Summer McIntosh leads Canadian swim team eager to build on Paris success at world short course championships

Summer McIntosh is feeling right at home in the familiar confines of Duna Arena.

It was here in Budapest two years ago at the long course world championships the Canadian swimming sensation rocketed into a completely different stratosphere.

The Toronto teen, who was just 15 years old at the time, captured her first two individual world championship titles, swimming to gold in both the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley in world junior record times. She became the youngest Canadian ever to win a world title. 

Two years later, McIntosh and the Canadians are back at Duna Arena getting ready for the short course world championships, set to begin Tuesday in the Hungarian capital. CBC Sports and CBC Gem will stream every race live with heats starting at 3 a.m. ET and finals at 11:30 a.m. ET. each day.

"This is definitely one of my favourite, if not my favourite, pool in the world because it holds so many memories and it's a really fast pool," McIntosh told CBC Sports at a training session ahead of the event. "To be back here two years later after one of the most important meets in my swimming career, it feels so long ago and seeing how far I've come since then is really cool."

McIntosh is coming off an electrifying Summer Games where she became the first Canadian ever to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. She'll be competing in four individual events in Budapest starting with the 400m freestyle on Tuesday's opening night. 

WATCH | Devin Heroux, Brittany Maclean preview the competition:

"My goal is to win every event I enter. I have a bit of extra oomph for the 400m freestyle," McIntosh said. "I'm super excited to be here. I've been training really hard these past couple of months."

McIntosh will also be competing in the 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, the first time she'll be competing internationally in a backstroke event. 

"I'm swimming all my favourite events and I'm just ready to get racing," she said. "Short course the turns matter. Details, turns, underwater swimming matters even more in short course. I've been focusing on that in training, getting reps and reps."

Brent Arckey, her coach with Sarasota Sharks swim club, is once again a part of the Canadian coaching staff. Arckey says this is another opportunity to evaluate where McIntosh is at and build off of her Olympic performance.

"She can be as good as she wants here. You know she's going to ring it out. When she gets behind the blocks you know she's going to give you 110 per cent," Arckey said.  "She's proud to wear the flag and she's going to do everything she can to put on a show."

McIntosh is joined by 17 Canadians who make up a strong team with depth and talent including Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem, Penny Oleksiak and Mary-Sophie Harvey. Fifteen out of the 18 swimmers on the roster competed on the Paris team that won eight medals.

Oleksiak is returning to the short course world championships for the first time in eight years. Not since Windsor in December 2016 has Oleskiak competed in this event. She'll swim in the 50m and 100m freestyle as well as relays.