By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
2026 PRO SWIM SERIES – AUSTIN
January 14-17, 2026 Austin, Texas Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center All the Links LCM (50 meters)Racing starts tomorrow morning for the 2026 Pro Swim Series in Austin, and there are some big names competing at the meet this week.
Here are some storylines to watch as we officially kick off the hopefully exciting year of racing ahead of us.
Erisman’s Return to Long Course
Many of the stars racing this weekend will be swimming their first long course meet since the end of the 2025 season, whether that is the World Championships, World Juniors or another late summer taper meet.
One such swimmer is 16-year-old Rylee Erisman, who hasn’t swum long course since the 2025 World Junior Championships, where she won the 50 and 100 freestyle events and finished 2nd in the 200 free. Her 100 free time at the meet was just seven hundredths off Penny Oleksiak‘s World Junior record in the event, and she is entered to swim it this weekend.
Erisman is also scheduled to race the 200 free, 400 free, 100 back, and 200 IM races during the meet. She is coming off a strong Winter Juniors Championships last month that saw her swim the 16th fastest time in history of 1:40.93 in the 200 freestyle. She also swam a strong 500 time of 4:34.60.
This will be the first time we get to see her long course racing this year as she begins preparation for the 2026 Pan Pacs in August.
France vs America
There is a large international presence at the meet this weekend in the form of French swimmers who are coming in at the top of a number of events. One of the biggest names we are seeing is 26-year-old Maxime Grousset, who is entered in the 50 free, 100 fly, 50 fly, and 100 free.
France will be competing at the 2026 European Championships this summer, which means that this might be one of the only times we get to see top French swimmers race top Americans. In Grousset’s events, this includes athletes like Shaine Casas, Jack Alexy, and Chris Guiliano, who will all be swimming at Pan Pacs.
The French contingent also technically includes Leon Marchand, who trains at Texas, but will swim at Euros, though we will likely see him at a few more Pro Series meets before then. This week, Marchand is entered in the 200 back, 200 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM.
Other big French swimmers to watch include Beryl Gastaldello, Marie Wattel, Yohann Ndoye Brouard, and Mewen Tomac.
Men’s Distance Showdown
There are a number of strong distance freestyle men racing this weekend, including Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, who will be swimming his 1st long course meet and 2nd meet total since his appendectomy after the 2025 World Championships.
Wiffen has been training with the pro group at Cal, and he leads Bobby Finke, France’s David Aubry, and Uzbekistan’s Ilia Sibirtsev in the men’s 800 freestyle and they are followed by fellow Cal pro Lucas Henveaux from Belgium.
Finke was not at his best at the 2025 U.S. Open last month, but if he is in top form, it should be an exciting race with the top three coming in only five seconds apart.
The 1500 sees a similar collection of men racing with Finke, the World Record holder as the top seed.
First Round of Semifinals and W. 800 Free Finals
For the first time this year, the Pro Swim Series meets will have semifinals races. Each meet has a different schedule for semifinals, but all the meets will have four prelims/finals session. This week, we will see semifinals for all four 50s of strokes, and the 200 IM.
The idea is that this format will help provide more race practice as the 2028 Olympics get closer.
The women’s 800 freestyle will also be swum in prelims/finals format, as each of the four distance events (Men’s and Women’s 800 and 1500 freestyle) get a prelims/finals opportunity at one of the stops.
World Record Holder Katie Ledecky leads the field of 16 women entered in the 800 in Austin, followed by Claire Weinstein and Ashley Twichell, who will be making her return to national level racing following the birth of her 2nd baby in May.
Odd Event Lineup
The meet isn’t the biggest version we have ever seen, with many events struggling to fill a ‘B’ final. This has left the door open for some of the top swimmers in the world to try out new event lineups.
Summer McIntosh recently moved her training base to Austin, and she is entered in a few surprise events this week. She dropped the 200 fly from her lineup, and is scheduled to race the 200 IM, 100 fly, 400 IM, and 100 freestyle. She has not swum a 100 freestyle long course since April of 2024, when she swam 53.90 at the Speedo Canadian Open.
Bobby Finke is well known for being a distance swimmer, but he’s had a few strong 400 IMs in his career, even winning the national title in the event last summer before Worlds. He is also entered in the 200 fly, an event he hasn’t raced since this time last year, but generally swims about once a year.
We talked briefly about Leon Marchand above, and he is also entered in an odd event, with the 200 backstroke making an appearance on his schedule. He has only raced the long course 200 backstroke a few times in his professional career, with backstroke being his “weakest” stroke.
Finally, Cal’s Claire Weinstein is entered in all six distances of freestyle. This isn’t particularly odd for her, after she almost qualified to swim the 400 freestyle relay and the 1500 at the 2025 World Championships, but as a primary distance swimmer, it is always interesting to see her entered in the 50 freestyle.
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