Day 1 of the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships sees multiple meet records broken in prelims
Preliminary heats at the revived 2026 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine produced new championship records in the women's 50-fly, men's 50-fly and women's 100-back, while top swimmers such as Summer McIntosh and Regan Smith posted fast qualifying times.
The first day of competition at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships opened at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, California, with four events for each gender and timed finals of the men’s 800 m and women’s 1500 m freestyles. A two-per-country rule limited the number of swimmers from each nation that could advance to the ‘A’ finals.
In the women’s 50 m butterfly, Gretchen Walsh set a new championship record of 24.91 s, improving on her own U.S. Open record of 24.51 s set earlier in the season. Kate Douglass also broke the 25-second barrier with a 24.99 s swim, moving her into the all-time top three. Taylor Ruck lowered the previous meet record and the Canadian national record with a 25.61 s performance.
The men’s 50 m butterfly saw three consecutive heats beat the existing championship record. Ben Armbruster topped the field with a 22.92 s swim, while Gui Caribe and Van Mathias posted 22.96 s and 22.99 s respectively, each eclipsing the former 23.03 s mark.
In the women’s 200 m freestyle, Lani Pallister of Australia claimed the top seed with 1:55.29, and Summer McIntosh of Canada posted a 1:55.85, holding off Anna Peplowski who qualified with 1:55.77. Five swimmers broke 1:56 in the prelims.
American Luke Hobson led the men’s 200 m freestyle prelims, setting a new championship record of 1:44.31 and moving within a tenth of the world-record pace. Gabriel Jett and Aaron Shackell also qualified for the final, with Hobson’s time improving on his season best.
Regan Smith dominated the women’s 100 m backstroke prelims, recording a 57.86 s swim that broke the meet record previously set by Katharine Berkoff, who in turn posted a 58.09 s championship-record time. Claire Curzan improved her personal best to 58.21 s, also breaking the previous meet record.
In the men’s 100 m backstroke, Canada’s Blake Tierney won the heat with 53.13 s, edging American Will Modglin (53.17 s) for a spot in the final. The event featured modest times compared with other prelims.
The women’s 200 m butterfly prelims featured a close contest among three Americans for two final spots; Alex Shackell won with 2:06.68 and Tess Howley qualified with 2:07.13.
In the men’s 200 m butterfly, Luca Urlando and Carson Foster secured the top two American spots, posting 1:54.13 and 1:54.72 respectively, while Australian Harrison Turner qualified third overall.
Timed finals saw Australia’s Elijah Winnington win the men’s 800 m freestyle heat in 7:50.11, and Australians Molly Walker and Tiana Kritzinger post the fastest times in the women’s 1500 m freestyle prelims, with Walker recording 16:10.58.
Overall, the opening day featured multiple championship-record performances and set the stage for competitive finals across the meet’s remaining events.