Summer McIntosh breaks longstanding 200-meter butterfly world record at Canadian trials

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The 200-meter butterfly world record, finally, has been broken.

Canada’s Summer McIntosh broke the longest-standing individual world record in women’s swimming on Sunday night at the Canadian trials in Montreal. McIntosh completed the 200-meter butterfly in 2:01.65.

“To be honest, as soon as I dove in I felt absolutely incredible,” McIntosh said, via the CBC. “The crowd just got my adrenaline going … I went out pretty fast and I think I just held on very well. It was done very well and it’s a great way to start off trials.”

China’s Liu Zige held the record previously when she completed the event in 2:01.81 back in 2009. Liu got her record at China’s National Games just months before polyurethane suits were banned from global competition, ending the super-suit era.

McIntosh has come close to the mark in the past, too, and was just 0.18 seconds shy of the record at the world championships in 2025.

“This is probably, in my opinion, one of the hardset world records in the books, on the women’s side at least,” she said. “That’s always been a really big goal of mine … To now break it, it’s just very surreal.”

McIntosh now holds four individual women’s long-course world records. She also holds the 200 and 400-meter individual medley titles and the 400-meter freestyle record. She set those three records at last year’s Canadian trials. McIntosh also won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics in 2024, including in the 200 fly.