Summer McIntosh withdraws from Canadian swim trials due to illness

Summer McIntosh’s Canadian swimming trials are over.

The 19-year-old Canadian scratched the 400-metre freestyle final due to illness after competing in the heats on Tuesday morning. She will not compete in any other events in Montreal. 

No further details about the nature of her illness have been provided. 

“I'm so sorry, but on the advice of my doctors and coach, l've made the difficult decision to scratch from my remaining events at the 2026 Canadian trials,” McIntosh said in a statement.

“I started feeling ill yesterday morning, and while I hoped I'd be able to keep racing, this is the right decision.”

McIntosh posted the fastest time in the 400 freestyle heats, clocking four minutes 11.45 seconds. Shortly after, she made the decision on the advice of Swimming Canada doctors and her coach Bob Bowman to withdraw from the remainder of the event. 

WATCH | McIntosh breaks 200m butterfly world record at Canadian trials:

Canada's Summer McIntosh breaks 200-metre butterfly world record time at Canadian swimming trials

She was slated to finish her trials by competing in the 200 individual medley on Wednesday. 

“Summer came to Montreal with clear performance objectives, and she leaves having delivered another memorable moment for Canadian swimming fans. After ongoing discussions with Bob, our medical team and Summer, the decision was made with Swimming Canada’s full support that this is the best course of action,” John Atkinson, high performance director for Swimming Canada, said. At 4:30 p.m. ET, he will speak to reporters at the pool.

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On Sunday, she broke the longest-standing women’s world record on the opening night of trials. She stopped the