SINGAPORE -- Two nights, two gold medals, and Summer McIntosh is only just warming up at the 2025 swimming world championships.
The Canadian teen prodigy backed up her canter to gold in the women's 400m freestyle final on night one with an even more impressive showing in the 200m individual medley, crushing the field to win in a time of 2:06.69 and stake her claim as the best swimmer on the planet.
McIntosh, who broke a 10-year world record in the event last month at her national trials in Victoria, looked to have a race on her hands in the third 50m, when American breaststroke specialist Alex Walsh eased up alongside her. But in the blink-of-an-eye, McIntosh had re-established a full body-length lead, powering away over the final half lap to collect her latest swimming accolade. Walsh held on for silver while fellow Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey finished third, narrowly ahead of 12-year-old Chinese sensation Yu Zidi, competing in her first major final.
"Going into the race tonight my goal was to put my head on the wall first, so to get that done is good," said McIntosh on the pool deck. "I'm not super happy with the time, but honestly, at a world championship, my goal is just to go as fast as I can. Still happy with the gold and hoping to keep up my streak next time."
McIntosh is looking to match swimming icon Michael Phelps this week with a haul of five individual gold medals at a single world championship meet. The triple Olympic champion from Paris will also race the 400m individual medley, the 200m butterfly, and the 800m freestyle, going up against American long-distance star Katie Ledecky in arguably the race of the championships.
Earlier in the evening, Australia added another medal to its tally with Alexandria Perkins winning bronze in the women's 100m butterfly final, a race that was dominated by American Gretchen Walsh. For Perkins, 25, it was her first individual medal at a major long course swim meet.
Night two in Singapore also featured Australia's five-time Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown in the semifinals of the women's 100m backstroke. McKeown advanced to the final with the second-fastest time, just 0.23s adrift of current world record holder Regan Smith. The pair, who collectively own the six quickest times in the event this year, will battle for gold in Tuesday evening's final, the latest chapter of their epic modern day rivalry.
Here's how night two in Singapore unfolded: