Canada’s McIntosh wins 200m butterfly world title

The 16-year-old McIntosh came home in 2min, 04.06sec to finish ahead of Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers on 2:05.46 and American Regan Smith on 2:06.58.

McIntosh said she was “really happy” with the race, which saw her ease into an early lead and then romp home at the finish. | Photo Credit: AP

Canadian teen Summer McIntosh won the women’s 200m butterfly title at swimming’s world championships on Thursday.

The 16-year-old came home in 2min, 04.06sec to finish ahead of Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers on 2:05.46 and American Regan Smith on 2:06.58.

McIntosh said she was “really happy” with the race, which saw her ease into an early lead and then romp home at the finish.

“Going into tonight I just wanted to see how hard I can push and how much I could hold in that second half,” she said.

McIntosh, the defending champion, had endured a frustrating championship going into the race.

She finished fourth in the 400m freestyle on the opening night, losing her world record to gold-medallist Ariarne Titmus.

She then finished third behind Australian pair Mollie O’Callaghan and Titmus in the 200m freestyle.

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“I always just try to make sure that I’m having as much fun as possible and enjoying the experience and process, trying to feed off the energy from all of the people in the stands,” said McIntosh.

“It just makes it a really fun time.”

Smith had already won silver in the 100m backstroke and was set to swim in the 50m backstroke final around half an hour later.

Lana Pudar, the fastest qualifier from the semi-finals, became the first Bosnian to appear in a world championships final.