While most of the 2026 American international pool swimming teams were selected from 2026 meets, there is still one major squad left to be selected at next week’s US National Championships in Irvine.
The 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Championships will be held from August 17-20 in Vancouver, Canada, and the U.S. will choose their roster very late in the game. U.S Nationals run from July 28 to August 1 in California, and swimmers will depart for Vancouver on August 13 for a short training camp before the meet.
The U.S. will send a maximum of 20 boys and 20 girls to the meet. To participate, athletes must be between 13-18 years of age as of December 31, 2026, and must not already be on the Pan Pacs roster.
Selections will be made in the following order (summary):
- Top 2 finishers in the men’s and women’s 100 and 200 freestyle.
- Event winners in every other individual Olympic event.
- 2nd-place finishers in every event other than the 100 and 200 freestyle.
- 3rd-place finishers in the 100 freestyle
- 3rd-place finishers in the 200 freestyle
- 4th-place finishers in the 100 freestyle
- 4th-place finishers in the 200 freestyle
- 3rd-place finishers in all remaining events.
See the full detailed selection procedures here.
If more than 20 swimmers of one gender qualify through those priorities, the final roster spots will be awarded based on each swimmer’s performance relative to the World Aquatics “A” standard from the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, with the swimmers closest to (or exceeding) the standard earning the remaining positions.
The last edition of Junior Pan Pacs was held in 2024 in Canberra, Australia. There, the U.S. won 21 gold, 44 silver, and 6 bronze medals. They were followed by Japan and Australia with 6 and 4 golds, respectable, while Canada and South Korea each earned a pair of victories.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States |
21 | 17 | 6 | 44 |
| 2 |  Japan |
6 | 5 | 10 | 21 |
| 3 |  Australia |
4 | 8 | 8 | 20 |
| 4 |  Canada |
2 | 6 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 |  South Korea |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 |  Argentina |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | 35 | 36 | 34 | 105 | |
The U.S. has led the medals table in all 10 prior editions of Junior Pan Pacs since launching in 2025. That includes 135 out of 211 total gold medals awarded, which is roughly 64%. The next winningest-nation is Japan with 31 gold medals, followed by Australia with 29.
Is this gonna be the big meet of the year for Mijatovic?
Argentina being considered ‘Pan Pacific’ through the Strait of Magellan Exemption or what?
Only European countries aren’t eligible to compete at PPs.