NANTERRE, France (AP) — After winning three gold medals and a silver swimming at the Paris Games, it’s back to high school for Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh.
She will take some time to catch her breath and decompress back home in Ontario during a short break from the pool — and then she has a couple of courses left to complete her high school requirements this fall.
After earning her diploma, McIntosh will begin thinking about what’s next, including where she will attend college.
One thing is already decided: It won’t be for an NCAA program in the United States. McIntosh’s mother, 1984 swimming Olympian Jill Horstead, said her daughter wants more flexibility in her training and meet schedule than American colleges provide.
Yet none of these big decisions are the first thing on the teenager’s agenda. For months, McIntosh has been planning her 18th birthday party at the family cottage by a lake – her happy place.
Friends from home will be attending, along with some from Florida where she now trains. It’s her golden birthday — she turns 18 on Aug. 18.
“It’s going to be fun just to have some time off swimming and kind of take my mind off things,” she said. “Just kind of soak up all of what I’ve done here.”
Horstead says she is unlikely to relax and rest until after those festivities are over.
Her mom is proud of how McIntosh stays so balanced, making sure her social life remains a key part of her routine right along with swimming and school. It’s different than how Horstead operated in her day.
“She’s a very social teenager, she demands a fun side. I admire that in her,” the mother said. “She’s a teenage girl with a lot going on who can still have a lot of fun.”
They are all overjoyed with how a near-perfect week in Paris turned out. Horstead’s sister, Kelly Draper, came along while her husband and two sons stayed home to decorate the house and host watch parties to cheer on McIntosh with more than 20 people.
Draper’s experience in Paris instantly brought her back to the 1984 Games.
“Over the last four years, we’ve been waiting for this moment to come,” Draper said. “I remember 1984 like it was yesterday and just being there to cheer on my sister was one of the most special moments of my life. … And now 40 years later, to be here with my sister cheering on her daughter, my niece, has been the most incredible experience of my life.”
McIntosh’s only misses in France came in a trio of relays with the Canadians finishing fourth in each of the 4×100-meter medley, the 4×100 and 4×200.
She leaves with golds in her three individual events of the 400 and 200 individual medleys and the 200 butterfly — one that’s a little more meaningful considering it was her mother’s event. McIntosh earned silver in the 400 free.
“It’s been some of the craziest days of my life,” McIntosh said, acknowledging that she is physically and emotionally spent. “Of course you’re going to get tired, nine days of Olympic racing, but at the same time I’ve trained years, so I’m familiar with this kind of pain and exhaustion.”
And she has her eyes on 2028.
“I’m already thinking about LA to be honest, I’m really excited.”
Her father, Greg, knows it will take time for everything from France to sink in for the family.
“Still digesting all of it for sure. It’s been the focus for our family for the last three years since Tokyo. It’ll take a bit of time for it to come into focus and perspective, this year and the impact of what Summer has been able to do here,” he said. “You’re bursting with pride and you’re thankful for all the support that she’s had. There’s a huge team behind Summer.”
An entire country as well.
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