USA Swimming has announced its roster for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships. Set to be held in Irvine, California, next August, these will be the first Pan Pacs to be held on U.S. soil since 2010, and the first to be held since the 2018 Tokyo Championships.
The 26-strong women’s roster is headlined by 2025 individual World Champions, Katharine Berkoff, Kate Douglass, Katie Ledecky, and Gretchen Walsh, while the men’s side sees the USA’s lone individual Gold Medalist, Luca Urlando, making an appearance in his signature 200 fly event.
| Women’s Team | Men’s Team | |||||
| Name | Priority | Event(s)* | Name | Priority | Event(s)* | |
| Phoebe Bacon | 2 | 200 IM | Jack Aikins | 1 | 200 BK | |
| Katharine Berkoff | 1 | 50 BK, 100 BK | Jack Alexy | 1 | 50 FR, 100 FR | |
| Caroline Bricker | 4 | 200 FL | Michael Andrew | 2 | 50 FL | |
| Jillian Cox | 4 | 800 FR, 1500 FR | Shaine Casas | 1 | 50 BK, 100 FL, 200 IM | |
| Claire Curzan | 2 | 50 BK, 100 BK, 200 BK | Santo Condorelli | 2 | 50 FR | |
| Kennedi Dobson | 4 | 400 FR | Daniel Diehl | 2 | 100 BK | |
| Kate Douglass | 1 | 50 FR, 100 FR, 100 BR, 200 BR, 50 FL | Bobby Finke | 1 | 800 FR, 1500 FR, 400 IM | |
| Rylee Erisman | 1 | 100 FR | Carson Foster | 2 | 200 FL, 200 IM, 400 IM | |
| Erin Gemmell | 1 | 200 FR | Chris Guiliano | 1 | 100 FR | |
| Katie Grimes | 4 | 400 IM | Thomas Heilman | 2 | 100 FL | |
| Leah Hayes | 2 | 200 IM, 400 IM | Luke Hobson | 1 | 200 FR | |
| Tess Howley | 2 | 200 FL | Gabriel Jett | 1 | 200 FR | |
| Torri Huske | 1 | 50 FR, 100 FR, 200 FR, 100 FL | Keaton Jones | 2 | 200 BK | |
| Katie Ledecky | 1 | 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 1500 FR | Destin Lasco | 1 | 100 FR | |
| Simone Manuel | 1 | 100 FR | Josh Matheny | 1 | 100 BR, 200 BR | |
| Anna Peplowski | 3 | 200 FR | Van Mathias | 1 | 50 BR | |
| Alex Shackell | 4 | 100 FL | Rex Maurer | 1 | 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR | |
| Leah Shackley | 4 | 200 BK | Quintin McCarty | 1 | 50 BK | |
| McKenzie Siroky | 1 | 50 BR | Henry McFadden | 1 | 200 FR | |
| Regan Smith | 1 | 50 BK, 100 BK, 200 BK, 200 FL | Campbell McKean | 1 | 50 BR, 100 BR | |
| Skyler Smith | 4 | 50 BR | Will Modglin | 1 | 100 BK | |
| Alex Walsh | 1 | 100 BR, 200 BR, 200 IM | AJ Pouch | 2 | 200 BR | |
| Gretchen Walsh | 1 | 50 FR, 100 FR, 50 FL, 100 FL | Dare Rose | 1 | 50 FL | |
| Emma Weber | 2 | 50 BR | Patrick Sammon | 1 | 100 FR | |
| Claire Weinstein | 1 | 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 1500 FR | Aaron Shackell | 2 | 400 FR | |
| Emma Weyant | 1 | 400 IM | Luca Urlando | 1 | 200 FL | |
The official full roster release can be seen here, but from SwimSwam’s roster math done at the conclusion of the 2025 World Junior Championships, the list of names between the two is identical. The Pan Pacs allows an unlimited number of entrants per nation, so swimmers are able to enter as many individual events as they wish, however, with the meet being contested over just four days, and with each nation allowed to enter two relays, the number of extra events may be limited.
Greg Meehan, the former Women’s Stanford Swimming and Diving Head Coach and the USA Swimming National Team Managing Director, stated, “It was exciting to watch this roster come together across five competitions this summer, and it will be great for these athletes to represent our country on home soil next August.”
As a reminder, this is the first Pan Pac roster in recent history, not directly selected from a single qualify competition held before the championships, as the team was selected from the results of the US Nationals, World Champs, World Juniors, World University Games and the US Summer Champs. After the release of the roster, Meehan added, “Selecting the team from results this summer allows these athletes and their coaches to train and prepare for one primary competition in the summer of ’26. I’m confident in this team as we look ahead to Irvine, which will be the first senior international competition on U.S. soil since 2010. This meet should play a huge role in the lead-up to a home Olympics in LA28.”
On the Women’s side, Torri Huske, Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh, and Claire Weinstein are all entered with four events, but trail Kate Douglass, who made the roster with five events, having qualified in the 50/100 Free, 100/200 Breast, and 50 Fly. Douglass did not swim the 50 free at Worlds, but her 24.04 from the US Nationals in June was still the 3rd fastest performance at a qualifying competition.
For the Men, only four swimmers qualified for the team in more than two events, with Shaine Casas qualifying in the 50 Back, 100 Fly and 200 IM, Bobby Finke in the 800/1500 Free and 400 IM, Carson Foster in the 200 Fly and 200/400 IM and Rex Maurer in the 200/400/800 Free. With the men not doubling, tripling, quadrupling up on as many events, they did not progress far into the selection priorities, being unable to take all of the 2nd fastest swimmers in each non 100/200 free event, whereas the women took all of the 2nd fastest swimmers, the 5th fastest in the 100/200 free and many of the 3rd fastest swimmers in the non 100/200 free events.
With the cancellation of the 2022 championships due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all but five swimmers (Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Regan Smith, Michael Andrew and Bobby Finke) will be competing in Pan Pacs for the first time, as much of the roster was on the senior national team eight years ago. Included in those making their Pan Pac debut are three women and one man, who will be making their first appearance on a senior international level team, as Kennedi Dobson (400 Free), Rylee Erisman (100 Free), Skyler Smith (50 Breast) and Van Mathias (50 Breast) will don the stars and stripes on their cap for the first time with their names.
Of those four, Dobson, Erisman, and Mathias all added their names to the roster after the 2025 World Championships in Singapore. Mathias, who made a return to competitive swimming after over two years break from racing, did not compete at the 2025 US Nationals, but produced the fastest 50 breaststroke time of 26.76 at the US Summer Championships, earning a spot on the team. 2024 Olympian Aaron Shackell did not have strong enough swims at US Nationals to earn a spot to Singapore, but like Mathias swam a new PB of 3:45.03 to earn a spot back to Irvine for Pan-Pacs. Dobson and Erisman, both added their names from their results in Otopeni at the World Juniors, where Erisman’s new 15-16 NAG record of 52.79 in the 100 free booked her spot on the team, while Dobson’s nearly three-second PB in the 400 free nabbed her a spot.
All of our work on the roster selection procedures can be found below.
I really think it would be smart for USA to adopt a comparable process for choosing its’ olympic team and not lay it all on 1 meet ie-the trials.
Why is Regan smith not swimming 100 fly? Isn’t she third in country??
That would be A LOT of races in a four day meet. Also remember that once qualified, anyone can swim anything they want. Not every 3rd ranked swimmer qualified in that event per se.
That and the fact that she didn’t race the 100 fly at any of the qualifying meets, so she is ineligible to be named for the Pan-Pac team in that event. She is on the National Team in the 100 fly as her time of 56.52 places her 2nd, but as Braden said, it seems unlikely she would swim the 100 fly as it comes right before the 200 back (see schedule here)
what about the men’s 1500, #2?
The men’s roster did not make it through the entire list of swimmers in the priority two ranking. Per the tiebreaking, the percentage of the time vs the A-standard, David Johnston’s time in the 1500 would have made him 27th person on the team, and as the team is limited to 26 he is not on the team. That said, other swimmers, should they wish, could enter the 1500 and compete in it.
Kate looks so pretty in that picture
Arguably one of the prettiest swimmers there is. But I am always amazed of how pretty they all look with tech suit and swim cap as I look horrible in those.
Pretty sure the Aussies who after all are US’s main rivals give much more priority to the Commonwealth Games which receive much more media attention there. That’s their big event of non-Olympic/World Champ years..
Not sure about the Canadian’s priorities (they are much more concerned about what Americans think)
Kate Douglas is a Swiss Army Knife of USA swimming
So Michael Andrew is the Isaac Cooper equivalent of the American team ?
These comments are getting old
So is him not performing
Is there a reason why this team has been selected at this time? Our Aussie team will be chosen following the Australian Swimming Trials, June 7-13, 2026. The Trials are also for selection to the Commonwealth Games (July/August of 2026).
its probably perceived as a minor event compared to Worlds and Olympics
Probably? It is a minor event compared to them
I wouldn’t know for sure the reason as I’m not in the inner circle hence the use of probably ..