Who Is a Threat to Qualify for Pan Pacific Championships from USA World Juniors Squad?
Once the TYR Summer Championships conclude, attention will shift to the World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania. The meet, which will feature the future of the sport, is scheduled from August 19-24, and the United States is sending an impressive team to Europe. For American swimmers, World Juniors will serve as the final opportunity to qualify for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, the United States’ international meet for the year.
USA Swimming has employed a multi-competition qualification process for Pan Pacs. In selecting its 26-athlete rosters, the United States will choose its teams from the combined results of the World Championships, Nationals, the World University Games, the TYR Summer Championships and the World Junior Championships.
The number of multi-event qualifiers plays a huge role in how the men’s and women’s teams will be assembled. For the men, only the top-two athletes in each event will qualify. The exceptions are the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle, where the top-four performers will be selected. On the women’s side, there is flexibility for numerous third-place athletes to qualify, a scenario made possible by the likes of Kate Douglass, Katie Ledecky, Torri Huske, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh and others qualifying in several events each.
Team USA – World Junior Championships
Which USA Junior Team Members Have Best Chance of Qualifying for Pan Pacs?
- On the men’s side, it’s unlikely any Junior Team athletes will produce a top-two time. The best opportunity likely belongs to Aiden Hammer, the distance-freestyle standout headed for the University of Texas. Hammer will chase respective times of 7:49.53 and 14:57.83 in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle.
- Audrey Derivaux, the all-around talent from New Jersey, will look to put her versaility on display in Romania. Derivaux is set to compete in five individual events – 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. The 16-year-old has several chances to qualify for the Pan Pacific Championships. Derivaux has a best of 2:06.68 in the 200 backstroke, where the cutoff is currently 2:05.99. Meanwhile, she has been 57.99 in the 100 butterfly and 2:06.46 in the 200 fly, with the respective targets at 57.34 and 2:05.80. As for the individual medley events, Derivaux has a best of 2:10.91 in the 200 distance and 4:41.39 in the 400 distance. To qualify in those events, it would require faster than 2:09.48 and 4:36.52, respectively.
- Rylee Erisman, a sprint star from Florida, has a best chance to qualify for Pan Pacs in the 100 freestyle. The fifth-place cutoff sits at 53.51 by Erin Gemmell, and Erisman boasts a personal best of 53.75. Recently, she went 53.80 at the Florida Senior Champs, which puts her within striking distance once she arrives in Otopeni. Erisman will also race the 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke at World Juniors.
- University of Tennessee recruit Charlotte Crush will race five individual events at World Juniors – 50 backstroke, 100 back, 200 back, 50 butterfly, 100 fly. Crush has been a age-group standout for years and seems to have her best chance heading to Pan Pacs in the 50 fly and 100 fly, where the current cutoffs sit at 26.02 and 57.34. Crush has been 26.24 in the 50 fly, from 2023, and she owns a 100 butterfly best of 58.09. She has also been 2:07.05 in the 200 backstroke, but will need to get down to 2:05.99 in that event.
- Kennedi Dobson has been as fast as 4:09.46 in the 400 freestyle, and while that time is more than two seconds off the 4:07.11 that currently has Bella Sims ranked third, Dobson’s time came from the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs.
- Mena Boardman could make a push for Pan Pacs in the 50 butterfly, where she has been as quick as 26.23. That time is within reach of the 26.02 that has Brady Kendall presently slotted third. Kendall has actually been sub-26, but that time was not registered in a final, which is a requisite.
