On Friday, Canadian Olympic hero Summer McIntosh was named the Female Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. The award is decided by the Canadian Press.
The Toronto Blue Jays made sure to give her a proper shoutout on social media, posting pictures of her at Rogers Centre (in a City Connect uniform) this year with her Olympic medals. She was at Rogers Centre this past Aug. 23
At just 18 years old, McIntosh also earned the overall Canadian athlete of the year honor.
From the Canadian Olympic release:
Last summer, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the young swimmer claimed three gold medals in the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 400m individual medley, as well as a silver medal in the 400m freestyle.
In addition to her Olympic prowess, McIntosh also won five medals in December at the World Aquatic Swimming championships.
As for the Blue Jays, they haven’t had the kind of success that McIntosh experienced lately. They finished last in the American League East this year at 74-88, failing to make the playoffs. Toronto has also missed out on numerous free agents this offseason, falling short in bids for Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernandez and Corbin Burnes.
They also weren’t able to secure Max Fried and missed out on Shohei Ohtani last offseason.
The Jays made the playoffs in 2020, 2022 and 2023 but haven’t won a single playoff game since the 2016 season. They last won the World Series in 1993, long before McIntosh was even born.