Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh race at Pan Pacific Swimming Championships Irvine, California; World-record holder clash in 400m freestyle.

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2026: Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh to go head-to-head - Top athletes and how to watch live

Swimmers from non-European nations will race at the Pan Pacific level for the first time in eight years when Irvine, California hosts the event in mid-August. The USA brings a stacked team for the home meet with Australians and Canadians also among the top medal contenders.

The first edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in eight years will be held in Irvine, California from 12 to 15 August .

The competition will take place at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Centre a few days after the same venue hosted the USA National Swimming Championships.

Usually taking place every four years, the 2022 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this will mark the first time in eight years that swimmers from non-European nations are racing against each other on this stage.

Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh are among the many Olympic champions and medallists in action over the four-day meet. The two freestyle world record holders from USA and Canada will go head-to-head over the 400m distance and there are plenty of other notable clashes to keep spectators on the edges of their seats too.

Discover more about the top swimmers in action, full schedule of the competition and how to watch the event live.

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Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2026: Top swimmers in action

The Pan Pacific Championships follow a unique format in that there are no limits on how many athletes a country can enter in each event. However, as standard in the sport, only two per country can swim in the final.

Summer McIntosh is entered in five events: 200m and 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and the 200m and 400m individual medleys. She is an Olympic champion in all of these events except the freestyle but is a world medallist across the full spectrum.

The women’s 400m freestyle race promises to be particularly exciting as the reigning world champion McIntosh battles bronze medallist Ledecky for top spot. The duo finished two and three in the event at Paris 2024 with Ledecky touching the wall behind the Canadian swimmer.

While the 400m free is traditionally strong for McIntosh, she recently also put in extra effort into improving her 800m free - another race where she goes head-to-head with Ledecky. Notably, she opted not to race this event at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships as it clashed with the 200m IM.

Ledecky is the heavy favourite for that women’s 800m free crown. The USA swimming legend is a four-time Olympic and seven-time world champion over the distance and the world record holder. Her first title at the Pan Pacific Championships in this race came more than a decade ago, at Gold Coast 2014.

Even with McIntosh absent on the blocks for the 800m, Ledecky will face tough opposition, including Australia’s Lani Pallister who finished second to the US swimmer at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships . Pallister will also battle Ledecky in the women’s 1500m free , in which she holds a world bronze medal.

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USA teammates Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass will face off in the women’s 50m and 100m freestyle with a possible world record-breaking final in the former. Douglass broke the 50m free world record on 19 June, only to have Walsh lower her time by 0.04 to 23.55 on 28 June.

Walsh is also racing the 50m and 100m butterfly, while Douglass is down for all three breaststroke races, the 50m butterfly and 200m individual medley, though is not likely to do all seven events she is entered in.

Walsh’s older sister, Alex Walsh , also has a packed program with eight events that she is likely to trim down, focusing on her signature 200m IM, in which she is a Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist and 2022 world champion.

Other top names for the USA women at the meet include Paris 2024 100m butterfly champion Torri Huske , and backstroke specialists Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff .

Jack Alexy is USA’s top prospect for medals in the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle while three-time Olympic champion Bobby Finke is the man to beat over the 800m and 1500m free . Finke has also tagged on the 400m IM, which could lead to his first major medal in the event.

Australia’s Sam Short is Finke’s biggest rival over the long-distance events. He arrives in California fresh from sweeping gold in the men’s 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle at the 2026 Commonwealth Games .

Zac Stubblety-Cook , an Olympic gold and silver medallist for Australia in the men’s 200m breast, will look to add to his medal tally across the 100m and 200m races in that stroke while his teammate, world medallist Elizabeth Dekkers , is among the favourites across the women’s butterfly events.

Three-time Olympic medallist Tang Qianting of the People’s Republic of China is one of the strongest contenders in women’s breaststroke . She is entered in the 50m and 100m races .

Her teammate Yu Yiting , a two-time Olympic relay medallist, will be looking to diversify her trophy case with more individual medals, focusing especially on the two IMs which would pit her against McIntosh and Alex Walsh.

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2026: Finals schedule

All times PDT (UTC-7). Heats take place in the morning at 10:00, while evening sessions begin at 19:00.

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2026: How to watch live

The competition, both morning and evening sessions, will be streamed in Canada on CBC and on Channel 9 in Australia.

Peacock, NBCSN will air the live action in the United States.

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