The 2026 Pan Pacific Championships kicked off with a bang, setting the stage for an exciting few days of swimming action. The prelims session already saw a number of Championship records fall, and the finals session promised even more records and potential world records. The women's 50 fly saw Gretchen Walsh take the top seed with a time of 24.91, just eight hundredths off the world record. Walsh's teammate, Kate Douglass, came in second with a time of 24.99. The men's 50 fly was a close race, with Ben Armbruster taking the top seed by four hundredths over Brazil's Gui Caribe. Americans Van Mathias and Michael Andrew were also within a tenth of Armbruster. The women's 200 freestyle prelims were equally close, with Summer McIntosh qualifying fourth overall and swimming in lane six. She was behind Australian Lani Pallister, New Zealand's Erika Fairweather, and American Anna Peplowski. Luke Hobson picked up the third Championship record of the prelims session in the men's 200 freestyle, stopping the clock in 1:44.31. In the women's 100 backstroke, Regan Smith unsurprisingly took the top seed with a new meet record of 57.86. She was the only swimmer sub-58 and the heavy favorite to win tonight, potentially in a new world record. Canada's Blake Tierney and American Will Modglin were very close in the men's 100 backstroke prelims, with Tierney earning the top seed in 53.13, four hundredths over Modglin's 53.17. The Americans dominated the women's 200 fly prelims, with Alex Shackell and Tess Howley earning the top seeds in 2:06.68 and 2:07.13, respectively. Brittany Castelluzzo will be the next seeded swimmer in the final after she swam 2:09.27 in prelims. Luca Urlando led the men's 200 fly prelims in 1:54.13, six tenths ahead of fellow American Carson Foster and seven tenths ahead of Australian Harrison Turner. The men's 800 freestyle is a timed final event, but it will see Sam Short and Bobby Finke race for the first time this meet as the only two favorites to win. Katie Ledecky is the top seed in the women's 1500 free, and while she has some races this week that could, and likely will, go to somebody else, this is not one of them. Ledecky is the heavy favorite, and she has been nipping at her 2018 world record all season. The final event of the session will be the mixed 4x100 medley relay, where Australia and the United States will be battling for the gold. The full-strength United States will probably win and could break their own world record.
