Canadian swim star Summer McIntosh 'feeling great' after illness sidelined her from World Cup tour

Canadian swimming sensation Summer McIntosh says she has recovered from an illness that took her out of the pool and is “feeling great” after what was a harrowing two weeks for the 19-year-old.

McIntosh was forced to withdraw from all three stops on the World Cup tour after suffering an illness ahead of the first event in Carmel, Ind.

In an exclusive interview with CBC Sports, McIntosh says just two days out from the start of the World Cup she woke up in the middle of the night with a severe headache that led to two weeks of searching for answers about what was wrong with her.

“I knew something was off and I had a slew of other symptoms. I was in and out of the ER a few times, and they ran a bunch of tests and they couldn't really figure out what it was. They thought it was mono; it wasn't mono. They thought it was the flu or COVID, and there was none of that,” McIntosh said.

“So then my third time going to the ER they had to test me for what they thought might have been viral meningitis. Thank goodness it wasn't, but to do that test they had to do a lumbar puncture.”

That lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap, turned out to be somewhat problematic for McIntosh. She says there were “complications” that developed in the wake of the lumbar puncture that put her on bed rest for more than a week.

“It just kind of delayed me getting back into the water because I was feeling fine, for the most part, but then that just kind of reinstated not feeling the best, with those complications,” she said.

“I’ve definitely had some time away from the pool but I'm just so happy to be back in the water now and slowly getting back into things.”

McIntosh, who recently moved to Austin, Texas to train with legendary coach Bob Bowman, says