By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2026 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials
July 5-9, 2026 Montreal, Canada — Montreal Olympic Pool LCM (50 Meters) Meet Central Pan Pacific Championships Selection Criteria Psych Sheet Live Results How To Watch Recaps: Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 Finals: Day 1She wanted it bad, and after a few agonizingly close attempts, Summer McIntosh finally got her hands on the world record in the women’s 200 butterfly on Sunday during the opening night of action at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Montreal.
The 19-year-old executed a perfect swim to finish in a time of 2:01.65, breaking Liu Zige‘s vaunted super-suited world record of 2:01.81 set in October 2009.
Liu’s mark had stood as the oldest women’s world record on the books, and McIntosh was very vocal about her desire to break the mark last year, when she gave it a good run at the Canadian Trials (2:02.26) and the World Championships (2:01.99).
On Sunday, McIntosh made the biggest difference relative to her 2:01.99 splits on the second 50, while compared to Liu, McIntosh’s third 50 was the difference-maker, out-splitting her by six-tenths.
Split Comparison
Liu, 2009 McIntosh, 2025 McIntosh, 2026 27.19 27.22 27.45 58.08 (30.89) 58.41 (31.19) 58.21 (30.76) 1:30.20 (32.12) 1:30.00 (31.59) 1:29.73 (31.52) 2:01.81 (31.61) 2:01.99 (31.99) 2:01.65 (31.92)Below, check out the race video, with options for both Canadian and international viewers.
RACE VIDEO
For Canadian Viewers
For non-Canadian Viewers
pic.twitter.com/af7HbUSzBG
— media sport (@sportnmedia2) July 5, 2026
One discernible difference between McIntosh’s 2:01.99 swim at last year’s World Championships and her world record swim on Sunday was stroke count.
She had a slightly higher tempo in breaking the world record, doing one more stroke per 50 on all but the third length.
Comparing that to Liu’s world record swim from 2009, the Chinese native started off with a longer stroke on the opening length (20 strokes), like McIntosh last year, but had upped her stroke count to 25 on the back half.
While Liu’s stroke appeared to shorten towards the end of the third 50 and into the last length, McIntosh’s increased tempo looked like a deliberate decision from the start.
Stroke Count Comparison
Liu, 2009 (2:01.81) McIntosh, 2025 (2:01.99) McIntosh, 2026 (2:01.65) 1st 50 20 20 21 2nd 50 24 23 24 3rd 50 25 24 24 4th 50 25 24 25 Total 94 91 94Check out a race video of Liu’s world record swim below:
October 21, 2009 pic.twitter.com/Lgx80vAzlx
— Buttstroke Swimming (@ButtstrokeSwim) July 6, 2026
In addition to increasing her stroke rate, McIntosh was also more consistent in her breathing pattern on Sunday. She usually breathes every other stroke, but sometimes breathes twice in a row. In her world record swim, however, she only had one instance where she breathed twice in a row (early in the second 50).
At the 2025 World Championships, she double-breathed 13 times, six of which came on the third 50. Liu was similar, sometimes breathing every other, sometimes twice in a row.
These changes come after McIntosh joined Bob Bowman and the University of Texas pro group late last summer, after the World Championships.
Bowman is of course the longtime coach of Michael Phelps, who won Olympic gold in the men’s 200 fly three times and held the world record from 2001 until 2019.
McIntosh said post-race that growing up this was the one world record she never thought she’d be able to break, but after coming incredibly close last year, she was able to do so with a few minor tweaks.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Analyzing Summer McIntosh’s Stunning 200 Fly World Record Swim (Race Video)
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