Summer in Funkita!
Having always been a funkette since she started competitive swimming, we are so excited to have young Canadian swimming prodigy, Summer McIntosh officially signed up as a Funkita F-Team athlete on her journey towards the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Prior to jetting off to Europe to begin her incredible world domination campaign, we photographed Summer in the her favourite Funkitas from the new Free2Fly collection at the iconic rooftop pool of Hotel X Toronto, a luxury hotel on the waterfront of Lake Ontario with Canadian photographer Nikki Ross. Check out the stunning pics below and read more about Summer.
Did you know the 15-year-old Toronto swimmer, was the youngest Olympian for Team Canada in Tokyo, finishing fourth in the 400 metres freestyle in a new Canadian record time? Well, since then, she has continued her extraordinary trajectory up the world swimming ranks culminating in her two incredible World Championship victories in the 200 metres butterfly and 400 metres individual medley.
Her record-breaking swims this year include the long-standing 400 metres individual medley Commonwealth record held by Australian Olympic Champion Stephanie Rice, becoming the third-fastest woman of all-time and in the process, setting a new World Junior Record with gold at the World Championships. Her victory in the 200 metres butterfly was also a new World Junior Record and Canadian Record. She broke the Canadian record in the 400 metres freestyle, when she went under the 4 minute barrier, ranking her third fastest female ever, behind Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus.
Summer's mother, Jill (nee Horstead) competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and won a Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Games bronze medal during her career. McIntosh started competitive swimming at the age of 8 and dreamed of following in her mother’s footsteps to the Olympics after watching the 2016 Canadian Olympic Games Trials from pool deck. She has now accumulated over 50 Canadian age-group records.
The relationship between Funkita and the McIntosh family has extended for half a decade, as Jill McIntosh points out, “Summer has loved Funkita since she was 10 years old!” From our office in Australia, we started to notice regular purchases from the McIntosh name and realised a former Canadian Olympian and young up-and-coming star were fans. So we were naturally extremely excited to start seeing Summer popping up at swim meets wearing her Funkitas.
We are so excited to have Summer onboard as an F-Teamer and will have plenty more content to share about her, but of course for now she is focusing on her Commonwealth Games campaign! We hope you love the new Free2Fly collection as much as Summer.