SINGAPORE, July 31, 2025 – Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh shattered a meet record Thursday, capturing her third gold medal of the world championships in the women’s 200-meter butterfly.
McIntosh, 18, from Toronto, won the 200 fly in 2:01.99, narrowly missing the world record.
McIntosh Claims Third Gold in Singapore
- Summer McIntosh secured her third gold medal at the world championships.
- She set a new meet record in the 200-meter butterfly.
- McIntosh is aiming for a historic five individual titles.
Make that three world championship gold medals for Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh. The 18-year-old from Toronto won the women’s 200-meter butterfly Thursday in a meet-record two minutes 1.99 seconds, which was just shy of the world record of 2:01.81.
Gold medalist Summer McIntosh of Canada, centre, flanked by silver medalist Regan Smith of the United States, left, and bronze medalist Elizabeth Dekkers of Australia pose on the podium after the women’s 200-meter butterfly final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Thursday, July 31, 2025.
The Canadian touched the wall three seconds ahead of silver medallist Regan Smith of the United States (2:04.99), while Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers claimed bronze in 2:06.12 in Singapore.
McIntosh’s swim was the fastest ever in a textile suit, now ranking second all-time. It trails only the world record set in 2009 by China’s Liu Zige during the now-banned “super suit” era.
McIntosh, the Olympic gold medallist in the 200 fly last year, also broke her Canadian record from June’s trials. She became the first Canadian to claim a trio of gold medals at a single world championship. She’s also the first to win three world titles in the same event, with previous victories in 2022 and 2023.
Despite the win, McIntosh wasn’t entirely satisfied. “Winning was the goal going in, but my other goal tonight was to break the world record,” she said. “I’m a little bit frustrated. I can’t be too hard on myself. It’s still a personal best time and I’m dropping time from a time I went just over a month ago.”
Targeting Historic Feat
McIntosh also won the 200 individual medley and 400 freestyle earlier in the meet. She’s aiming for five individual titles, a feat only U.S. great Michael Phelps has achieved at a single world championship.
McIntosh returned to the water Friday for the 800-meter freestyle heats. She qualified for Saturday’s final and a potential showdown with reigning Olympic champion Katie Ledecky. McIntosh won her heat in 8:19.88, the third-best overall time. Lani Pallister of Australia (8:17.06) and Ledecky (8:14.62) qualified from another heat.
McIntosh is the Olympic champ and world-record holder in the 400-meter individual medley. That final is scheduled for Sunday, the championship’s conclusion. “Seeing how close I was (to the 200 fly world record) gives me a lot of confidence,” McIntosh said. “I’m super, super excited for the 800 and then of course the 400 IM.”
Canadian Teammates Shine and Fall Short
Her victory Thursday marked the 11th medal of her career at long-course worlds, surpassing veteran teammate Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont. Masse, a five-time Olympic medallist, narrowly missed the podium in the women’s 50-meter backstroke, finishing fourth by three hundredths of a second.
“It’s always challenging,” said the 29-year-old Masse. “You really have to be perfecting every skill to be competing for the podium. It’s obviously unfortunate to miss out by nothing, but at the end of the day, I have to be proud of myself and what I’ve accomplished this year.”
American Katharine Berkoff took gold in the 50 backstroke in 27.08 seconds, ahead of teammate Regan Smith (27.25) and China’s Letian Wan (27.30). Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm placed eighth.
Saskatoon’s Blake Tierney set a new Canadian record in the 200-meter men’s backstroke during his heat and again in his semifinal. He qualified for Friday’s final with the fifth-fastest time of 1:55.03. “I had an ankle injury going into trials,” Tierney said. “I got that sorted and this meet I’ve had better prep. You always want to be quicker, so hopefully 1:54 in the final, that would be nice.”
Singapore offers a prize purse of US$3.1 million for pool and open-water swimmers, plus a $30,000 bonus for world record breakers.
Canada also placed sixth in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay final. Brooklyn Douthwright, Sienna Angove, Ella Cosgrove and Ella Jansen finished in 7:52.52. Australia won gold in 7:39.35.
Oliver Dawson of Grande Prairie, Alta., finished 11th in the 200-meter breaststroke. The 17-year-old set a national age group record with a time of 2:10.32 in the semifinals.
Canada has secured six medals at the world aquatics championships so far – five in swimming and one in high diving. Katelyn Fung of London, Ont., narrowly missed a diving medal in her world championship debut, finishing fourth in the women’s 10-meter final Thursday. The 21-year-old totalled 343.20 points.
“Honestly, I haven’t realized what happened quite yet, but I can say I’m more than satisfied with my performance,” Fung said. “Fourth place at my first individual world championships is incredible.”
