Michael Phelps arrived at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships with a close eye on one swimmer in particular, Summer McIntosh. “When I see her compete, and when I see her train, it reminds me a lot about me,” Phelps has said of McIntosh. But on Friday, August 14, her 400m freestyle campaign took an unexpected turn when a costly misjudgment left the world-record holder outside the A final.

McIntosh entered the women’s 400m freestyle as the top seed and world-record holder, making her one of the biggest favorites to reach the championship final. She swam in the fifth and final heat, with Katie Ledecky having already posted a 4:03.48 in the previous heat and Erika Fairweather clocking 4:04.50. McIntosh, however, could not match the pace expected from her and finished the morning in 4:08.56.

The time left her ninth overall, just one place outside the eight swimmers who advanced to the A final. It was a stunning result for a swimmer whose world record stands at 3:54.18, meaning her heat time was more than 14 seconds away from her global mark. But McIntosh did not try to hide from the disappointment. Instead, she took responsibility for what had happened, admitting on Instagram, “I take full responsibility for my misjudgment in this morning’s heats.”

Her ninth-place finish meant that the world-record holder would have to race in the 400m freestyle B final rather than compete for a medal in the championship final. She returned to the pool for the B final that evening and produced a far stronger performance. McIntosh won the race in 4:00.58, nearly eight seconds faster than her morning swim.  Her B-final time would have been fast enough for third place in the A final.

In other words, McIntosh had the speed to reach the podium. Her morning mistake simply prevented her from getting the chance to compete for it. While McIntosh was racing in the B final, Australia’s Lani Pallister took control of the championship race.

Pallister won the A final in 3:58.42, defeating American swimming great Katie Ledecky, who finished second in 4:00.15. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather claimed the bronze medal in 4:02.35. Yet McIntosh’s surprising setback was not enough to shake the confidence surrounding a swimmer who has long been viewed as special.

How Rare Is This?

Other than McIntosh’s anomaly, there have been a few occasions where a world record holder missed a final due to a sudden drop in performance. 

Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú, the reigning world record holder in the 200m backstroke, mistimed her finish and placed a shocking 20th in the heats at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Pan Zhanle, who set the 100m freestyle world record of 46.40 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, missed the final completely at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. 

In fact, even Michael Phelps nearly missed the 400m individual medley final at the London Games, qualifying eighth in the heats by just 0.07 seconds. 

Michael Phelps Became Part of Summer McIntosh’s Swimming Journey

Summer McIntosh grew up admiring Michael Phelps and his approach to swimming. Team Canada currently lists Phelps as one of her inspirations, specifically noting that she was inspired by the hard work he put in to become the best. In a July 2024 Team Canada interview, McIntosh was asked whether she really had a cat named after the swimming legend. She smiled and explained that she actually had three cats, Riley, Duke and Mikey, with Mikey named after Michael Phelps.

The connection became much more direct when McIntosh decided to work with Bob Bowman, the coach who guided Phelps through most of his legendary career. In early 2025, McIntosh announced that she would leave her previous training setup and work with Bowman in Austin. When discussing the decision, she specifically mentioned Phelps as part of what attracted her to Bowman’s program.

McIntosh said: “Bob having someone like the greatest of all time swimmer Michael Phelps, being able to do all those events is definitely an attraction, and along with Léon as well.”

By 2026, the comparison was no longer simply something fans were making. Bowman, who knew Phelps better than almost anyone in swimming, was asked about McIntosh. His response was blunt: “They’re very similar.” Then he went even further: “Scarily similar in some ways.”

At the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Phelps was asked about McIntosh.

“You can tell by her reaction after the race, right? She writes it all across her face,” Phelps said. He then made the comparison that immediately stood out.

“To be honest, when I see her compete, and when I see her train, it reminds me a lot about me,” Phelps added.

And that makes McIntosh’s latest setback even more revealing, because even a swimmer Phelps sees so much of himself in can still have a race that goes completely wrong.