Sawt Falasteen - Swimming prodigy Summer McIntosh, a 'force of nature' heading for Olympics

"We knew even at seven or eight years old that she was going to be an exceptional swimmer... beating 10 and 12-year-old swimmers by a pool length," her father Greg McIntosh told AFP. "She is a force of nature. She has been since she was a child."

The 17-year-old swimmer is already a four-time gold medallist at the World Championships -– in the 200m butterfly and 400m medley in 2022 in Budapest and in 2023 in Fukuoka.

And last May, she broke her own world record in the 400-meter medley, just a few weeks before the Olympics.

The feat was achieved in front of a hometown crowd during the Canadian Olympic trials. For two years, the star has trained in Florida, spending six days a week in the pool, starting at 4:00 a.m.

"All of her time is devoted to swimming," says her sister Brooke McIntosh, speaking from the family home in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke.

The McIntosh family's passion for sport runs deep: their mother Jill saw in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and older sister Brooke shines in pairs figure skating, having earned a bronze medal in 2022 at the world junior championship.

"We're very competitive. This is really in our blood," she says with a chuckle, at her side Mikey -- an orange tabby that Summer named for her idol, American Michael Phelps who is the most decorated swimmer of all time.

With two teenagers with high-level sporting careers, the McIntoshes have split the family in two: Summer and Jill live in the United States for pool training, Brooke and Greg in Canada for ice training.

"We have a fairly detailed family calendar that reminds us of everyone's obligations," explains the "very proud" father, who is both "excited and nervous" for the Paris Olympics.

- 'She wants to dominate' -

The competition will also be closely followed by regulars at the Gus Ryder pool in Etobicoke, where Summer McIntosh started out.

"I've never had a swimmer before Summer or after that is anywhere in her league, to be honest, and I don't know that I ever will," her first coach Lindsay Watt told AFP.

From the edge of the pool, where she keeps an eye on young swimmers she trains, she describes the "power" of Summer McIntosh.

"As soon as she gets onto any scene, she wants to dominate," Watt said.

"She doesn't let anyone infiltrate her positive thoughts. Her mentality is like a fortress. Most athletes take a lifetime to learn that, but Summer had it figured out at eight years old."

This unwavering determination had also impressed her primary school teacher Valerie Flynn.

Summer "was swimming a lot and always writing about it in her journal," she recalls. "It's not every day you see a student achieve a goal that they had set out in Grade 3."

The Paris Olympics will be her second Games after those in Tokyo in 2021 where she became the youngest Canadian athlete in the history of the Games, all sports combined.

In Paris, all eyes will be on her to dethrone American legend Katie Ledecky, a seven-time Olympic champion seeking an eighth title.

In recent months, the 27-year-old superstar suffered her first defeats in more than 10 years in the 400m and 800m freestyle -- to Summer McIntosh.

H.Jarrar--SF-PST