The 2024 Paris Games is shaping up to be a tournament to remember for Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh.
The 17-year old is considered a prodigy in the pool, besting former gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus in the 800m final at the 2024 Southern Zone South Sectionals. She took home her first Olympic medal Saturday, finishing 0.88s off Titmus' gold medal time.
McIntosh erupted into the global consciousness in 2021, placing fourth in the 400m at the Tokyo Games. She's surged up the ladder to become a true Canadian superstar, representing the Maple Leaf with aplomb. And she's only just getting started.
Despite her successes with the Canadian national team, McIntosh — a Toronto native — doesn't actually train in her home nation. Rather, she traveled south to coax every drop of talent out of her frame.
Here's what you need to know about McIntosh's training home and regimen, which will come into sharp focus during this year's Olympics.
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Where does Summer McIntosh train?
Despite hailing from Toronto, McIntosh doesn't actually train there. As a matter of fact, she doesn't train in Canada at all.
Instead, she took her talents south, settling in at Florida's Shelby Aquatic Center, the home of the Sarasota Sharks, the acclaimed swim club helmed by coach Brent Arckey.
The decision to move her training base to Sarasota may seem a strange one at first glance. But the Sharks' training facility is teeming with Olympic-grade amenities, including an Olympic-sized pool and outdoor access all year long. McIntosh just wasn't presented with the same opportunities in her hometown, a place that often experiences biting cold during the fall and winter months.
MORE: Everything to know about Summer McIntosh's Toronto roots
McIntosh first got herself involved with the Sharks in the winter of 2021, according to Arckey. Following a hectic 2022 campaign, she decided to remain with the famed club side, which sent four Americans to the U.S. Olympic trials, including Emma Weyant, a silver medalist in the 400m IM back in 2021.
“Obviously, we are very excited to have her,” Arckey said in 2022, per Swim Swam. “We have a great group of teenagers here and Summer fits right in.”
McIntosh's agreement with the Sharks allows her to train at Swimming Canada’s High Performance Centre in Ontario whenever she's back home. She trained out of the High Performance Centre full time prior to her move to Sarasota. Before that, she was a member of Etobicoke Swim Club in her hometown Toronto.
