\t\t\t\t\t2026 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS<\/p>\n
DAY 1 PRELIMS HEAT SHEET<\/a><\/p>\n For the first time in eight years, the Pan Pacific Championships are here.<\/p>\n After the 2022 edition was canned due to make way for other major international meets that were posted from 2021 due to COVID, the Pan Pacs return for an intriguing four-day competition from the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, kicking off on Wednesday and running through Saturday.<\/p>\n The opening day of competition features four events for each gender: 50 fly, 200 free, 100 back and 200 fly. We\u2019ll also see timed finals of the men\u2019s 800 free and women\u2019s 1500 free, with the fastest seeded heats swimming with finals.<\/p>\n The headline of the day has to be\u00a0Summer McIntosh<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>opting to take on the women\u2019s 200 free individually for the first time since the 2023 World Championships, dropping the 200 fly from her program after breaking the world record earlier in the summer.<\/p>\n Gretchen Walsh<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>will also be on world record watch in the women\u2019s 50 fly, and the Americans will have some intriguing to battles to keep an eye on in the 200 free and 100 back with only two lanes available per country in each \u2018A\u2019 final.<\/p>\n For a full preview of this morning\u2019s session, along with a look at the scratches, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Note that only two swimmers per country can make the \u2018A\u2019 final. Swimmers with their names crossed out\u00a0 in the results below mean they\u2019re out of the \u2018A\u2019 final due to this rule.<\/strong><\/p>\n WOMEN\u2019S 50 BUTTERFLY \u2013 PRELIMS<\/p>\n \u2018A\u2019 Final Qualifiers:\u00a0<\/p>\n Given the Pan Pacs haven\u2019t been raced in eight years, it was no surprise to see the Championship Record fall in the first three heats of the meet as the women\u2019s 50 fly got the action underway.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it was\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> walking away with the new CR heading into tonight\u2019s final, having posted a time of 24.91 from the third and final heat. She set the American Record at the Sette Colli Trophy in June in a time of 24.51, the second-fastest performance in history.<\/p>\n In the heat prior, her American teammate\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> joined the exclusive sub-25 club with a blistering 24.99 swim, knocking a quarter of a second off her previous best of 25.24 to move up to #3 all-time behind\u00a0Sarah Sjostrom<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(24.43) and Walsh.<\/p>\n In the opening heat,\u00a0Taylor Ruck<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> clocked 25.61 to be the first one to take down Rikako Ikee<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>\u2018s meet record of 25.89 from 2018, and Ruck also lowered\u00a0Penny Oleksiak<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>\u2018s nine-year-old Canadian Record of 25.62 from 2017.<\/p>\n Torri Huske<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was 7th-fastest overall but as the third-best American, won\u2019t make the \u2018A\u2019 final. New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Zoe Pedersen<\/a><\/strong> was 10th in 26.62, but cracks the \u2018A\u2019 final due to four Americans being ahead of her.<\/p>\n MEN\u2019S 50 BUTTERFLY \u2013 PRELIMS<\/p>\n \u2018A\u2019 Final Qualifiers:\u00a0<\/p>\n The meet record fell in three straight heats again in the 50 fly, this time in the men\u2019s race with\u00a0Ben Armbruster<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Gui Caribe<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0Van Mathias<\/a><\/strong> all breaking the 23-second barrier.<\/p>\n Mathias topped the opening heat in 22.99, breaking\u00a0Cesar Cielo<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>\u2018s 16-year-old Pan Pac record of 23.03 to narrowly miss his lifetime best of 22.87 set at the Indianapolis Pro Swim in June.<\/p>\n Caribe followed up with a 22.96 clocking in Heat 2, taking hold of the CR while coming just five one-hundredths shy of his personal best time of 22.91.<\/p>\n In the third and final heat, Australia\u2019s Armbruster, who won Commonwealth gold last month in a Commonwealth Record time of 22.73, touched in 22.92 to claim the top seed for tonight and the Championship Record.<\/p>\n American\u00a0Michael Andrew<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>, the top seed coming in with his 22.79 personal best, put up a time of 23.01 to take a close 2nd to Armbruster in the final heat and overtake\u00a0Santo Condorelli<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> (23.18) as the second-fastest American and earn a spot in the \u2018A\u2019 final.<\/p>\n Isaac Cooper<\/a><\/strong> picked up the second Aussie spot in a time of 23.21, within a tenth of his PB (23.12), which knocked out\u00a0Matthew Temple<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(23.45).<\/p>\n Shaine Casas<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> ended up 12th-fastest overall and fifth-best among Americans in 23.62, meaning he won\u2019t get a second swim tonight.<\/p>\n WOMEN\u2019S 200 FREESTYLE \u2013 PRELIMS<\/p>\n \u2018A\u2019 Final Qualifiers:\u00a0<\/p>\n It was a competitive set of circle-seeded heats in the women\u2019s 200 freestyle, with five swimmers breaking 1:56 and 1:55.88 being the cut-off for an American to make it back in tonight\u2019s \u2018A\u2019 final.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s\u00a0Lani Pallister<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> claimed Lane 4 tonight after posting a time of 1:55.29 from the fifth and final heat, while American Erin Gemmell<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> (1:55.88) and fellow Aussie\u00a0Milla Jansen<\/a><\/strong> (1:56.22) were next up in that head and also advanced to the \u2018A\u2019 final with strong morning swims.<\/p>\n In the penultimate heat,\u00a0Anna Peplowski<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> knew she had to put up something big in order to earn one of the American spots in the final, and she did just that, holding off\u00a0Summer McIntosh<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> to clock 1:55.77, just one tenth shy of her personal best of 1:55.67 set two months ago.<\/p>\n McIntosh looked easy, cruising through the 150 before picking it up on the last length with a 29.32 split to touch 2nd to Peplowski in 1:55.85, good for 4th overall.<\/p>\n The first circle-seeded heat was won by New Zealand\u2019s\u00a0Erika Fairweather<\/a><\/strong>, who clocked 1:55.53 to come within a half-second of her Kiwi Record time of 1:55.06 set earlier this year.<\/p>\n Rylee Erisman<\/a><\/strong> was 2nd in 1:56.00, a very strong morning swim and just 14 one-hundredths off her best time, but after what Peplowski and Gemmell did in the two heats after, it wasn\u2019t enough to get Erisman in the \u2018A\u2019 final.<\/p>\n American Simone Manuel<\/strong><\/a><\/strong> (1:56.34) also got bumped out of the \u2018A\u2019, while Brazilians\u00a0Mar\u00eda Fernanda Costa<\/a> <\/strong>(1:57.01) and\u00a0Stephanie Balduccini<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(1:57.16) were the beneficiaries of the two per country rule, making the big final as 10th and 12th-fastest swimmers overall.<\/p>\n MEN\u2019S 200 FREESTYLE \u2013 PRELIMS<\/p>\n \u2018A\u2019 Final Qualifiers:\u00a0<\/p>\n The men\u2019s 200 free was box-office type stuff with the Americans having to throw down their best effort to try and earn a lane in tonight\u2019s \u2018A\u2019 final with only two U.S. spots available.<\/p>\n Aaron Shackell<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>answered the bell first, blasting his way to a time of 1:45.19 in the first circle-seeded heat to obliterate his personal best time of 1:46.35 by over a second.<\/p>\n That performance put the pressure on the rest of the Americans.<\/p>\n Gabriel Jett<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>responded in the next heat by putting up a time of 1:45.04, inching past Shackell and coming just 34 one-hundredths shy of his personal best set at the 2025 U.S. Nationals (1:44.70).<\/p>\n In the final heat, the big gun,\u00a0Luke Hobson<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>, threw down the gauntlet by going out under world record pace at the 100 (49.91) and then he was still only a tenth off\u00a0Paul Biedermann<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>\u2018s 2009 pace at the 150.<\/p>\n Hobson did what he needed to do coming home, and clearly shut things down over the last few strokes as he touched in a time of 1:44.31, claiming the top seed for the final while breaking\u00a0Ian Thorpe<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>\u2018s Pan Pac record of 1:44.75 from 2002.<\/p>\n Hobson also improved on his season-best time of 1:44.49, set in December at the U.S. Open. His personal best of 1:43.73 stands as the U.S. Open Record from last year\u2019s Nationals.<\/p>\n As a result, despite being the third-fastest swimmer overall, Shackell will be relegated to the \u2018B\u2019 final as the third-fastest American.<\/p>\n China\u2019s\u00a0Zhang Zhanshuo<\/a><\/strong>, who set a personal best time of 1:44.53 earlier this year, was the fastest non-American with his 1:45.43 clocking from Jett\u2019s heat, while another U.S. swimmer,\u00a0Henry McFadden<\/a><\/strong>, wasn\u2019t too far off his PB in the same heat in 1:45.61, though like Shackell, he\u2019ll get bumped to the \u2018B\u2019 final.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s\u00a0Tatsuya Murasa<\/a><\/strong> (1:46.05) was 2nd in Shackell\u2019s heat and comfortably made it through, while\u00a0Kai Taylor<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Max Giuliani<\/a><\/strong> tied for fastest Australian in 1:46.06, meaning both will be in the \u2018A\u2019 final. Taylor is coming off winning gold at the Commonwealth Games last month in 1:45.30.<\/p>\n WOMEN\u2019S 100 BACKSTROKE \u2013 PRELIMS<\/p>\n \u2018A\u2019 Final Qualifiers:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n