USA Swimming Will Select 2026 Pan Pacs Roster With Summer 2025 Championship Times; First-Timers in Line Already
While most of the best swimmers from the United States are presently in Southeast Asia focused on winning medals at the upcoming World Championships, there is some attention already on next summer and the Pan Pacific Championships, scheduled to be held in Irvine, Calif., as a warm-up event of sorts for the 2028 Olympic swimming competition in Los Angeles. Swimmers including Tess Howley, Leah Shackley, Leah Hayes, Emma Weber, Will Modglin and Daniel Diehl may already be penciling in that competition as their target for the next long course season.
Pan Pacs is returning to the competition schedule after an eight-year gap after the 2022 edition of the meet was canceled due to the international calendar shuffle prompted by COVID-19. During a traditional four-year quadrennium, USA Swimming typically takes one year off from holding selection meets. In the past, that was the year before the Olympics, with rosters for major competitions including the World Championships selected one year in advance, but this quad is different, with no selection meet scheduled for 2026.
Thus, the Pan Pacs roster will be picked based on a combination of times recorded in 2025. According to USA Swimming’s announced procedures, the times considered will include those from the A-finals at last month’s U.S. Nationals, finals at the World Championships, finals at the World University Games, finals at the World Junior Championships and A-finals at the upcoming TYR Summer Championships.
Once selected for the team at the Pan Pacific Championships, swimmers can enter any additional events of their choosing, and there is no limit on a country’s entries per event. However, only two swimmers per nation can qualify for the championship final, with an additional pair of competitors allowed in the consolation final. That occasionally produced scenarios where the B-final winner records a time that would have been good enough for a medal.
The swimmers who qualified for Worlds were already first in line for spots on the Pan Pacs team based on their times at Nationals, but the selection procedures are different what is put forth for a typical international meet such as the Olympics or World Championships. Below is the priority order for selection, with the roster filled up to 26 female swimmers and 26 male swimmers.
- Fastest swimmers in each event plus the four fastest swimmers in the 100 and 200 freestyle
- The second-fastest swimmers in events other than the 100 and 200 freestyle
- The fifth-fastest swimmer in the 100 and 200 freestyle
- The third-fastest swimmer in events other than the 100 and 200 freestyle
- The fourth-fastest swimmer in events other than the 100 and 200 freestyle
The main differences: with no relay prelims, sixth-place swimmers are not selected in the 100 and 200 free, but the third and fourth-best swimmers can make the team, provided there are still open slots. In practice, this means third-place swimmers often do make the cut but not always. Here is what we should expect for the U.S. moving into next year.
Women’s Roster
Leah Hayes — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The women will have numerous open slots for third-place swimmers. There are only 21 swimmers on the Worlds roster, five below the cap, and relay-only swimmers Anna Moesch and Bella Sims do not have priority for Pan Pacs qualification based on their sixth-place times from Nationals in the 100 and 200 free, respectively.
Additionally, Jillian Cox and Katie Grimes are not currently considered Priority #2 swimmers when it comes to Pan Pacs consideration. Cox was only the third-ranked swimmer in the 1500 freestyle but made Worlds when Claire Weinstein declined the spot for that competition. Grimes was second in the 400 IM at Nationals at 4:37.22, but Hayes eclipsed that time with her winning mark by clocking 4:36.04 last week at the World University Games.
Like Hayes, Howley clawed her way into a top selection priority by virtue of efforts in Berlin. She went 2:05.20 in the 200 butterfly semifinals to become the third-fastest American ever, and she followed that up in the final with a time of 2:05.69. That latter mark, the only one considered for selection, is ahead of the times posted by Caroline Bricker (2:05.80) and Regan Smith (2:05.85) at Nationals. We’ll see how fast they swim in Singapore, but for right now, Howley is the top 200 flyer ahead of Bricker. Smith is still in position for selection thanks to her backstroke times.
Hayes and Howley join the other 17 women on the Worlds roster currently in line for selection through the first three priorities.
We assume Lilly King will decline the spot since she plans to retire after this year’s Worlds. That would bump Emma Weber into a Priority #2 selection position for the 50 breaststroke since she is currently No. 3 behind King and McKenzie Siroky. In the 100 breast, King’s spot would go to Alex Walsh, already on the tentative team for the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM.
That’s 19 swimmers on the team — and seven open spots, which will surely be filled with the third-best swimmers in each event. That is not quite enough room for all third-ranked swimmers to make it onto the team capped at 26. The official selection criteria criteria calls for swimmers in Priority #4 to have their times to be ranked based on percentage under the “A” standard, using the time standards in place for the Paris Olympics.
Here are the swimmers currently ranked No. 3 in their respective events. This omits swimmers already qualified to the team in a different event and moves Weber onto the Priority #2 line due to King’s expected withdrawal.
Note that the Olympic “A” standards do not exist for the 50-meter stroke events, which were just added to the Olympic program for 2028. The guess is that the standards in place for this year’s World Championships will be substituted for those events only. Potential qualifiers in those events are listed in italics.
- Leah Shackley, 200 backstroke: 2:05.99 (3.3% faster)
- Jillian Cox, 800 freestyle: 8:19.88 (1.3% faster)
- Skyler Smith, 50 breaststroke: 30.47 (0.09% faster)
- Brady Kendall, 50 butterfly: 26.02 (0.08% faster)
- Katie Grimes, 400 IM: 4:37.22 (0.05% faster)
- Alex Shackell, 100 butterfly: 57.71 (0.03% faster)
- Bella Sims, 400 freestyle: 4:07.11 (0.03% faster)
- Katie Christopherson, 200 breaststroke: 2:26.65 (1.9% slower)
Shackley for sure will be on the Pan Pacs team based on her sensational performances at the World University Games, most notably the 200 backstroke effort made her the fourth-fastest swimmer in the world this year (albeit behind two other Americans). Despite not having top-two times, Cox and Grimes are in great shape, and Sims has a great shot despite her 200 free sixth-place time having no place in the selection process.
There are only seven swimmers currently ranked for Priority #4, which would leave just one out. It’s unclear against which standard Skyler Smith and Brady Kendall will be judged for their 50-meter swims, but it is likely both will end up above Katie Christopherson (200 breaststroke) in the selection order.
Remember, all of this is still subject to change. The members of the Worlds team could still put forth exceptional times while swimmers racing at the TYR Pro Championships or World Junior Championships. Multi-talented teenager Audrey Derivaux, headed to the junior-level meet in Otopeni, Romania, next month, is best positioned to knock someone from their current status.
Men’s Roster
The situation is far different for any swimmer hoping to claim an extra roster spot for the men. The lack of doubles for the men’s roster at Nationals meant that Kieran Smith, the sixth-place finisher in the 200 free, was left off the final roster bound for Singapore. The sixth-place swimmer from Nationals in the 100 free was Shaine Casas, but he was safe on the team in other events.
Hence, the roster for next year’s Pan Pacs would be full with just the 26 swimmers currently at Worlds. Having the third-best time in any event will be insufficient, and not everyone who made Worlds will be safe.
That’s because the top-two times in the men’s 100 backstroke belong to Will Modglin and Daniel Diehl, who both broke 52 for the first time at the World University Games. That will knock Tommy Janton off the Pan Pacs team unless he can surpass Diehl’s 52.94 from the WUGs final. Jack Aikins, on the other hand, has the top time of any American in the 200 back, so he will be on the team regardless.
Unless Worlds finishes with Aikins as one of the top-two swimmers in the 100 back, creating a double, Jonny Kulow would lose his spot as the fifth-ranked swimmer in the 100 free. But as with the women, there are plenty of opportunities remaining for movement, so there could be further changes down the line.
