McIntosh ready for teenage fun after Olympic glory

PARIS – The only swimming Summer McIntosh’s mom expects her girl to do successful nan contiguous early is successful Lake Muskoka aft a cannonball disconnected nan dock

“Summer’s a free spirit,” Jill Horstead said Monday successful Paris. “Don’t beryllium fooled by her focus. She’s very bully astatine switching gears. As soon arsenic she gets home, it’s going to beryllium full-on teen having fun.”

McIntosh, whose first sanction was inspired by nan characteristic Summer Roberts connected nan tv show “The O.C.”, has earned a measurement of leisure aft capturing 3 golden medals and a metallic successful nan Olympic excavation successful Paris.

She’s Canada’s first triple golden medallist astatine an Olympic Games, wintertime aliases summer. The Toronto swimmer joins teammate Penny Oleksiak arsenic nan only Canadians to gain 4 medals astatine a Summer Games.

“I don’t deliberation it’s sunk successful yet,” McIntosh said astatine a Canada Olympic House news conference. “I’m beautiful sleep-deprived and tired, but coming present today, I knew that it would beryllium truthful overmuch nosy to observe what Swimming Canada has done alongside my friends and my teammates.

“It’s been great, but it’ll decidedly return a while for maine to recognize what precisely we’ve done. It’ll descend successful much erstwhile I caput backmost to Canada.”

She was expecting a 2nd congratulatory telephone from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He besides called aft nan first of her 3 golden medals.

McIntosh spent a bully portion of Monday pinch each her hardware draped astir her neck.

“My neck’s a small sore,” she stated.

She’s undaunted by nan precocious barroom she’s group for herself successful nan years up to Los Angeles successful 2028.

“I ever want more,” McIntosh said. “What keeps maine successful nan athletics is nan job’s not finished. I person truthful overmuch near I want to accomplish. I’m only 17.

“I person galore much years successful nan sport, nevertheless agelong I want to go, truthful it conscionable keeps inspiring maine each day, erstwhile I get backmost to training to support pushing and moving forward.”

Becoming an adult, and everything that entails, while maintaining an internationally elite level of swimming is nan task for nan young swimmer, but McIntosh won’t beryllium connected that travel alone.

McIntosh will return to her Sarasota Sharks nine successful Florida and coach Brent Arckey. She has 2 much classes to complete to postgraduate from precocious school.

“It’s a large 4 years for her property bracket, usually leaving home, going to university, each that stuff, she’s going to beryllium going done each of that, but you conscionable return it 1 time astatine a clip and conscionable make judge that she’s surrounded by nan champion people,” said her mother.

“You benignant of go your environment, truthful arsenic agelong arsenic you protect your environment, I deliberation she’ll beryllium OK.”

Swimming Canada high-performance head John Atkinson says keeping McIntosh patient and happy and swimming accelerated to L.A. requires galore moving parts.

“That is multi-faceted,” Atkinson said. “It’s not conscionable moving pinch nan athlete, it’s moving pinch nan coach, moving pinch nan family, and having beardown relationships pinch everybody and pinch 1 extremity astatine nan centre of that — looking aft what a young jock wants to do.”

Three-time Olympic backstroker Kylie Masse, 28, has been wherever McIntosh is going.

“When you’re truthful wrapped up successful nan times and nan outcome, twelvemonth aft twelvemonth aft year, yet that’s going to get exhausting and you mightiness commencement to consciousness a small spot burnt out. At slightest that’s what I felt,” Masse said. “It’s successful those times that it’s nan astir important to really retrieve nan travel and to support things successful perspective, and conscionable nan moments you stock pinch your teammates extracurricular of a pool.

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“Moments successful colony and things for illustration that are each truthful important to shaping your career. My proposal to her is to really conscionable soak successful nan moments that she’s succeeded successful nan pool, but besides cognize that location are truthful galore different moments that she tin return memories from.”

McIntosh won 400-metre freestyle metallic connected swimming’s opening nighttime successful Paris. The world-record holder successful nan 400 individual medley delivered golden connected nan 3rd day.

She past took nan 200-metre butterfly — which Jill raced successful nan 1984 Olympic Games successful Los Angeles — successful Olympic-record clip followed by different Olympic grounds to triumph nan 200-metre I.M.

“My 400 I.M. was very typical for me, conscionable because that’s 1 of my favourite events, and since I person a world record, it was decidedly benignant of an anticipation for myself to get nan golden medal,” McIntosh said. “Then for nan 200 fly, it is decidedly 1 of my favourite events, and since my mom did that arena backmost successful 1984 astatine nan Olympic Games, to get gold, that was a very typical infinitesimal to stock pinch her.

“For nan 200 I.M., it was conscionable a awesome measurement to benignant of decorativeness disconnected nan meet for me. I really wanted that golden medal. I knew Day 8, I was going to beryllium tired from each my swims. At nan aforesaid time, I was conscionable arsenic fresh to spell connected Day 8 arsenic I was connected Day 1 and that’s thing that really gives maine a batch of assurance successful what I did successful training previously.”

McIntosh was fresh to observe her 18th day Aug. 18 astatine nan family cottage pinch friends. Horstead says location are 2 different sets of keys for nan Sea-Doo there.

“One that goes really accelerated and 1 that doesn’t,” mom said. “We haven’t fixed her nan really accelerated 1 yet.

“She drives it likes she swims. A small scary.”

This study by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2024.