2026 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Good evening, swim fans, welcome to the 2nd night of the Pan Pacific Championships from Irvine. Tonight’s event lineup will kick off with the 400 IM and 100 freestyle finals, then head into the 100 breaststroke and 50 backstroke, and close the night with the 4×200 freestyle relays.
Argentina’s Agostina Hein claimed the top seed in the 400 IM with a prelims time of 4:35.43 over a slew of highly touted individuals behind her, though the entire final, including Australia’s Jenna Forrester (4:35.45), Canada’s Summer McIntosh (4:35.56), and American’s Katie Grimes (4:35.70) and Alex Walsh (4:36.11), are within five seconds of Hein’s time coming into the final.
The men’s race will feature a pair of Japanese talents at the top of the championship final, as Tomoyuki Matsushita and Asaki Nishikawa were the only two swimmers who will compete in the ‘A’ final who were under 4:11 in the prelims. Carson Foster will be in a near-middle lane as well after touching 4:11.55 in the heats.
The women’s 100 free saw only one sub-53-second performer in the prelims, which came at the hands of Gretchen Walsh in 52.57. She will be side-by-side with Australia’s Olivia Wunsch and fellow American Simone Manuel, who tied for the 2nd-fastest time in the prelims in 53.08. Meg Harris, who was 4th out of the prelims in 53.17, will also be a threat to reach the podium and potentially nab the top spot.
Jack Alexy (47.40) and Patrick Sammon (47.49) will be the representatives for the US in the men’s 100 free after a prelims that saw each of the top four swimmers representing the Stars and Stripes. Brazil’s Gui Caribe, who was a potential upset in this event, could still play spoiler to the US party, as the fastest non-American of the prelims in 48.16. Also firmly in the mix will be a pair of Australians in Jamie Jack and Harrison Turner, who tied for the 7th-fastest time in the prelims in 48.38.
The women’s 100 breast is set to be a scrappy bout, as Tang Qianting (1:05.80) will have a tall task in holding off several hungry challengers for Pan Pacs gold; among those on the prowl will be Kate Douglass and McKenzie Siroky, as well as Canada’s Sophie Angus, and Japan’s Satomi Suzuki, all of whom have a legitimate shot at shaking up the podium.
Van Mathias will look to continue his roaring season as the top seed in the men’s 100 breast. After touching in yet another 58-second time this season (58.61), he will need to fend off Shin Ohashi of Japan, along with Ohashi’s teammate Yamato Okadome, in another right final at the top. Josh Matheny notched a near career best of 59.23 to snag the 4th fastest time of the prelims, and should be a late swim threat for the US.
The final individual events will see some of the best in the world take center stage, as Katharine Berkoff and Regan Smith lead the way for the US as a pair of 27-low swims to comfortably take the top two times in the prelims in 27.04 and 27.28, respectively. Each of the top four times belonged to American swimmers, as China’s Wan Letian (27.97) and Canada’s Ingrid Wilm (27.99) were the only other non-US backstrokers to touch under 28 seconds.
Australia’s Isaac Cooper will lead the way for the final of the men’s 50 back, as he finished just over a tenth of a second faster than American Will Modglin (24.65) in the prelims, clocking 24.53. Mexico’s Marcus Gentry and Quintin McCarty each tied for 3rd in the prelims in 24.74. This was another event with many American swimmers in the top 8 in the heats, with 5 of the top 8 performers repping the US.
WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL
Top 8:
Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 4:28.01 CR
Jenna Forrester (AUS) – 4:31.50
Agostina Hein (ARG) – 4:32.54
Yu Yiting (CHN) – 4:33.09
Alex Walsh (USA) – 4:33.73
Katie Grimes (USA) – 4:35.67
Waka Kobori (JPN) – 4:39.23
Mio Narita (JPN) – 4:39.49
After finishing 3rd in the prelims earlier today and finishing 2nd in the 200 free on night 1, Summer McIntosh was determined to get her hands on an individual Pan Pacs Gold in this final. And get her hands on the wall first, she did. Opening up in the lead-off of the butterfly in 59.11, she never looked back.
McIntosh continued to push the pace, hitting the halfway point in 2:06.61, with only Australia’s Jenna Forrester seemingly in contention, though the Canadian’s versatility was shining bright, turning for the final 100 with about two seconds between herself and the rest of the field
McIntosh would ultimately wind up stopping the clock in 4:28.01, lowering the championship record set by Elizabeth Beisel in 2014 of 4:31.99.
Forrester put together a very strong swim for the silver in 4:31.50. And it would be the Argentine in Agostina Hein who would back up her big swim from the prelims with a new Argentine record of 4:32.54.
Alex Walsh was the US’s top finisher in 5th at 4:33.73, after narrowly taking 4th from China’s Yu Yiting (4:33.09).
The ‘B’ final went to China’s Yang Peiqi in 4:36.73, who made up more than a two-body-length deficit on American Leah Hayes in the final 100. Hayes would finish 2nd in 4:37.23.
MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL
Top 8:
Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN) – 4:06.75 CR
Carson Foster (USA) – 4:07.11
Bobby Finke (USA) – 4:07.59
Asaki Nishikawa (JPN) – 4:08.82
William Petric (AUS) – 4:09.24
Lewis Clareburt (NZL) – 4:09.86
Tristan Jankovics (CAN) – 4:14.14
Lorne Wigginton (CAN) – 4:14.94
Matsushita and Foster were not backing down from one another. Matsushita turned just a quarter of a body length ahead of Foster at the fly, though Foster kept that separation distance through the backstroke, flipping just over half a second behind Matsushita heading into the back half of the race.
Matsushita added a quarter of a second to that advantage on the first 50 of breaststroke, but Foster would not go away, heading into the final 100 just eight tenths behind.
It was the final 75 that really defined the race, as Foster began to catch Matsushita, but he would just run out of room as Matsushita would take the win in a new championship record of 4:06.75, about three quarters of a second faster than the championship record from 2010 held by Ryan Lochte of 4:07.59.
Foster would wind up with the silver in 4:07.11, while his US teammate Bobby Finke would close like a freight train once again to secure a bronze medal for the American team in 4:07.59. Both of which were less than a second off of career best times.
It was American Rex Maurer taking the ‘B’ final win in the men’s 400 IM, after a battle with Australian Se-Bohm Lee, winning in 4:12.49. Lee would not be able to close with Maurer, finishing 2nd in 4:14.74.
WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL
World Record: 51.68, Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – 2026
U.S. Open Record: 51.88, Anna Moesch (USA) – 2026
Pan Pac Championship Record: 52.03, Cate Campbell (AUS) – 2018
Top 8:
Meg Harris (AUS) – 52.60
Gretchen Walsh (USA) – 52.78
Olivia Wunsch (AUS) – 52.98
Simone Manuel (USA) – 53.13
Taylor Ruck (CAN) – 53.16
Kayla Sanchez (PHI) – 53.46
Cheng Yujie (CHN) – 54.55
Fan Yaqi (CHN) – 54.70
In what could have been a runaway for Gretchen Walsh, opening in 24.97, the same opening split she had in the prelims, it would be a heroic final 50 from Australia’s Meg Harris to upset the home-country favorite, taking the win in 52.60, 18 one-hundredths faster than Walsh in 52.78.
Walsh looked every bit as dominant as we have come to expect coming out of the gate, though the finish was all Harris.
In addition to her win, Olivia Wunsch picked up the bronze medal with another sub-53-second Australian performance in 52.98, leaving Manuel on the outside looking in with her 4th-place 53.13.
The ‘B’ final belonged to Torri Huske, who went seemingly unchallenged in the heat, turning in the lead in 25.63 and never backing away from that pace, showing her experience in international racing to take the win in 53.15. Young American talent Rylee Erisman added a 2nd-place finish in the heat in 53.35.
MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL
World Record: 46.40, Pan Zhanle (CHN) – 2024
U.S. Open Record: 46.99, Jack Alexy (USA) – 2025
Pan Pac Championship Record: 47.40, Jack Alexy (USA) – 2026
Top 8:
Jack Alexy (USA) – 47.14 CR
Patrick Sammon (USA) – 47.62
Gui Caribe (BRA) – 47.89
Zhang Zhanshuo (CHN) – 48.25
Harrison Turner (AUS) – 48.34
Kai Taylor (AUS) – 48.36
Tatsuya Murasa (JPN) – 48.42)
Shoon Mitsunaga (JPN) – 49.21
Alexy managed to get out to a solid lead over the field at the 50, flipping in 22.41 to his feet, about a quarter of a second quicker than Gui Caribe, and half a second faster than Patrick Sammon.
His massive stature would prove to be too much to overcome, as Alexy would take the top time of the day in 47.14. Patrick Sammon would ultimately touch about a half second behind Alexy to claim silver in 47.14.
Caribe rounded out the podium with a strong 47.89, though it would not even be the 4th-fastest time in the finals.
The ‘B’ final saw a blistering swim out of Chris Guiliano, powering to a big first-heat swim in 47.16, notching a new meet record, one heat early. He was followed by another sub-48-second swim, that of his US teammate Destin Lasco, in 47.78.
That time for Guiliano also marks a new career best, down from his 47.25 at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, maintaining his status as the #3 all-time American performer.
The US swimmers made up the four fastest times of the event’s final.
WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL
World Record: 1:04.13, Lilly King (USA) – 2017
U.S. Open Record: 1:04.45, Jessica Hardy (USA) – 2009
Pan Pac Championship Record: 1:04.93, Rebecca Soni (USA) – 2010
Top 8:
Mckenzie Siroky (USA) – 1:05.32
Tang Qianting (CHN) – 1:05.46
Satomi Suzuki (JPN) – 1:05.65
Kate Douglass (USA) – 1:05.81
Alexanne Lepage (CAN) – 1:05.94
Ella Ramsay (AUS) – 1:06.68
Sophie Angus (CAN) – 1:06.70
Macarena Ceballos (ARG) – 1:07.15
What was set to be one of the tightest races of the session turned out to be just that, as McKenzie Siroky took the women’s 100 breaststroke win in nail-biting fashion, winning a championship final in 1:05.32. That saw the top five separated by just over half a second.
Siroky was the first to hit the turn in 30.32; tough Tan Qianting would not go away, inching back up to Siroky with each stroke, but it was the final 15 meters that helped seal the deal for the American, just getting the wall 14 one-hundredths quicker by the end, with Tang touching in 1:05.46.
This swim for Siroky also marks a new career best, dropping from the 1:05.64 she threw down at the US Nationals just last month.
It was another battle to fill the podium as Japan’s Satomi Suzuki just edged out Kate Douglass for the bronze medal, 1:05.65 to 1:05.81.
Australia’s Sienna Toohey took the ‘B’ final win in 1:07.21, just out-pacing Japan’s Kotomi Kato by eight one-hundredths of a second in 1:07.29.
MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL
World Record: 56.88, Adam Peaty (GBR) – 2019
U.S. Open Record: 58.01, Van Mathias (USA) – 2026
Pan Pac Championship Record: 58.61, Van Mathias (USA) – 2026
Top 8:
Van Mathias (USA) – 58.02 CR
Shin Ohashi (JPN) – 58.54 *World Junior Record*
Samuel Williamson (AUS) – 59.34
Josh Matheny (USA) – 59.42
Yamato Okadome (59.50
Oliver Dawson (CAN) – 59.85
Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 1:00.18
Liu Junjie (CHN) – 1:00.96
The fans got their money’s worth out of the men’s 100 breast, as a US fan-favorite took the stage in Van Mathias, and he made it look like clockwork, storming to the win in a blistering 58.02, just one hundredth off of his own American Record of 58.01.
Mathias got out of the gates fast, turning in 26.89, four tenths quicker than the rest of the finals field. He would nearly crack the elusive 58-second barrier, settling for a new championship record and Pan Pacs gold.
Japan’s Shin Ohashi, not to be overshadowed, finished 2nd in 58.54, lowering his own World Junior Record from 58.67 from March.
Rounding out the podium was Aussie Samuel Williamson, getting past Josh Matheny for the bronze in 59.34.
After a speedy opening 50, Campbell McKean held on to win the ‘B’ final of the men’s 100 breast in 59.50, though he has been more than a second faster than that time.
WOMEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL
Top 8:
Katharine Berkoff (USA) – 26.90 *American and Championship Record
Regan Smith (USA) – 27.14
Iona Anderson (AUS) – 27.60
Wan Letian (CHN) – 27.80
Ingrid Wilm (CAN) – 27.93
Peng Xuwei (CHN) – 28.05
Amber George (NZL) – 28.15
Hannah Fredericks (AUS) – 28.33
The championship final of the women’s 50 backstroke was dominated by the 2025 World Champion, as Katharine Berkoff earned her 2nd gold of these championships in another championship record of 26.90, which also lowered her own American Record in the event from 26.97.
If this was just a few days ago, that would have been nearly a new World Record, had it not been for Sara Curtis’s two faster times from the European Championships.
Regan Smith, who has frequently been an American Backstroke ace for the last eight-plus years, finished in the silver medal position in 27.14, as Australia’s Iona Anderson was 3rd in 27.60.
Claire Curzan nabbed the ‘B’ final win in a strong 27.42, followed by her fellow countrywoman Leah Shackley in 27.57. Both would have finished ahead of Anderson, had it not been for the two-per-country rule.
MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL
Top 8:
Quintin McCarty (USA) – 24.51 CR
Isaac Cooper (AUS) – 24.59
Will Modglin (USA) – 24.66
Marcus Gentry (MEX) – 24.86
Chuang Mu-Lun (TPE) – 25.16
Jack Harvey (BER) – 25.36
Reo Miura (JPN) – 25.44
Javier Acevedo (CAN) – 25.45
To the surprise of nobody, it was another nail-biter of a finish in the men’s race, as it was Quintin McCarty, out of lane 6, who used a big last 25 meters to secure yet another championship record on the meet for the US, and another Pan Pacs title, touching in 24.51.
McCarty, on the outside of the middle two lanes, was firmly in the mix over the course of the race, but made an exceptional boost through to the finish. He overtook hours-old championship record holder Isaac Cooper, relegating him to silver with a 24.59.
Will Modglin helped bookend the podium with a bronze medal, clocking 24.66 to secure a 3rd-place finish.
Michael Andrew, the lone American in the ‘B’ final, took it to the rest of the heat, as he stormed to the heat win in 25.02.
WOMEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
World Record: 7:37.50, Australia – 2023
U.S. Open Record: 7:51.21, United States – 2017
Pan Pac Championship Record: 7:44.12, Australia – 2018
Top 8:
Australia – 7:42.40 CR
United States – 7:43.10
Canada – 7:52.74
China – 7:52.74
Australia 2 – 7:53.85
Canada 2 – 7:7:57.28
Brazil – 7:59.81
Japan – 8:01.13
Erin Gemmell took the opening leg of the US women’s relay out hard, splitting 55.46. Though she would fall off to third, putting the US about a third of a second back of China, and more than a full second behind Australia at the first exchange.
Australia handed over the reins to 200 freestyle champion Lani Pallister, who would grow the lead for the Aussies with a huge 1:53.46, pushing the lead over Anna Peplowski of the US at the 2nd exchange, holding a near three-and-a-half-second lead over the US.
Hannah Casey would have to try and hold off Rylee Erisman for the US, though Erisman made it her mission to bring the US back to life, as she delivered a 1:56.11 to give Katie Ledecky a 1.60-second deficit chance to mount the comeback over the Aussies.
Ledecky would have to make up a lot of ground, and in a rare occurrence, too much in fact, as Milla Jansen delivered a big in the clutch to secure the win for Australia in a new Championship record of 7:42.40. Ledecky split 1:54.37 to claim silver for the USA. And Canada just outmuscled China to take the bronze in 7:52.74.
MEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
World Record: 6:58.55, United States – 2009
U.S. Open Record: 7:03.84, United States – 2019
Pan Pac Championship Record: 7:03.84, United States – 2010
Top 8:
United States – 6:59.37 CR
Australia – 7:01.10
Japan – 7:02.74
Canada – 7:09.91
Brazil – 7:11.41
Canada 2 – 7:17.75
New Zealand – 7:18.25
South Africa – 7:28.15
In the final race of the evening, all eyes were on the host country, as the US, swimming out of lane 4, was led off by Luke Hobson, who won gold in the 200 free last night in 1:43.85, managed to deliver a 1:44.13, and had about a body length lead over the field.
Aaron Shackell, who was 1:45.63 in the ‘B’ final of the 200 free yesterday, grew the lead to a full body length plus at the 300-meter mark, and from there, he would only explode for more, handing responsibilities to Patrick Sammon after splitting 1:44.23 as the 2nd leg.
The race for silver between Japan and Australia was on, with the two turning within three-tenths of a second of each other at the 500-meter mark. Australia’s Charlie Hawke put up a good battle against Sammon, though Sammon (1:46.92) was given too much space to work with.
Anchors Gabriel Jett and Sam Short were the main focus of the final leg, as Jett opened 50.5 and Shortt was out in 50.7, making for an all-or-nothing final 100.
Into the final 50, Jett blasted off the final wall and found another gear, ultimately splitting a 1:44.09 on the anchor, in total, touching in at 6:59.57, nearly taking down the World Record of 6:59.55 from 2009.
The valiant back half from Australia earned them a silver in 7:01.10, as Japan wound up with the bronze in 7:02.74.