Lani Pallister: “I Think Breaking 8 Minutes Would Be Huge” (Day 3 Westmont World Cup Quotes)

2025 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – Westmont

• October 17-19, 2025
• Westmont, Illinois
• SCM (25 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Recaps:
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Day three of the second stop of the 2025 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup brought the heat, with multiple national, U.S. Open, and two World Records falling in Westmont, Illinois.

• If you missed the action, check out our live recap of the session.

After the dust settled, several of the winners winners took to the mic to discuss their races, mindset, and excitement about competing against the world’s best.

All quote excerpts are courtesy of World Aquatics. 

MEN’S 400M IM – GOLD,  Shaine Casas (USA) – 3:57.41

Casas was happy with dropping nearly six seconds in his 400 IM, saying, “Hell yeah, that was like my first reaction. I’m way better at night, last week was not fun being in the earlier heat. I was racing myself and kind of backed off, especially that second half. It’s super fun being able to race Carson and that whole field. That’s how practice is, we go out there and try to rip it. I’m super happy with that, and we both swam kick ass. My legs started to tighten up, I knew if I could just hit a couple underwater, he was going to pass me. I just gave it my all and luckily I got the better of him this time. I don’t know, next time he might get me.”

Reflecting on his strategy for Toronto, Casas said, “I need to set myself up better for night swims. This week could have been completely different if I was a little slower in that 100 IM and in my 200. I don’t think I did as well as I should have. Just taking that morning a little more seriously and really practicing (for) the night swim. Luckily I only have to swim the 400 once so that’s why I did it. Honestly, next week I will just do every single swim the best I possibly can. The next time around I will be more focused on winning. I’m pretty happy with that, I think I made a big step forward in this whole circuit, just keep pushing. I don’t know if I’ll do the 400 IM in Toronto, that hurt. Points wise, Herbie (Hubert Kos) is up there in backstroke so who knows, maybe I’ll swim backstroke. We will see what happens.”

WOMEN’S 1500M FREESTYLE – GOLD, Lani Pallister (USA) – 15:13.83

Pallister reflected on her training shift this season, saying, “It’s been huge. I remember moving to Dean (Boxall) in March. Between him and I, we said that this season was all about racing. It has been fun to race, but (we need to) race fast at the same time.”

She went on to discuss how her recent performance stacks up against the world’s best, explaining, “I think if you put Katie (Ledecky) in that race, she would be pretty close to cracking 15. I think, until she comes back, when she’s been swimming as well as she has this season, she’s quite an unknown. For a lot of distance swimmers, a lot don’t race it that often, so as much as I’m pleased with that time, I’m excited to race it with that under my belt—and with a taper maybe.”

“That bodes well for next week. I said on week one that it was just about moving forward, progressing, and getting better each week. To go an 8:03 through to the feet is awesome. I’ll take that as a huge win for tonight. And swimming a 7- or 8-second PB is really good. I’m happy with that and will take it,” Pallister added.

She also credited her training partners for pushing her throughout the season, adding, “Gosh, at heart, I felt like it got very ugly very early but tried to keep my stroke rate up. One of the boys I train with, Ben [Goedemans], pops in my head quite a bit when we do a night of 1500 racing. He is someone that keeps me really honest in training and has pushed me this whole season, so a lot of my success is (having) him in the back of my mind helping me and being that peer support network at St. Peters.”

WOMEN’S 100M BUTTERFLY – GOLD, Gretchen Walsh (USA) – 53.72

Walsh said she wasn’t entirely satisfied with the result, saying, “I’m not super happy with the time honestly. I feel like I put myself out there more, which I wanted to do. I hurt more. I think next week after some rest, I’ll be able to come home better and it will be an all-around better swim.”

Asked how it felt to have her coach, Todd DeSorbo, at the meet, Walsh said, “More entertainment than anything. Sometimes it’s a little boring on deck, a little lonely. It’s nice to have him because he’s not only my coach but also my friend.”

Reflecting on her overall performance across the stop, Walsh added, “I feel good about it, I’m super pleased with getting the three wins. It’s definitely tough competition so I’m really happy with that. Hopefully leading into Toronto just feeling confident about the triple crown in some of these events.”

She noted that training had remained heavy through the Carmel stop, explaining, “We didn’t really rest going into this stop. We still did doubles this week, lifted twice. So next week, I don’t think we’re going to be lifting and I don’t think we’re going to be doubling. So hopefully a lot of rest and more fast swimming.”

MEN’S 50M BUTTERFLY – GOLD, Ilya Kharun (CAN) – 21.69

The Canadian was thrilled with his performance. “I’m very happy about that, it could have gone both ways. I wasn’t expecting to win, I just wanted to win,” he said. “Noe is such a strong competitor. I was really happy I got this one because if I get it in Toronto, it would be another crown and I would be very happy about that. Overall, a really fun race. I’m just happy to be here in this position. Noe is such a fierce competitor, (I am) just happy to be here.”

“It was not my best — I was .02 off my best — but I’ll take it,” Kharun said, adding that he was still pleased with the progress. “It was pretty good and maybe I’ll try to go faster next week. I was very happy with it. It was a big improvement from last week and I hope to improve more next week.”

Looking ahead to Toronto, he said his focus remains on his times. “I just want to drop a little more. I’m learning because I’m just learning with each race and of course hoping to get better and keep racing these guys because it’s very exciting.”

WOMEN’S 200M BACKSTROKE – GOLD, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 1:57.87 *WORLD RECORD*

McKeown reflected on her approach to the race, saying, “I think my mindset, like I said, I was really short for the 50 and the 100. I just wanted to grin and bear it and bite down on the bullet and see what I could produce tonight. I didn’t really follow my race plan, so I died on my back end but it’s good having Regan pushing the whole way.”

She emphasized how much that rivalry pushes her forward, adding, “It’s always important to have Regan (Smith) in that race. I think we push each other all the time and without that I don’t think either of us would be where we are.”

“I think in backstroke you can (see the other competitors in the) periphery, you can see some arms flying around, especially when they’re as fast as hers. You can always see what’s kinda going on,” McKeown added.

Looking ahead to next week, she noted, “It will be interesting to see how my body recovers and how my shoulder feels going into next week. Everyone seems to have gotten faster and I seem to have gotten slower, so we’ll just see what happens.”

Asked about her goals for the final stop, she kept it simple: “Just make it through.”

MEN’S 100M BACKSTROKE – GOLD, Hubert KOS (HUN) – 48.78 

Kos said he felt encouraged by how close he was to world-record pace, saying, “Let’s hope that’s the case, you know. I feel like I’m a bit closer, I’m a bit closer in short course to the World Records in the 100 and 200. It’s a good feeling,” he said. “I think if I would have had a bit more training and not take off as much as I did, I could have been a lot closer than I was tonight. There is something missing on the last 25 that I can figure out in a week and maybe I can challenge it.”

“I just took it out. Last week I was more conservative on the first 50. This week I just wanted to go for it and see what I could do. My last 25, especially the underwater, it was kind of stinging me. It wasn’t a great feeling but that’s what you learn from. I want to just keep pushing myself and see how close I can get,” he said of his race strategy.

Kos went on to praise his teammates’ strong performances, saying, “Shaine is my teammate. It was great to see him sweep the three IMs. I didn’t know that he had that in his locker, it was a great 400 IM. It kind of came out of nowhere, pretty close to the World Record as well. Great for him, really happy for him. I also used to swim with Ilya so these are great guys and this is what it’s all about. Just racing, having fun and doing the best we can. The rest will come.”

He finished with a smile, adding, “Shaine just told me he was going to do the 100 as well. Everyone is coming for me. They saw that I threw six in a row, sweeping the backstroke in both stops so let’s see them. It will be a good race.”

WOMEN’S 50M BREASTSTROKE – GOLD, Mona McSharry (IRL) – 29.59

McSharry said earning a spot on the podium felt meaningful: “It was super important (to be on the podium). I think it was about getting ahead of everybody and trying to get your hands on the wall first, and that’s really the practice of this.”

She emphasized the value of the World Cup series, adding, “World Cup swimming is super important. I think just being able to get out and race three weekends in a row. It’s tough going but it really sets up your body well for the rest of the season.”

“Honestly, I think everything just kind of fell together. I think it’s taking me a little bit. I haven’t raced meters in a little bit — it’s been all yards — so I think just trying to fine tune back to meters is just taking me a little bit. That was honestly just a great race. It felt great and I’m happy with it,” McSharry said, reflecting on the swim and the adjustment back to SCM racing.

Looking at areas for improvement, she noted, “I think I need to work on my underwater and my exits. The swimming feels really good, it’s just things around that I need to work on.”

MEN’S 200M BREASTSTROKE – GOLD, Caspar Corbeau (NED) – 2:01.68

Corbeau said the race felt good overall, though just shy of what he was hoping for. “That felt good, a little bit slower than last week. I was trying to get under 2:01 — I had a bet with my coach for amusement, so it went well, but I’m still learning,” he said.

He laughed when asked about the wager, explaining that “he would have to do a bodybuilding competition. I think that would be pretty funny for a middle-aged man to get spray painted orange in front of his team and have to do it.”

“It was a few hundredths slower,” Corbeau added. “I have to look at how I split it. I felt a little bit more rushed maybe. I should have relaxed a little bit more and glide and focus on my strengths.”

Facing a strong field, he admitted that the competition keeps him motivated. “I’m against a great field of competitors. Every week is a struggle,” he said, adding, “I’m just trying to take in little bits and pieces of the races throughout these weeks. And if I can get everything right, maybe next week we’ll see a sweep — I don’t know — I’m just trying to focus on the time.”

On training with Ilya Shymanovich, Corbeau said it’s been refreshing to have a top-tier partner again. “I haven’t had a training partner at that super high level since Arno (Kamminga), and that was before Paris,” he explained. “So last year and part of this year I’ve been doing it by myself. Even for just a few days, it was nice to have somebody beating me in practice, which I haven’t had in a while. That was pretty awesome.”

He added that his focus remains long-term, with big meets still ahead. “I wanted to do a little bit less yardage in meters than originally planned this week,” Corbeau said. “We’re training through. It’s just a build towards Europeans in a few weeks and Paris in the summer.”

WOMEN’S 100M FREESTYLE – GOLD, Kate Douglass (USA) – 50.19 *WORLD RECORD*

“I feel like my first two races of the stop, I wasn’t super happy with. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go faster in that event. I had a good prelims swim and so after I watched a few of my friends break World Records, I thought I was just going to go for it tonight. Go out fast and see if I can hold on,” Douglass said, reflecting on her approach to the race.

Asked if she knew she could hold on for the world record, she explained, “Honestly, not really. This morning, I felt like I went out pretty fast, so my goal was to just go out a little faster. I could feel myself being able to finish it pretty well. I wasn’t dying as bad as I thought.”

On her satisfaction with the swim, she added, “Definitely happy with that swim. I came in with a mission tonight to have a good swim. I’m proud of that.”

MEN’S 200M FREESTYLE – GOLD, Luke Hobson (USA) – 1:40.62

“It feels great, great competition. These guys have been really pushing me throughout the week. I couldn’t be happier with my results here compared to last week. I just keep getting better and trying to keep that ball rolling through Toronto,” Hobson said.

On Chris Guiliano’s fast start, he reflected, “It’s always great when someone kinda pulls me out and gets me out faster. It was really good for me overall. It was a good race.”

“This fall has been great, we’ve all been working super hard (at Texas),” he added. “It’s probably one of the hardest two-month training blocks I’ve ever had. I’m really happy with these results and excited to see what I can do come this summer and moving forward into 2028. I would love to get under 1:40 next week, we will see what happens though.”

WOMEN’S 200M IM – GOLD, Alex Walsh (USA) – 2:04.44

Walsh said she’s learning a lot from the World Cup: “I’m really happy with that swim, being faster than I was last week — that was the goal, just to be faster. Hopefully get down to a 2:03, that would be really good by next weekend. I’ve been focused on understanding the importance of the little details. Just (trying to) work on those at this point in the season. I thought I did a really good job underwater in this race and that was one of my big goals. I’m happy with it.”

She added that having her coach at the meet makes a big difference, noting that “It helps a lot that Todd (Desorbo) is here. Having a familiar face, someone accessible and right on the pool deck to talk about race strategy and things to work on from prelims to finals. He’s also been our Uber driver so I’m really going to miss him in Canada. I think Kate, Gretchen and I, we have such a close group. We know what to expect out of each other and can rely on each other for that.”

“I think I’ll do 200 breaststroke and 200 IM for sure,” Walsh said of her potential lineup for Toronto. “That middle day, I’m not sure, I need to talk about it with my coach. I was really happy with my 100 breaststroke yesterday so I’m going to have to make a decision. Might do the 400 IM, both of them. We’ll see. It doesn’t hurt to practice the hard events. At the end of the day, this meet is supposed to be a learning experience, just getting the reps in.”

Reflecting on her placement, she said she was pleased with the result, adding, “It was good, I haven’t seen the ranking but I’m pretty sure I made it into the top eight. That’s huge for me, that’s what I wanted. I’m happy, I’m excited to see with a little more rest what I’m capable of in Toronto.”