Summer McIntosh continued to take the swimming world by storm on Monday, winning her second gold medal in two days to keep up her bid to make World Aquatics Championship history.
The 18-year-old won the 200m individual medley final with a time of 2:06.69, almost two seconds faster than American Alex Walsh, who took silver with 2:08.58.
Monday’s victory came after McIntosh beat nine-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky by more than two seconds to take gold in Sunday’s 400m freestyle.
In that event, the 18-year-old finished with a time of 3:56.26, just two seconds shy of the world record she set back in June, but more than enough to beat Li Bingjie, who finished in 3:58.21 and claimed silver.
Ledecky, the so-called “First Lady of Freestyle” who has dominated the sport for more than a decade, took bronze with a time of 3:58.49.
McIntosh’s impressive run means that she is now three gold medals away from joining Michael Phelps as the only swimmers ever to win five individual titles at a single world championships.
The Canadian is also competing in the 400m individual medley, the 200m butterfly and the 800m freestyle.
“I think the 400 free, at past world championships and Olympics, I haven’t been at my best. And I haven’t been where I wanted to be. So, to finally stand in the center of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet,” McIntosh said after Sunday’s victory, according to the Associated Press.
“I think I’m at my best. I’m in the best shape of my life. So now I just have to act on that and put it into all my races.”
Monday’s 200m individual medley final also saw 12-year-old prodigy Yu Zidi finish in fourth place, just 0.06 behind Mary-Sophie Harvey, who took bronze.
Competing in what is probably her weakest event, the Chinese phenom led for part of the race and finished with a personal-best time of 2:09.21.
Yu is also due to compete in the 400m individual medley and the 200m butterfly events.
