Summer McIntosh withdraws from Canadian swim trials due to illness

Summer McIntosh withdraws from Canadian swim trials due to illness

19-year-old breaks 200m butterfly world record, wins women's 400 IM

Summer McIntosh’s Canadian swimming trials are over.

The 19-year-old Canadian scratched the 400-metre freestyle final due to illness after competing in the heats on Tuesday morning. She will not compete in any other events in Montreal.

No further details about the nature of her illness have been provided.

“I'm so sorry, but on the advice of my doctors and coach, l've made the difficult decision to scratch from my remaining events at the 2026 Canadian trials,” McIntosh said in a statement.

“I started feeling ill yesterday morning, and while I hoped I'd be able to keep racing, this is the right decision.”

McIntosh posted the fastest time in the 400 freestyle heats, clocking four minutes 11.45 seconds. Shortly after, she made the decision on the advice of Swimming Canada doctors and her coach Bob Bowman to withdraw from the remainder of the event.

WATCH | McIntosh breaks 200m butterfly world record at Canadian trials:

Canada's Summer McIntosh breaks 200-metre butterfly world record time at Canadian swimming trials

She was slated to finish her trials by competing in the 200 individual medley on Wednesday.

“Summer came to Montreal with clear performance objectives, and she leaves having delivered another memorable moment for Canadian swimming fans. After ongoing discussions with Bob, our medical team and Summer, the decision was made with Swimming Canada’s full support that this is the best course of action,” John Atkinson, high performance director for Swimming Canada, said. At 4:30 p.m. ET, he will speak to reporters at the pool.

Summer McIntosh breaks women’s 200m butterfly world record at Canadian swim trials

On Sunday, she broke the longest-standing women’s world record on the opening night of trials. She stopped the clock in 2:01.65 in the 200 butterfly event, eclipsing the previous record set in 2009. The record stood for 6,101 days.

“There is so much magic in this pool, and I'm incredibly grateful I got to experience it. I'm so disappointed that I can't continue racing in front of these amazing crowds, but my focus now is on getting healthy so I can be ready to represent Canada at the Pan Pacific Championships,” McIntosh added in a statement.

“Thank you for all the love and support this week. I'm so sorry our time together was cut short, and thank you for cheering me and all of the athletes on. Best of luck to everyone for the rest of the competition.”

Legendary coach Bob Bowman hails pupil McIntosh's 'very important' 200m butterfly world record

McIntosh breezes to women's 400m IM win, but misses own world record at Canadian trials

McIntosh now holds four individual world records — the 200 individual medley, 200 butterfly, 400 freestyle and 400 individual medley.

On Monday evening, she clocked the fastest 400 individual time in the world this year. McIntosh posted a time of 4:27.35.

McIntosh has secured her spot on the Canadian swimming team that will compete at the Pan Pacific Championships in mid-August in Irvine, Calif.

Summer McIntosh breaks 17-year-old 200m butterfly world record on Day 1 of Trials

Devin Heroux reports for CBC News and Sports. He is now based in Toronto, after working first for the CBC in Calgary and Saskatoon.