‘Wonky finish' costly as McIntosh flirts with another world-record swim

Summer McIntosh came within a whisker of breaking a third world record at the Canadian swimming trials after finishing 0.45 seconds outside Liu Zige's 200 meters butterfly mark set during the era of the now-banned “super-suits.”

Three-time Olympic champion McIntosh, who set world records in the 400m freestyle and the 200m individual medley, clocked two minutes, 2.26 seconds to post the second-fastest women's 200m butterfly in history.

The 18-year-old was on world-record pace when she made the final turn but fell just short of the 2:01.81 mark set by China's Liu in 2009.

"I was kind of upset with myself with the finish,” McIntosh said. “My last stroke was just a little bit wonky. I can definitely find the other little deficiencies through the race.

“The fact I'm knocking on the door of that world record is really encouraging. That’s the one world record I never thought I would even come close to. To be pretty close to it is pretty wild.”

McIntosh's time was also more than 10 seconds under the minimum qualifying mark of 2:13.73 for the world championships in Singapore in July and August.

REUTERS