Steady Rise of Patrick Sammon, AJ Pouch a Lesson for American Swimming
Herbie Behm has skin in the game, but that doesn’t mean his point is any less accurate.
Right around the time that Patrick Sammon was turning in a sub-47-second split to set a world record and win gold on the mixed 400 freestyle relay at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, his coach at Arizona State posted a salient point to Instagram.
“From the 91st recruit to 6th in the world,” Behm posted on social media, highlighting the scope of Sammon’s journey. From a lightly recruited high schooler out of the Sacramento area in the class of 2021, Sammon has become a contender for a U.S. men’s relay program that desperately needs contenders. And as the U.S. men’s program looks for answers following consecutive disappointing major international meets, the example of Sammon and international teammate AJ Pouch is worth following.
The list of encouraging performances by American men in Singapore is brief. Luca Urlando’s gold medal in the 200 fly. Jack Alexy’s American record in the 100 free and general sprint consistency. Luke Hobson’s consistent excellence in the 200 free. Shaine Casas’ silver medal in the 200 individual medley (albeit tempered by two prelims bow-outs.)
AJ Pouch; Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
That’s the end of the list, at least by the standards that the U.S. program was once held to. But given the search for rebirth, we can dig deeper.
And when we do, we find Pouch and Sammon.
Sammon was a promising but by no means can’t-miss recruit out of El Dorado Hills. His best time in high school in the short-course yards 50 free was 20.41 seconds, in non-scholastic competition. In the 2020-21 academic year, 16 boys in the U.S. broke 20 seconds. He was a 44.01 100 freestyler, which would’ve been seventh in the class had it come in a scholastic meet.
(A quick aside: Peruse the list of top times from American boys high schoolers in the 50-yard free in the 2020-21 academic year, as collected by NISCA and obviously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ll find Olympian Chris Guiliano 24th, Alexy 50th and Worlds relay swimmer Jonny Kulow 44th. Sammon would’ve been tied for 48th, with eventual NCAA 100 breast champ Julian Smith.)
Sammon was one of several swimmer who’d grow into high profile after swimming at Wave I of the Tokyo Olympic Trials in 2021, the JV meet with the top threats at the main meet in the name of social distancing. (Guiliano would be the avatar for swimmers who made that jump.) Sammon won the Wave I 100 free and was second in the 200 free, earning a trip to Wave II, where his attempt at a taper double-dip landed him last in the 100 and next-to-last in the 200.
Pouch’s journey is different, but the disparities are exactly why they should be considered together. A member of the high school class of 2019, Pouch is swimming his best within sight of age 25. He was a somewhat surprise at trials in 2021, finishing fifth in the 200 breast and ninth in the 100.
Pouch had an unusual journey in high school. The Henderson, Nevada, native went 53.63 at 2018 Speedo Juniors in the 100 breast, the winter of his senior season. But in the spring, he was just 55.14. The former would’ve ranked fifth in the U.S. if done in high school that year. He didn’t improve that time until ACCs in 2020, just before the pandemic shut swimming and everything else down.
Pouch kept improving at Virginia Tech. He was 51.78 by his final NCAAs in the 100, and his 1:51.69 in the 200 was also a best time.
Both swimmers made enough noise at Olympic Trials in 2024 to make you wonder what direction they’d go in. Sammon finished 22nd in the 50 free, 13th in the 200 free and ninth in the 100 free. Pouch was ninth in the 100 breast and threatened a place in the 200, finishing third, .19 seconds behind Josh Matheny’s customary final-50 charge. Pouch earned a trip to Short-Course Worlds that year, finishing sixth in the 200 in a final won by Va. Tech training partner Carles Coll Marti of Spain.
In Singapore, Pouch mounted a similar challenge that fell short. He was third in prelims and second in semifinals in the 200. All that was shadow-boxing by the main contenders, the final in Singapore book-ended by 2:07s from the outside lanes. Qin Haiyang’s in Lane 8 won gold. Kirill Prigoda’s in Lane 1 landed fourth. Pouch finished fifth in 2:09.13. He swam a pair of 2:08s in Singapore, in a rarity twice bettering his time from trials. His best time is 2:08.00, the ceiling he’s surely taking aim at.
At a meet where many Americans wilted – with valid gastrointestinal reasons to do so – Sammon didn’t. He went 47.62 to reach the final of the 100 free and 47.58 once there for sixth place. In a meet of relay disappointment, Sammon split 47.03 on the second leg, the fastest of the four, to help the U.S. secure bronze in the men’s 400 free. His 46.70 piggy-backed Alexy’s 46.91 to help the U.S. rout the mixed free relay in a desperately needed gold.
Labeling either Sammon or Pouch as a late-bloomer is an oversimplification that elides too much useful nuance. What can be said is that both swimmers, whatever their starting level, are improving well into their careers. Identifying the swimmers who can to do that at age 22 or 25 is part of the malaise affecting USA Swimming.
The knee-jerk reaction to the twin downers of Paris and Singapore are to seek the next prodigies. That’s what has worked on the women’s side by and large, making it the best program in the world.
But look at how those prodigies have performed internationally. And search the NISCA lists for stars at age 18 who are no longer on the scene by 22. Instead, there has to be a mix, of swimmers whose starting points in terms of talent may be more modest but whose improvements are more consistent. The narrowing of the NCAA funnel post-House settlement endangers the ability to find them. But given the abundant roster holes at the outset of a home Olympic cycle, the need has rarely been bigger.
Back to Herbie Behm: “It’s not where you are,” he wrote in that Sammon post, “it’s where you’re going!”
It’s coach speak, and it’s aimed at what Behm hopes is the next Patrick Sammon. But that doesn’t make it any less true.
