By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2026 PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
August 12-15, 2026 Irvine, California William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center LCM (50 meters) Meet Central Psych Sheets Live Results Day 1 Prelims Heat SheetThe opening day of the Pan Pacific Championships has arrived, as the competition makes it return after an eight-year hiatus.
The first session of racing promises to be exciting, with the 50 fly, 200 free, 100 back and 200 fly on tap for each gender, along with the early heats in the men’s 800 free and women’s 1500 free.
First, let’s get to the scratches on Day 1.
With many swimmers over-entering for the meet, some big names have dropped an event on the opening day, though no massive shocks that we didn’t already know about.
Australians Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan still appeared on the entry lists despite announcing well in advance that they’re not competing, so those two are out after being gold medal favorites in the women’s 100 back and 200 free, respectively, while we also knew that Summer McIntosh planned on dropping the 200 fly in favor of the 200 free, which she has.
In the men’s 200 fly, we learned a few days ago that Japanese Olympic medalist Tomoru Honda had withdrawn from the meet after facing criminal charges, meaning another medal contender was out.
Among the new scratches, Claire Curzan and Thomas Heilman are two notable names dropping out of the 50 fly, with Curzan prioritizing the women’s 100 back and Heilman focusing on the men’s 200 fly.
Torri Huske is also out of the women’s 200 free in order to dial in on the 50 fly, while Alex Walsh has pulled out of the 200 fly but keeps her entry in the women’s 200 free.
For the men, Destin Lasco and Keaton Jones are both out of the 100 back in favor of the 200 free.
Rylee Erisman is one the few Americans keeping their double, as she plans to take on the 200 free and 100 back.
In the timed final distance events, Katie Grimes is out of the women’s 1500 free, moving Jillian Cox into the fastest heat of finals as the #2 American, while Rex Maurer has dropped the men’s 800 free, moving Joey Tepper into the top heat.
FULL DAY 1 PRELIM SCRATCHES
Women’s 50 fly – Claire Curzan Men’s 50 fly – Thomas Heilman, Quintin McCarty Women’s 200 free – Mollie O’Callaghan, Torri Huske, Julie Brousseau Men’s 200 free – Kris Mihaylov, Ruslan Gaziev, Filip Senc-Samardzic Women’s 100 back – Kaylee McKeown, Kayla Sanchez, Applejean Gwinn Men’s 100 back – Destin Lasco, Keaton Jones Women’s 200 fly – Summer Mcintosh, Alex Walsh, Becca Mann Men’s 200 fly – Tomoru Honda Men’s 800 free – Rex Maurer, Stephan Steverink, Ivan Puskovitch, Adrian van Wyk Women’s 1500 free – Katie Grimes, Brinkleigh HansenPRELIMS PREVIEW
One of the big storylines coming into Day 1 was the potential double that Summer McIntosh might be taking on with the 200 free and 200 fly, but the three-time Olympic champion has dropped the 200 fly in order to put her focus on the 200 free.
Although it would’ve been fun to see how she’d handled that daunting double, it’s exciting to see McIntosh take on the 200 free at a taper meet for the first time in three years, with eyes on joining the 1:52 club and maybe even taking a run at Ariarne Titmus‘ world record of 1:52.23.
McIntosh’s best time stands at 1:53.65, set at the 2023 World Championships, where she also went 3:59.9 in the 400 free, 2:04.0 in the 200 fly and 4:27.1 in the 400 IM. In the three years since, she’s lowered her best times to 3:54.1 in the 400 free, 2:01.6 in the 200 fly and 4:23.6 in the 400 IM, so what does that mean for her 200 free? Event-to-event comparisons is not apples to apples, but there’s no questioning the fact she’s improved leaps and bounds since she set her last PB.
At the Westmont Pro Swim this past March, she nearly reset her best time in the 200 free (1:53.80) and also went 8:10.4 in the 800 free (five second add), 2:04.7 in the 200 fly and 2:08.21 in the 200 IM (three second add).
With Mollie O’Callaghan‘s withdrawal, McIntosh is now the #2 seed in the women’s 200 free, trailing Lani Pallister, who set a new best time of 1:53.65 at the Australian Trials in June to tie McIntosh for #5 all-time in the event.
The opening race of the meet will be the women’s 50 fly, where Gretchen Walsh comes in with an eye on the 12-year-old world record after lowering her own American Record in June in a time of 24.51, just eight one-hundredths back of Sarah Sjostrom‘s 2014 all-time mark of 24.43.
The men’s 50 fly is fairly wide open, though Australian Ben Armbruster is the fastest man in the field this year after winning gold (alongside Kyle Chalmers) at the Commonwealth Games in 22.73, while American Van Mathias is right there at 22.87.
In the men’s 200 free, Luke Hobson is the favorite after breaking 1:44 twice last year, culminating in winning silver at the World Championships. It will be a competitive fight for a lane in the final, however, with six men entered under 1:45, and recently crowned Commonwealth champion Kai Taylor among those seeded in the 1:45s.
Specifically looking at the Americans, they’ll need to be on their toes this morning with only two spots per country available in the ‘A’ final. If Hobson does what he’s supposed to and claims one spot, the other will come down to a battle likely between Chris Guiliano, Gabriel Jett, Rex Maurer and Henry McFadden.
The Aussies also have five men seeded 1:46.17 or quicker, so they’ll also be under the gun to step up this morning.
Without Kaylee McKeown in the field, the women’s 100 back looks like Regan Smith‘s race to lose, with the only other swimmer in the field who’s broken 58 seconds being her American teammate Katharine Berkoff.
They’ll be favored for 1-2 finish, though Berkoff will need to be sharp with Claire Curzan potentially posing a threat to steal that second American spot in the ‘A’ final. The 2024 world champion in all three backstroke distances, Curzan is coming off another standout season in the NCAA, establishing a new all-time record in the short course yard 200 back, and it will be interesting to see if she can take the next step in long course and push the 58-second barrier.
The men’s 100 back is looking wide open, with four swimmers seeded under 53 seconds, though three of them are American, and only two can make the ‘A’ final. Will Modglin leads the field with the 52.54 he produced last summer, while Jack Aikins, who now trains with Modglin at Texas, is the #2 seed, and fellow American Daniel Diehl and Canada’s Blake Tierney will also be vying for a spot on the podium come the final.
The women’s 200 fly is barren to a degree without McIntosh or Smith in the field. There were only 13 entries initially, and with three scratches, only 10 women will race this morning, meaning 80% of the prelim lineup will make the final.
Elizabeth Dekkers is the top seed on paper, though Aussie teammate Brittany Castelluzzo beat her head-to-head for gold last month at the Commonwealth Games.
With Honda not in the field, the men’s 200 fly will be a battle between Luca Urlando, Thomas Heilman, Carson Foster and Dare Rose this morning, with only two spots for the U.S. available in the final.
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