Summer McIntosh Sizzles in 800 Freestyle at Southern Zone Sectionals; Posts All-Time Top-10 Performance
Racing at the Southern Zone Sectionals in Florida, Canadian star Summer McIntosh (Sarasota Sharks) dropped one of the fastest performances in the history of the 800-meter freestyle on Thursday afternoon. McIntosh, who was one of the headliners of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, registered a swim of 8:09.86, good for the 10th-fastest time in history.
McIntosh, coached by Brent Arckey, improved her personal best by more than a second, as her previous top time was 8:11.39. Historically, McIntosh ranks behind only Katie Ledecky in the event. The American has won four consecutive Olympic titles in the 800 freestyle, and is the world-record holder at 8:04.79.
The Olympic champion in Paris in the 200 individual medley, 400 IM and 200 butterfly, McIntosh has been a factor in the 800 freestyle for several years. However, her versatility has forced the Canadian to make difficult scheduling decisions, with the 800 freestyle left off her most-recent Olympic program. It will be interesting to see if McIntosh attacks the 800 freestyle at this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.
McIntosh went out in 1:58.86 at the 200-meter mark and went through the midway point of the race in 4:02.15. Her back half of the race was covered 4:07.71. McIntosh’s splits looked like this:
100: 57.76
200: 1:58.86
300: 3:00.16
400: 4:02.15
500: 5:04.37
600: 6:06.07
700: 7:08.70
800: 8:09.86
In the men’s 800 freestyle, the United States’ Bobby Finke was victorious and the only athlete to break the eight-minute barrier. Finke touched in 7:57.54.
Congratulations Summer. 🙂
Looking through the splits from Ledecky’s best and Summer’s best, Summer has Ledecky at the 300m mark Summer 3:00.16 and Ledecky 3:00.76, and then Ledecky just keeps from the 300-750m mark between 30.22-30.85 where Summer ranges the 300-750m mark between 30.80-31.65. Then there is the last 50m Ledecky hits a 28.99 and Summer finishes in a 29.68. Considering Summer is 18 years of age for her 8:09.86 performance, and Ledecky was 19 years old when she hit the 8:04.79 at the Rio Olympics this is looking like it could be in contention this world record. Comparison from Myswimsplits 800m Free