Katie Ledecky Wins 1,500 Freestyle for First International Medal on US Soil/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Katie Ledecky won the 1,500-meter freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships for her first international medal on American soil. The United States capped a dominant opening night by setting a world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay. American swimmers also earned four 1-2 finishes, while Luca Urlando broke Michael Phelps’ championship record in the 200 butterfly.
Quick Look
- Katie Ledecky won the women’s 1,500 freestyle in 15:36.09.
- It was the first international medal of her career earned on U.S. soil.
- Australia’s Lani Pallister took silver in a personal-best 15:38.62.
- The U.S. set a mixed medley relay world record of 3:36.70.
- Gretchen Walsh defeated Kate Douglass in the women’s 50 butterfly.
- Luca Urlando broke Michael Phelps’ Pan Pacific record in the 200 butterfly.
- Katharine Berkoff and Regan Smith finished 1-2 in the women’s 100 backstroke.
- Luke Hobson and Gabriel Jett delivered another American 1-2 finish.
- Pallister defeated Summer McIntosh in the women’s 200 freestyle.
- The championships returned for the first time since 2018.
Deep Look
Ledecky wins first international medal at home
Katie Ledecky captured the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle on the opening night of the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California, earning the first international medal of her celebrated career on American soil.
The two-time Olympic champion in the event completed the 30-lap race in 15 minutes, 36.09 seconds.
Ledecky swam faster than her own world-record pace during the early portion of the race as young fans stood beside the outdoor pool holding signs and cheering throughout her performance.
Australia’s Lani Pallister stayed close during the opening stages before Ledecky established a body-length advantage over her nearest challenger.
Pallister claimed silver in a personal-best 15:38.62, while fellow Australian Moesha Johnson earned the bronze medal.
American relay team breaks world record
The United States completed its dominant opening night by setting a world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay.
Will Modglin, Van Mathias, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass finished in 3:36.70, breaking the previous record of 3:37.43 established by another American team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Modglin opened the relay with the backstroke leg before Mathias took over for breaststroke. Walsh swam butterfly, and Douglass anchored the team in freestyle.
The Americans discussed the possibility of setting a record while waiting for the race.
Australia finished second in 3:39.30, while Canada earned bronze.
Walsh defeats Douglass in 50 butterfly
Walsh led an American 1-2 finish in the women’s 50-meter butterfly, defeating Douglass.
She touched the wall in 24.65 seconds, improving on the 24.91 she posted during the morning preliminary round.
Douglass became only the third woman to break 25 seconds in the event when she recorded a preliminary time of 24.99. She finished second in the final at 25.06.
Walsh was already a member of the sub-25-second group and owns the American record of 24.51.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom is the other swimmer to have broken the barrier and holds the world record at 24.43.
Canada’s Taylor Ruck took bronze in 25.23, earning the first of her three bronze medals Wednesday.
Pan Pacific Championships return after eight years
The meet is the first Pan Pacific Championships held since 2018.
The competition traditionally takes place once every four years, but the 2022 edition was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s championships were moved from Canada to Southern California, giving the region a major international swimming competition before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Olympic swimming in 2028 is scheduled to take place at SoFi Stadium before a crowd of nearly 40,000 spectators.
The Irvine meet offers swimmers and organizers an opportunity to compete in Southern California two years before the Olympics return to Los Angeles.
Urlando breaks Michael Phelps’ championship record
Luca Urlando defeated fellow American Carson Foster in the men’s 200-meter butterfly.
Urlando won in 1:53.11, breaking the Pan Pacific Championships record of 1:53.80 set by Michael Phelps at the 2006 competition in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Phelps attended the medal ceremony and presented awards to Urlando, Foster and Australian bronze medalist Harrison Turner.
The victory gave the United States another 1-2 finish and allowed Urlando to replace the most decorated Olympian in history in the championship record book.
Berkoff leads American backstroke sweep
Katharine Berkoff and world-record holder Regan Smith finished first and second for the United States in the women’s 100-meter backstroke.
Berkoff claimed gold in 57.93 seconds.
Smith finished second in 58.11, slower than the 57.86 she recorded during the preliminary round.
Ruck earned her second bronze medal of the night with a time of 58.40.
The result was one of four 1-2 finishes achieved by the American team during the opening session.
Hobson edges Jett in 200 freestyle
American teammates Luke Hobson and Gabriel Jett took the top two positions in the men’s 200-meter freestyle.
Hobson reached the wall first in 1:43.85.
Jett appeared stunned after finishing only 0.11 seconds behind in a personal-best 1:43.96.
China’s Zhang Zhanshuo claimed bronze.
The close finish reinforced the United States’ strength across multiple disciplines during an opening night featuring victories in distance freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and relay competition.
Pallister rebounds to win 200 freestyle
After finishing second behind Ledecky in the 1,500 freestyle, Pallister won the women’s 200-meter freestyle.
The Australian set a course record of 1:53.67 to defeat Canadian star Summer McIntosh, who finished second in 1:53.86.
Erika Fairweather of New Zealand placed third.
Pallister’s victory completed an impressive night in which she won medals in both the longest women’s freestyle event on the program and the much shorter 200.
Armbruster wins men’s 50 butterfly
Australia’s Ben Armbruster won the men’s 50-meter butterfly in 22.75 seconds.
American Van Mathias finished second after also helping the United States set the mixed medley relay world record.
The result added another medal to Australia’s strong opening-night performance, which included Pallister’s gold and silver medals and the country’s relay silver.
Two-swimmer rule increases preliminary pressure
The Pan Pacific Championships limit each nation to two swimmers in every championship final.
The rule is intended to ensure broader representation among participating countries and prevent powerhouse teams from filling most final lanes.
It also increases the importance of preliminary races.
Swimmers from deep national teams such as the United States and Australia cannot afford to conserve too much energy in the morning because they must finish among their country’s top two competitors to advance to the championship final.
That format can require near-maximum efforts in both preliminary and final sessions, adding another strategic challenge to the meet.
United States opens with dominant performance
The United States finished the first night with a world record, Ledecky’s landmark home-soil medal and four 1-2 finishes.
Walsh, Berkoff, Urlando and Hobson each led American sweeps of the top two positions in their events.
The mixed medley relay team then delivered the evening’s fastest historic achievement by improving the Olympic-era world record.
For Ledecky, the meet also provided a rare career first: an international championship medal won before an American crowd.
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