Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh picked up another win at the U.S. Open Championships with a dominant victory in the women’s 400-metre individual medley on Friday night.
The 17-year-old McIntosh, who owns the world record in the event, finished with a time of 4 minutes 29.96 seconds, nearly eight seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel was second in 4:37.90 and Regan Smith of the United States was third in 4:38.77. Ella Jansen of Burlington, Ont., was fifth in 4:44.97.
McIntosh also owns the course record at the Greensboro Aquatic Center of 4:28.61, set at last year’s U.S. Open Championship.
McIntosh set the world record – 4:25.87, which is also the world junior record – last April in Toronto.
In the men’s 100-metre butterfly event later Friday, Ilya Kharun of Montreal was only .01 behind winner Caeleb Dressel of the United States, who finished in 51.31. Joshua Liendo of Toronto was 0.11 seconds back in third.
The Paris Summer Olympics are 236 days away.
It was the second victory of the competition for Toronto’s McIntosh.
On Thursday, she took the 400-metre freestyle title at the championships, beating American Katie Ledecky by nearly three seconds. It was the first time in 11 years that Ledecky lost a 400-metre freestyle race in an American pool.
McIntosh took the title in a meet record of 3:59.42, while Ledecky touched next in 4:02.38.
Ledecky’s last loss in the 400 free in her home country was at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, when she placed third at the age of 15.
Last March, McIntosh also snapped Ledecky’s nine-year U.S. win streak in the 200 free.
The significance of McIntosh’s latest victory is difficult to gauge, because swimmers are at different stages of their training cycles as they ramp up preparations for next year’s Paris Games.
McIntosh held the 400 free world record for three months before it was reclaimed by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus with a winning time of 3:55.38 at this summer’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Ledecky was runner-up at worlds, while McIntosh struggled to a fourth-place finish.
Titmus is also the reigning Olympic champion in the 400 free. Ledecky took gold in the event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.