Over the years, Katie Ledecky has secured countless medals and championships without any major rival for her crown in swimming. However, it looks like that has changed as Ledecky seems to have found a fitting rival in Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh. The 16-year-old dominated the 400 IM at Toyota US Open for the gold medal and beat Team USA?s Emma Weyant by 13 seconds.?
Given that the Canadian finished 1.24 seconds behind Ledecky for silver at the World Championships in June, the gold must be a major confidence boost for her. Along with celebrating her triumph, her fans are already anticipating many more victories, especially against Katie Ledecky.
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Fans are mesmerized by the swimming prodigy Summer McIntosh
During the in the 400m individual medley, McIntosh dove into the water and blasted past the other swimmers to rewrite the Canadian and Junior world records. Devin Heroux of CBC Sports recently tweeted about the teenager’s impressive performance in the US Open. It immediately garnered the attention of many fans who expressed their excitement in witnessing the growth of, probably, the next legendary figure in swimming. A fan even tweeted how he wanted McIntosh to break the incredible records of Katie Ledecky.?
Happy Saturday sports fans.
Every time ?? Summer McIntosh is in the pool she's breaking records. That was the case once again last night while competing in the US Open.
The Canadian swimming sensation is on a meteoric trajectory.
My @cbcsports story: https://t.co/64S4zmDFrj
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) December 3, 2022
Fans, unsurprisingly, showed their excitement in the comments. A user replied, ?Awesome! Summer need to break all of Hosszu’s records and keep hunting Ledecky.?
Awesome!
Summer need to break all of Hosszu's records and keep hunting Ledecky.— Joanie's Peaches ? ?? (@Peaches285) December 2, 2022
Katinka Hossz?, three-time Olympic champion, is a Hungarian swimmer with expertise in individual medley events. She is also a nine-time long-course world champion.?
I asked her after she was defeated by McIntosh in Toronto.
She told me the first time she saw Summer swim she went "who is THAT?!"
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) December 3, 2022
Well, I love this ?
— Kylee Garson (@kyleegarson) December 3, 2022
Holy, i did NOT expect that. She is only 16, how
— Pablo Rueda (@PabloBio20) December 2, 2022
The Canadian swimmer is nine years younger than Ledecky, and trains in Sarasota, Florida. McIntosh broke into the world stage after becoming the youngest member of the Canadian team at just 14 in the 2020 Olympics.?
Can McIntosh dethrone Ledecky?
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Katie Ledecky has won the most medals in history among all female swimmers- 7 Olympic gold medals and 19 World Championship gold medals. The swimming champion has also received the Swimming World‘s Female World Swimmer of the Year award, a record straight five times. And her latest award is the ESPY Best Female Athlete in 2022.
via Getty
TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 31: Katie Ledecky of Team USA poses with her two Gold and two Silver medals after a giving a press conference to the media during the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 31, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
On the other hand, McIntosh has set the record for the fastest time ever by a 14-year-old worldwide in 400 m freestyle. Dubbed a ?teen swimming sensation,? she became the first Canadian to win two gold medals in a single World Championship event.?
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Watch this story:?Here?s how Katie Ledecky?s remarkable swimming technique propelled her to the top of the world record charts
While both swimmers belong to different generations and have a huge age difference, one can?t stop anticipating their face-off in the near future. Can McIntosh dethrone Ledecky to become the next legend in swimming? Share your thoughts in the comments.?
