Pan Pacs Swimming 2026 Preview - 5 Races To Watch
Pan Pacs are here, and these five swimming races could deliver some of the most exciting moments of the meet. From elite sprint battles to rising stars looking to make a statement, there's plenty to watch. Which swimmers will rise to the occasion, and which races could produce surprising results? Let's preview the five must-watch events and the names everyone should have on their radar. Follow along for race predictions, key matchups, and the biggest storylines from the Pan Pacific Championships.
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Video Transcript
What is up?
This is Elvis, your co-host of the Night Swim Podcast.
Let's talk about five races that you wanna look out for this Pan Pacs.
First up, I would say Bobby Finke versus Sam Short.
Sam Short, friend of the show.
He's having a hell of a summer.
He's healthy, and as he mentioned on our podcast, he's typically sick when he goes to a lot of these meets, so excited to see what he can do when he's healthy.
So Bobby Finke versus Sam Short in the 800.
Sam Short is coming into this meet, he's swimming fast.
He's, after winning the 400, 800, and 1500 at Commonwealth, and had a pretty decent 200 as well, so he's got range.
We know he goes, he likes to go out really fast in his races, so that's gonna be an interesting thing to go against Bobby Finke, who doesn't have the same strategy.
But Bobby hasn't, you know, had the best of meets recently, and he hasn't really shown us his best since Paris, so I think he's got it in him.
It's gonna be a good race, Bobby Finke versus Sam Short there.
Next, I would say Katie Ledecky versus Lani Pallister from Australia.
Now, whenever Katie Ledecky's in the water, you got the eyeballs watching, 'cause she's the biggest female swimmer of our time right now.
Beating Katie Ledecky in this event, in the 800 free, is one of the hardest things to do.
But Lani's coming into Pan Pacs after dominating the distance events at Commonwealth Games.
So the question is, if she's not good enough, it's, you know, can she make Katie Ledecky uncomfortable?
We could have an upset there, but of course Katie Ledecky's gonna be the favorite.
Third, we've got Gretchen Walsh versus Kate Douglas in the women's 50 free.
Now this is USA on USA crime right here.
You know, teammates.
Gretchen Walsh currently owns the world record.
Kate Douglas, you know, has touched under that time as well.
So Gretchen is coming in at a 23.55 and Kate has gone 23.59.
Very close to each other there.
Let's see who's gonna do it, Kate Douglas versus Gretchen Walsh, 50 free.
Fourth, not really a matchup, but Summer McIntosh has now dropped the 200 fly, and we're believing she's gonna focus on the 200 free.
We know she got that 200 fly world record at her Canadian trials a few weeks ago, so she doesn't have anything to prove anymore in that race.
Now it's let's see what she can do in these other races when she's not focused on one more event.
You know, she always has a pretty stacked workload.
So her training counterpart, Leon Marchand, just did the sixth fastest time in the world in the 200 freestyle at European Championships just a few days ago.
So everyone's speculating maybe she wants to focus on the 200 this meet as well, see what she can do.
Can she break the world record in the 200 free?
Are we on world record watch?
Let's see.
Women's 200 free, something to watch.
Watch out for Summer McIntosh.
And fifth, USA versus Australia relays.
Now there's a long history of Australia versus USA in the relays, but a lot of Australians after Commonwealth Games are taking the summer off.
So that leaves the field wide open for the USA to pretty much dominate.
You know, most notably Cam McEvoy skipping Pan Pacs.
He's the world record holder in the 50.
And while he may not have been on those relays, we do have a lot of their relay swimmers also skipping.
So the field is kind of open for the USA to win the relays.
So tune into the Pan Pacs and watch some really fast swimming here on Night Swim.
