South Etobicoke has always been known for our top swimmers, from Marilyn Bell who swam across Lake Ontario to those making a name for themselves today.

It is no surprise that Etobicoke Swim Club’s Summer McIntosh will be among the youngest member of the Canadian Olympic team competing at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games this month.

McIntosh, 14, a Grade 10 Student at Silverthorn Collegiate, is making a name for herself in elite swimming.

She narrowly edged Rio Olympic star Penny Oleksiak in June in the 200 metre freestyle finals and won herself a spot on the Olympic team.

Oleksiak later described McIntosh as “all gas, no brakes.”

“I know going into races, she’s going to go, go, go,” says Oleksiak of McIntosh. “I love her work ethic. She’s really strong in and out of the pool mentally.”

Swimming Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have said 26 swimmers will represent our country in Tokyo. There will be 16 females and 10 males.

Three Etobicoke Swim Club swimmers including; Katrina Bellio, Ruslan Zaziev and McIntosh will be competing in Tokyo. Etobicoke has placed 31 swimmers on Canadian Olympic Teams since 1956.

“One of Silverthorn Collegiate Institute’s own Grade 10 students, Summer McIntosh is on her way to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” tweeted school principal, Sam Iskandar. “Congrats for swimming and placing first in Olympics qualifers. Proud moment.”

Etobicoke swim experts say McIntosh appears to be following the success of her mother, the former Jill Horstead, a 1984 Canadian Olympic swimmer, and former All-American swimmer who attended the University of Florida.

“The genetics are such that McIntosh, based on what she has been able to accomplish so far, certainly has the potential to be even better,” one official said.

McIntosh is described as “an extremely talented swim teenage sensation … nothing short of unbelievable.”

She was named Swim Ontario Athlete of the Month after her record breaking performances at the Spring Ontario Swimming Championships.

Bellio and McIntosh had been teammates for several years at Etobicoke, one of the top teams in Canada, before McIntosh made the jump to the Toronto High Performance Centre.

Bellio won the 1,500 freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Trials, with a time of more than two seconds required for her to pack her bags for the Tokyo Olympics.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Bellio said. “I’m still in shock. It’s incredible to be 16 years old and be nominated for the Olympics.”

Gasviev, 21, finished third in the 100-metre freestyle in the 2021 Canadian Olympic swimming trials that qualified him for Tokyo.

The Summer Olympics are set for July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo.

The Etobicoke Swim Club was founded in 1954. Its goals are to support young people with the drive, determination, talent and desire, to realize their maximum potential in competitive swimming.