4:23.65! McIntosh breaks another record—female "Phy" shatters three world records in just 5 days.
Currently, the three fastest-ever women's 400m individual medley times have all been set by McIntosh.
In addition to breaking three world records, McIntosh also swam a time of 8:05.07 in the women’s 800m freestyle, marking the third-fastest performance in the event’s history—just behind Katie Ledecky’s world record and the previous world record. Meanwhile, in the women’s 200m butterfly, she delivered the second-fastest time ever recorded at 2:02.26. The current world record for the women’s 200m butterfly stands at 2:01.81.Chinese athlete Liu Zige set a world record—widely regarded as the toughest to break—while wearing a high-tech swimsuit at the 2009 National Games, and now it appears that McIntosh may be poised to shatter it.
Breaking three individual event world records in a single competition—only U.S. swimming superstar Michael Phelps had achieved this feat before.
McIntosh began making waves at the 2022 Budapest World Championships and went on to clinch an impressive three golds and one silver at last year's Paris Olympics. The Singapore World Championships will showcase a dazzling performance from one of swimming's true superstars.
Compared to last year's split times of 59.18, 1:07.12, 1:17.13, and 1:00.95, McIntosh improved her backstroke segment (1:06.13) by nearly a full second—and achieved a similar gain in her breaststroke leg (1:18.02). She also shaved off 0.63 seconds in the freestyle portion of the race, finishing the final 50 meters at a faster pace than her previous time of 29.72 seconds.
McIntosh said she’s pleased with her performance—except for the final 25 meters of breaststroke. Over the past year, she’s been focusing on refining her breaststroke technique and continues to work on it. At the same time, she hasn’t neglected improving her backstroke skills, noting that her backstroke technique is "very strong," allowing her to leverage this stroke during races to boost her overall results.
