\t\t\t\t\t2026 PRO SWIM SERIES \u2013 AUSTIN<\/p>\n
Day 1 of the Pro Swim Series in Austin was highlighted by Katie Ledecky<\/a>\u2018s scintillating swim in the women\u2019s 1500 free<\/a>, where she swam the #2 time in history. However, not every swim is as obviously flashy \u2013 here\u2019s a few you might have missed.<\/p>\n Skyler Smith<\/a> took 2nd in the women\u2019s 100 breast in 1:07.87, less than a second behind World Champion Anna Elendt<\/a> and just 0.04 seconds off her personal best from the Mare Nostrum tour two years ago. What was notable was her back half speed, as she closed eight-tenths faster this time around, 35.85 to 36.66. Primarily a 50 swimmer, that may portend some big swims in the 100 later in the year.<\/p>\n Benjamin Jaggers<\/a> won the 100 back at Speedo Winter Juniors \u2013 West a month ago, and came in 0.17 seconds off his best time in his first long course swim of the season. He blasted 56.83 to win the \u2018B\u2019 final, fast enough to have placed 6th in the \u2018A\u2019 final.<\/p>\n Ryan Erisman<\/a> has been having a quietly underrated freshman season at Cal so far, and continued that with a 14 second drop in the men\u2019s 1500 free to place 3rd, just behind 2024 World and Olympic Champions, Dan Wiffen<\/a> and Bobby Finke<\/a>. He negative split his race, going 7:36-7:30, closing three seconds faster than any of his competitors.<\/p>\n His sister Rylee also set a best time in her first long course swim of the season, after setting some huge new bests at Winter Juniors<\/a> in December. She shaved 0.14 seconds off her 100 backstroke time to go 59.25 and take 2ndbehind Regan Smith<\/a>. Erisman stays 5th in the 15-16 rankings, but is now just 0.07 seconds behind Missy Franklin<\/a>. Smith had a notable swim of her own as she broke 58 seconds again to win in 57.98, her 27th 57-point swim.<\/p>\n Anna Peplowski<\/a> swam the 50 free\/100 back double, nearing her best of 25.29 in the former with her swim of 25.41 to qualify 4th for today\u2019s final, and setting a best time in both heats and finals of the 100 back. She was 1:00.52 in the morning to shave five hundredths of a second off her previous best of 1:00.57, before dropping another 0.34 seconds to take 3rd in the final.<\/p>\n She had a fantastic summer in the 200 free in 2025, lowering best from 1:57.04 to 1:55.70, and split 1:54.75 to help team USA to silver in the women\u2019s 4\u00d7200 free relay.<\/p>\n Becca Mann placed 3rd in the women\u2019s 1500 free, six and a half years on from winning bronze at the 2019 Pan American Games. She has been competing on a reasonably regular basis since early last year, and the 16:35.09 she swam last night was the fastest swim of her comeback by over eight seconds. Possibly better known as an open water swimmer, Mann became the first person in history to complete the Triple Maui Nui Channel Swim back in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n Luc Dionne<\/a>, a Virginia commit for the fall of 2027, shaved 0.17 seconds off his best time in the men\u2019s 100 breast, going 1:02.73 to take 3rd in the \u2018B\u2019 final out of lane 1. That moved him up seven places in the 15-16 rankings, just ahead of Andrew Seliskar<\/a>. After he delivered some big drops in yards at the Katie Ledecky meet<\/a> in December, he has wasted no time in adjusting to long course.<\/p>\n Also in the 100 breast, a pair of former NCAA standouts continued their comebacks. Mitch Mason<\/a>, formerly of LSU, came within seven-tenths of his best time from 2023 as he clocked 1:00.50 for third overall in just his second meet since the summer of 2024, but an even bigger swim came from overall winner Van Mathias<\/a>.<\/p>\n He clocked 59.45 to match the Pool Record held by Alexei Avakov<\/a> and knock 0.29 seconds off his best time of 59.74, set last summer. However, that stat alone does not show how rapid his progression has been over the past few months.<\/p>\n Having been a fly swimmer for most of his swimming career, including winning silver in the 200 fly at Junior Pan Pacs in 2018 behind Luca Urlando<\/a> and ahead of Tomoru Honda<\/a>, Mathias switched to breaststroke in his final year at Indiana. That proved an inspired decision, as he placed 2nd in the 100 breast at NCAAs that year, in what was his final meet before stepping away from competing and Indiana swimming\u2019s Director of Operations.<\/p>\n