Summer McIntosh is already a generational great, and she's just getting started
CBC
Minutes after beating American great Katie Ledecky to win her first Olympic medal, a silver in the 400-metre freestyle, Summer McIntosh said she was trying to set a good tone for the Canadian team on Day 1 of the Paris Olympics.
"We're literally just getting started," McIntosh told CBC Sports' Devin Heroux.
McIntosh said she's always most nervous on the opening day of a meet, and since getting that race off her plate, the 17-year-old swimming superstar has taken off.
First, there was gold in the 400-metre individual medley, a race where McIntosh was dominant from start to finish. She touched the wall more than five seconds ahead of her closest competition, American Katie Grimes.
Then, she captured gold in the 200-metre butterfly, a victory made sweeter by the fact it was the race her mother, Jill, competed in during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
WATCH | McIntosh captures second Olympic gold medal:
Exactly how many medals McIntosh will take home from Paris remains to be seen. Next up is the 200-metre individual medley final on Saturday at 3:08 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be on CBC TV, CBC Gem, the CBC Olympics app or on the CBC Olympics website.
What is clear is that McIntosh is only getting started, and the sky's the limit for the swimmer who's always drawn inspiration from Michael Phelps, considered the greatest swimmer of all-time.
As she stood atop the podium for the first time after winning gold, McIntosh seemed to be enjoying the moment and taking it all in.
It's a moment Olympic bronze medallist Brent Hayden expected to see. Three years ago, Hayden was swimming in a pre-Olympic staging camp in Vancouver when he looked to his left and saw a 14-year-old McIntosh pacing him.
"She really is just an incredible, incredible swimmer," said Hayden, who placed third in the 100-metre freestyle at the London Games in 2012.
"We are lucky that she's from Canada. She's going to be one of those generational greats that swimmers will be looking back at."
Tokyo was McIntosh's first senior international meet. Looking back, McIntosh said those Olympics were harder mentally.
Having no fans in the stands was difficult, McIntosh told reporters in Paris this week, because she likes to feed off the crowd's energy.
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