Summer McIntosh won the first of what could be five individual gold medals.
Canadian Summer McIntosh won the 400m freestyle to open her bid to win a record-tying five individual gold medals at the World Swimming Championships.
McIntosh, an 18-year-old who bagged three golds at the 2024 Olympics, clocked 3 minutes, 56.26 seconds, beating China's Li Bingjie by a comfortable 1.95 seconds.
American Katie Ledecky took bronze. Australian Ariarne Titmus, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist, was not in the field as she takes the year off.
McIntosh previously broke the 400m free world record in 2023 and again last month, when she took it down to 3:54.18. The 400m free was the lone event that McIntosh didn't win at the Paris Games, taking silver behind Titmus and ahead of Ledecky.
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McIntosh has four individual events left at these worlds: 200m and 400m individual medleys, 200m butterfly and 800m free (an anticipated showdown with four-time Olympic gold medalist Ledecky).
She can become the second swimmer to win five individual golds at a single worlds after Michael Phelps.
Earlier Sunday, German Lukas Martens took the men's 400m free by two hundredths over Australian Sam Short in 3:42.35.
Martens, the Paris Olympic gold medalist, broke the world record in the event in April, clocking 3:39.96. He took down the longest-standing individual world record set by fellow German Paul Biedermann in 2009.
In Sunday's preliminary heats session, Americans Torri Huske and Claire Weinstein scratched out of the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle, respectively.
Huske, the Olympic 100m fly gold medalist, withdrew from the event to prioritize the 4x100m free relay, according to USA Swimming. She can still race the 50m and 100m frees later in the meet, plus more relays.
Huske was among the U.S. swimmers who became sick at a pre-worlds training camp in Thailand. A majority of U.S. swimmers were affected to varying degrees by acute gastroenteritis, or a stomach bug.
Weinstein also made the team in the 200m and 800m frees.
Worlds continue all week with preliminary heats at 10 p.m. ET and finals at 7 a.m., live on Peacock.
Monday's finals are expected to feature world record holders McIntosh in the 200m IM and Gretchen Walsh in the women's 100m fly.
Category: General Sports
