USA Swimming Pro Series Austin, Day Three Finals: Summer McIntosh Highlights Night of Olympic Champion Wins
The third night of finals at the USA Swimming Pro Series stop in Austin featured several athletes going to work in events where they hold Olympic titles. In addition to Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen (2024) and American Bobby Finke (2020) headlining the 800-meter freestyle, France’s Leon Marchand and Canada’s Summer McIntosh were scheduled to contest the 400 individual medley, an event in which they claimed titles at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The Friday night slate also included men’s and women’s finals in the 200 freestyle and 50 breaststroke, with men’s and women’s semifinals scheduled in the 50 butterfly and 50 backstroke. This year’s Pro Series marks the first time that semifinals are being conducted, with a rotation determined to ensure that all events feature a semifinal round at one stop during the circuit. In Austin, semifinals were held in the 50-meter events, along with the 200 individual medley.
Results
Day One Finals
Day Two Finals
Here’s an event-by-event recap of the Night Three action from Austin:
Men’s 800 Freestyle (Final)
Reigning Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen of Ireland surged to an early lead and never looked back en route to victory in the 800 freestyle. Wiffen covered his 16 laps in 7:50.37, which was a little more than a second faster than the 7:51.50 of the United States’ Bobby Finke, who was the 2020 Olympic titlist in the event. Wiffen went out in 1:54.58 for the opening 200 meters and went through the midway point in 3:54.18, with Finke touching halfway in 3:55.67.
Coming off a victory in the 400 freestyle from the previous night, Ryan Erisman finished just behind Finke, on the strength of a 7:51.87 performance.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke (Final)
After advancing to the final as the second seed, American Skylar Smith turned up the pace in the championship race, prevailing with a mark of 30.43. Smith’s effort handed her a comfortable margin over Germany’s Anna Elendt, the reigning world champion in the 100 breaststroke. Elendt came through for second place, as she registered a swim of 30.76. Smith and Elendt were the only swimmers under 31 and 31 seconds in the field.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke (Final)
Indiana’s Van Mathias entered the final of the 50 breaststroke with designs on breaking the American record in the event. While the sprint standout came up short in that pursuit, he delivered his third sub-27 clocking of the meet, with his winning performance a swim of 26.89. Mathias was followed to the wall by Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan, who was timed in 27.12.
Mathias has emerged as the premier American sprinter in the breaststroke, and is chasing the national record of 26.45, set at the 2022 World Championships by Nic Fink.
Women’s 200 Freestyle (Final)
Over the past few years, Claire Weinstein has emerged as the United States’ No. 1 200 freestyler, and she backed up that status in Austin with a victory. A freshman at Cal-Berkeley, Weinstein rallied from third place at the 150-meter mark to grab the win in 1:56.62, which was quicker than the 1:57.01 produced by Anna Peplowski. Weinstein was .12 behind Peplowski with a length to go, but she closed in 29.21, compared to the 29.72 of Peplowski.
Teen star Rylee Erisman was the third-place finisher, going 1:57.19, while Simone Manuel checked in with a 1:57.58 for fourth place.
Men’s 200 Freestyle (Final)
Roughly 40 minutes after finishing third in the 800 freestyle with a 7:51 outing, Ryan Erisman returned to the pool and secured an impressive triumph in the 200 freestyle. Fueled by a closing split of 26.62, the fastest in the field, Erisman recorded a time of 1:46.66, which got him to the wall ahead of World Championships silver medalist Luke Hobson (1:47.31). Carson Foster followed in 1:47.49.
Erisman is quickly emerging as one of the United States’ brightest hopes in the middle and distance freestyles and his ability to generate two impressive marks in the 800 free and 200 free in less than an hour speaks to his training. Erisman was seventh after the opening lap and moved into fourth by the midway point.
Women’s 50 Butterfly (Semifinal)
France’s Marie Wattel nailed down the top seed for Saturday night’s final in the 50 butterfly by the slimmest of margins. Wattel sprinted to a time of 26.53, which was .01 quicker than the 26.54 of Mena Boardman. Also dipping under the 27-second barrier was Charlotte Crush, who went 26.67.
Men’s 50 Butterfly (Semifinal)
World champion Maxime Grousset of France didn’t hold back in the semifinals of the 50 butterfly, as he cranked out a U.S. Open record of 22.81. Grousset was easily the fastest man in the field and his swim broke the previous U.S. Open record of 22.84, set by Caeleb Dressel in 2022. Dressel was third in the semifinals, going 23.50. That time followed the 23.46 of Van Mathias, who won the 50 breaststroke earlier in the session.
Women’s 400 Individual Medley (Final)
For the 11th time in her career, Summer McIntosh cracked the 4:30 barrier in the 400 individual medley, this time going 4:28.13 for a dominant win. The reigning Olympic and world champ in the event, and the world-record holder, McIntosh raced to an 11.98-second triumph over Emma Weyant (4:40.11), twice an Olympic medalist in the 400 IM.
The 19-year-old McIntosh prevailed in wire-to-wire fashion, as she covered the opening butterfly leg in 59.83 and came through the the 200-meter mark in 2:08.13. McIntosh split 3:26.88 after the breaststroke leg and came hom in 1:01.25. McIntosh’s time is the eighth-fastest of her career and gives her eight of the nine-fastest performances of all-time.
Men’s 400 Individual Medley (Final)
Another Olympic champion emerged on top of the field in the men’s 400 individual medley, as France’s Leon Marchand handily defeated the competition. Marchand notched a swim of 4:13.21 to finish more than five seconds ahead of American Bobby Finke, who stopped the clock in 4:18.35. Finke was the runnerup in the 800 freestyle earlier in the night.
Marchand held the lead from the start, splitting 55.94 on the butterfly leg. By the end of the backstroke, Marchand was three seconds ahead of the field and he added to his margin over the closing 200 meters. Marchand’s biggest meet of 2026 will be the European Championships, scheduled for the summer in Paris.
Women’s 50 Backstroke (Semifinal)
Regan Smith easily booked Lane Four for the final of the 50 backstroke, thanks to a swim of 27.65. Smith was the only athlete to go sub-28 and will be the heavu favorite to earn the title on Saturday night. Advancing as the second seed was France’s Beryl Gastaldello, who went 28.13.
Men’s 50 Backstroke (Semifinal)
The United States’ Shaine Casas and Frenchman Yohann Ndoye Brouard are expected to battle for the title in the 50 backstroke when the final is held on Saturday night. Casas bolted to the top seed with a 25.01 outing in the semifinals, with Ndoye Brouard right behind in 25.11.
