Summer McIntosh does not just represent the future of Canadian swimming — she is the now.
The native of Toronto put her name on the Olympic map three years ago in Tokyo. McIntosh was the youngest Canadian at the 2021 Olympics, but she did more than just show up. She showed out, finishing fourth in the women's 400m freestyle and setting a new Canadian national record with a time of 4:02.42.
While McIntosh did not earn a medal then, the teenager is one of the favorites to finish atop the podium now. McIntosh is a threat to take the gold medal away from Team USA's Katie Ledecky, who also starred on the Olympic stage at a young age.
Just how old is McIntosh? The Sporting News has the answer.
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How old is Summer McIntosh?
McIntosh is 17 years old. She was born on Aug. 18, 2006, and hails from Toronto. She is the youngest member of Team Canada's swimming squad.
How old was Summer McIntosh at her first Olympics?
McIntosh was just 14 years old when she competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Not only was she the youngest member of Canada's swimming roster, she was the youngest Canadian at the Olympics across all sports.
MORE: How many medals has Summer McIntosh won? Tracking results from 2024 Olympics
How old was Katie Ledecky at her first Olympics?
McIntosh has Ledecky beat in one specific category already.
Ledecky was 15 years old when she made her Olympic debut at the 2012 Olympics in London. She was the youngest American athlete at the 2012 Games.
Summer McIntosh vs. Katie Ledecky at 17 years old
At 17 years old, McIntosh already has built an impressive resume for herself.
The Canadian swimming sensation may not yet own an Olympic gold medal, but she is a four-time World Aquatics champion and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
In 2022, she became the youngest World Aquatics champion in swimming in over a decade and youngest in Canadian history when she won the 200m butterfly. McIntosh also earned the title as the first Canadian to win two gold medals at a single World Championships, also claiming first in the 400m individual medley.
McIntosh won two more gold medals in 2023 at the World Championships, defending her title in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley.
On the other side, Ledecky already had one Olympic gold medal to her name at 17 years old. She was 15 years old when she finished first in the 800m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics. It actually was the first gold medal on Ledecky's resume at the world stage.
She added to the total in 2013 when she took four gold medals at the 2013 World Championships (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay) at the age of 16. The next year, she won five gold medals at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, finishing first in the same four events she won at the 2013 Worlds, while also claiming the 200m freestyle.
Here is a breakdown of the medal counts for McIntosh and Ledecky at the age of 17 years old, entering the 2024 Paris Olympics.
| McIntosh | Medal | Ledecky |
| 0 | Olympic gold | 1 |
| 0 | Olympic silver | 0 |
| 0 | Olympic bronze | 0 |
| 4 | World Championships gold | 4 |
| 1 | World Championships silver | 0 |
| 2 | World Championships bronze | 0 |
| 0 | Pan Pacific gold | 5 |
| 0 | Pan Pacific silver | 0 |
| 0 | Pan Pacific bronze | 0 |
| 1 | Commonwealth Games gold | 0 |
| 3 | Commonwealth Games silver | 0 |
| 1 | Commonwealth Games bronze | 0 |
