By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh will skip the 2026 Commonwealth Games, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. She instead will focus on the 2026 Pan Pac Games.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games are scheduled for July 23-August 2 in Glasgow, Scotland. This is just ten days before the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships begin in Irvine, California on August 12 and run through August 15. Glasgow is eight hours ahead of Irvine, so the time change would have been one obstacle.
McIntosh did swim at the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England when she was 15 years old. There she swam to gold medals in the 200 IM and 400 IM, setting World Junior records in the process. She also swam to a silver medal in the 400 free, finishing behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus.
Not only will McIntosh impact Canada’s medal table at the individual level but her absence takes a hit on relays as well. She helped the team to silver medals in the 4×200 free relay and 4×100 medley relay while the 4×100 free relay earned bronze.
Pan Pacs in Irvine will mark McIntosh’s debut at the Pan Pac Championships as the last edition of the meet was in 2018, when McIntosh was just 11 years old.
This past week at the 2025 World Championships, McIntosh swam to four gold medals, winning the 400 free, 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 butterfly. She also won bronze in the 800 freestyle.
McIntosh is set to change her training base as she will join Bob Bowman in Austin, Texas later this month. Austin is only two hours ahead of Irvine, California. It also is just over a three hour plane ride to get from Austin to Los Angeles, much closer than the trip from Austin to Glasgow.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Summer McIntosh To Skip 2026 Commonwealth Games, Focus On 2026 Pan Pacs
