Summer McIntosh is figuring it out at the Canadian swim trials
THE BUZZERJesse Campigotto
| CBC Sports | Posted: June 6, 2025 8:26 PM | Last Updated:
June 6
And other stuff to watch this weekend
Image | 2164678242
Caption: Summer McIntosh is gunning for five gold medals at the
2028 Olympics and this year's world championships. But first,
she has to decide what her fifth event will be. (Jonathan
Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
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Canada's most dominant Olympic athlete returns to competition
this weekend as Summer McIntosh ramps up for next month's world
championships at the national swimming trials in Victoria.
The trials, taking place Saturday through Thursday, will
determine who represents Canada at the July 27-Aug. 3 world
championships in Singapore. McIntosh, the now 18-year-old
phenom who won a national-record three Olympic gold medals and
a silver last summer in Paris, will have no trouble making the
team in any event she wants. But exactly which events she'll
choose to swim in Victoria is a matter of some intrigue.
McIntosh has already declared a lofty goal for the 2028
Olympics in Los Angeles: five individual gold medals. That
would match Michael Phelps' legendary haul in 2008 in Beijing,
where he added three relay victories to capture a single-Games
record eight golds.
McIntosh confirmed last week that she'll soon begin working
with Phelps' old coach, Bob Bowman, as part of her ambitious
plan. But the project is already in motion as McIntosh has
declared her intention to compete in five solo events at the
upcoming world championships. She'll use the Canadian trials to
help figure out what those five will be.
McIntosh has officially entered seven events at the six-day
trials in Victoria, but it's highly unlikely she actually swims
all of them. She recently told my CBC Sports colleague Brittany
MacLean Campbell that her program for the worlds will
definitely include the three events she won at the Paris
Olympics (200m butterfly, 200m medley, 400m medley) and the one
where she took silver (400m freestyle). Her fifth event will be
either the 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle or 800m freestyle —
all of which she's signed up for at the trials along with the
core four.
The smart money seems to be on the 800 as McIntosh has devoted
a lot of her time this year to longer-distance training with
her current coach Fred Vergnoux at his camp on the French
Riviera. So look for her to swim the 800 at the trials and, if
all goes well, the worlds too.
McIntosh is not the only young Canadian Olympic medallist to
watch in Victoria. On the men's side there's 21-year-old Josh
Liendo, the 100m butterfly silver medallist in Paris, and
19-year-old Ilya Kharun, who took bronze in both the 100 and
200 fly.
The trials will also decide Canada's team for the Para world
championships in September in Singapore. Nicholas Bennett won a
pair of golds and a silver at last year's Paralympic Games in
Paris, while Aurelie Rivard collected a medal of each colour to
bring her career total to 13.
You can watch every race at the Canadian swim trials live on
CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, starting Saturday. Preliminary heats
begin at 12:30 p.m. ET and finals at 8:30 p.m. ET each day.
Here's the full schedule of events.
For more on the trials, read Devin Heroux's piece on Canada's
young stars and watch Devin and Brittany break down the top
five storylines to follow.
Other Canadians to watch this weekend in Olympic/international
sports:
* The top Canadian in the clubhouse at the Canadian Open was
Richard Lee, who fired a six-under 64 in the second round today
at Osprey Valley near Toronto to move to 9 under for the
tournament and grab a share of second place as of our publish
time. Never heard of Lee? You're not alone. He's a 35-year-old
who plays on the Asian Tour and hasn't made more than one PGA
Tour start in a season since 2015-16. American Cameron Champ
(12 under) had the clubhouse lead at our publish time. Here's a
live leaderboard.
* The Canadian men's soccer team is in Toronto for the Canadian
Shield, a new four-team mini-tournament that will help Canada
prepare for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, starting June 14. The
30th-ranked Canadians play No. 25 Ukraine on Saturday
afternoon, then face No. 41 Ivory Coast on Tuesday night. New
Zealand is also taking part but will not play Canada. The team
with the best record after two matches is crowned the champion.
Here's a look at Canada's roster for the Canadian Shield and
the Gold Cup.
* Olympic 10m platform synchro bronze medallists Rylan Wiens
and Nathan Zsombor-Murray are among the Canadians competing in
the Canada Cup of Diving in Gatineau, Que., through Sunday.
Athletes from 10 countries are involved, though none from
China, which swept the eight Olympic golds in Paris last year.
Watch live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Here's the streaming
schedule.
* Some of the world's top women's volleyball teams are opening
their Nations League season in Ottawa, where ninth-ranked
Canada is 1-1 after defeating No. 19 Bulgaria and losing to the
eight-ranked Netherlands. The Canadians face No. 7 Japan on
Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and No. 10 Serbia on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
Watch those matches live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
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