Bob Bowman doesn’t think the comparison is far-fetched.
The coach who guided Michael Phelps to a record 23 Olympic gold medals absolutely believes Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh belongs in the same sentence.
“They’re very similar,” Bowman said. “Scarily similar in some ways.”
After overseeing the most decorated Olympic career in history, Bowman’s newest pupil is McIntosh, the teenage sensation who already owns four Olympic medals and four world records — the latest coming Sunday night in the women’s 200-metre butterfly at Canadian trials.
Bowman sees the same competitive makeup in both swimmers, highlighting McIntosh’s ability to step up under the spotlight and her disciplined routine.
“A lot of the same things that Michael had,” the 61-year-old coach said at Montreal’s Olympic pool. “She has a very clear way of preparing for the races; she knows exactly what her routine is from the time she walks in until the time that she swims, and then afterwards there’s a whole thing that is locked in.”
Bowman went on to place the 19-year-old McIntosh — also an eight-time world champion — as “already” one of the greatest swimmers ever.
“It’s hard to start naming the best women swimmers of all time and not say her, right? Even now,” he said. “She’ll need to obviously have another good Olympics or two, and then that would be the answer.”
McIntosh has followed in Phelps’ footsteps in more ways than one. She recently signed with Octagon, the agency that also represents her childhood idol — for whom she named one of her cats “Mikey.”
She joined Bowman’s training group last fall in Austin, Texas, alongside French star Léon Marchand, looking to refine her craft as she chases an unprecedented five women’s gold medals at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The partnership is already paying dividends for the Toronto swimmer, who eclipsed Liu Zige’s nearly 17-year-old record with a time of two minutes 1.65 seconds in the 200 butterfly.
Zige’s mark of 2:01.81, set in 2009 while wearing a since-banned “super suit,” was long considered untouchable.
“Bob’s the best. He’s so professional, and of course he knows how to train someone for the 200 fly,” said McIntosh, whose events are nearly identical to Phelps’ lineup.
McIntosh was also scheduled to compete in the 400 individual medley Monday at Canadian trials, followed by the 400 freestyle Tuesday and the 200 IM on Wednesday ahead of next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.
She has worked with several coaches in recent years, including France’s Fred Vergnoux and Brent Arckey in Sarasota, Fla. So what makes Bowman different?
“His consistency and professionalism every single day. He comes on deck every single day with a positive mindset, and he pushes everyone to be better,” she said. “It’s a super competitive environment, but we also have fun while doing it.”
Swimming Canada high-performance director John Atkinson compares Bowman to other coaching greats, like Hockey Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman or, as the British native prefers, famed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
“You look at them, and you find the same traits — good, bad and indifferent — with all of them, but they’re serial winners,” Atkinson said.
McIntosh felt excited but also nervous and intimidated to train alongside fellow Olympic medallists Marchand, Hubert Kos and Regan Smith. But she says moving out of her comfort zone has helped her grow as a swimmer and person.
“I’m surrounded by a lot more people who are trying to achieve very similar things,” she said. “Getting to train with them every single day is an absolute privilege, and it’s definitely uplifted me as a person in and outside of the pool.”
Her parents have noticed a shift. While remaining laser-focused on swimming, McIntosh is enjoying life beyond the pool deck, her mom said.
“She’s gone through a lot of changes. She likes to go out and have fun, party. She has a boyfriend now,” said Jill McIntosh, who swam for Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
“She’s put all of that to rest that you can actually be a fun, happy teenager and still swim really fast. Even as parents, we are kind of going, ‘Oh boy, she’s doing a lot of stuff that she never used to do.'”
“You have a 19-year-old girl moving to a pretty party city. Live right downtown; the place they go to party is right across the street. Summer likes to have fun,” Jill added. “But she also is all business at the pool.”
Bowman said he’s finally managed to make the stoic McIntosh laugh during practice and has learned that within her relentless drive is “a normal kid in a lot of ways.”
And for all the Phelps comparisons that he’s willing to make, Bowman has also discovered differences in how McIntosh trains and recovers.
“I thought when she came in, I would just plug her immediately into my Michael-Leon system, and she doesn’t fit into that exactly, which is fine,” he said.
“She takes more rest than you think a young girl would … I thought maybe I’d give her a day or two of rest and she would just pop off a record. That’s not how it works.”