400m freestyle and 200m medley break world records, while the 800m freestyle clocks in as the third-fastest in history—Mackintosh lights up Canada’s World Championships trials.

From June 7 to 12, Canada hosted the Singapore World Championships trials, and on the very first day of competition, a major surprise emerged: in the women’s 400m freestyle final, McIntosh delivered a stunning performance.3:54.18It shattered Australian swimmer Titmus's world record of 3:55.38. The new time improved upon her previous Canadian national record—and also the world record—of 3:56.08 by nearly two seconds.

The most striking aspect of this race was the way McIntosh secured her victory. As she shattered the previous world record, her split times at the halfway point were as follows:1:55.91And 2:00.17. This time, she swam the first half a second slower, but finished the second half in an astonishing 1:57.76.

After the race, McIntosh said: "As I entered tonight, I knew my training over the past few months had been incredible—I felt ready to pull off something special." She continued, "To be honest, I didn’t feel much pain during the race. In fact, I felt incredibly strong throughout the entire swim. For me, the 400-meter freestyle has never felt this way before. Usually, by the final 100 meters, I’d already be in serious agony. But this time, after the 200-meter turn, I was just cruising. I knew I was swimming at an elite level, and judging from the energy of the crowd—and how enthusiastically they were cheering—I could tell I might even break the world record. So, for the rest of the race, I gave it everything I had, racing not just for myself, but for them."

At last summer's Paris Olympics,The women's 400-meter freestyle race was dubbed the "Battle of the Century" because it featured three world-record holders competing against each other.As a result, McIntosh finished behind Titmus to claim the silver medal, while Ledecky took home the bronze.

McIntosh recently trained in France ahead of the World Championships in Singapore, with Fred Vergnoux as her coach. Reports suggest that after the World Championships in August, she’ll be joining Bob, Phelps’ former coach.·Bauman, competing in the professional division in Texas, USA, follows Phelps as another notable disciple of Bauman—France's renowned athlete Marchand.

McIntosh competed in the 400-meter freestyle event at last December's World Short Course Championships in Budapest.Swam a time of 3:50.25,She shattered the world record previously set by China's Li Bingjie, improving it by more than one second, and also set new world records in the 200m butterfly and the 400m individual medley. Breaking the long-course 400m freestyle record at this selection event marks her fourth record-breaking performance of the season.

On the second day, in the 800-meter freestyle final, McIntosh once again delivered a stellar performance, clocking an impressive time of 8:05.07. This not only shattered her own Canadian national record of 8:09.96, set back in February of this year, but also improved it by nearly 5 seconds. It was also the third-fastest swim ever recorded in this event, trailing only Katie Ledecky’s world-record time of 8:04.12, set in early May, and Ledecky’s previous world mark of 8:04.79, set back in 2016.

During the race, McIntosh swam faster in the second half than the first, clocking 4:01.17 at the 400-meter mark—faster than Katie Ledecky’s previous world-record split of 4:01.78. Though her second-half time of 4:03.90 was slower than Ledecky’s, it still represented a significant improvement over her earlier 800-meter performance. In February, McIntosh’s time for the full 800 meters was 8:09.86 (splitting into 4:02.15 and 4:07.71).

McIntosh has yet to compete in the 800-meter event at the World Championships. Meanwhile, Ledecky has remained virtually unbeatable in this event for years. As the first—and so far only—swimmer to match Ledecky’s level in the 800-meter freestyle, a showdown between these two superstar athletes at the Singapore World Championships would undoubtedly be nothing short of spectacular.

On June 9, local time, the third day of the qualifying round,McIntosh's motivationStill dominant: She shattered the women’s 200m individual medley world record with a time of 2:05.70, besting the previous mark of 2:06.12 set by Hungary’s "Iron Lady," Hosszú, at the 2015 World Championships.

McIntosh, born on August 18, 2006, is the latest rising star in international swimming, hailed as a "prodigy" after Ledecky—and she boasts even more well-rounded technical skills than her predecessor. Currently, she holdsFour itemsShort-course world records (400 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley)—three eventsLong PoolWorld records in the 400m individual medley, 400m freestyle, and 200m individual medley. In 2024, McIntosh was named World Aquatics' Female Swimmer of the Year, while Marchand was selected as Male Swimmer of the Year.