Katie Ledecky wins 1500m to extend 16-year streak at Pan Pacifics in Irvine
Katie Ledecky won the 1500m freestyle on opening night of the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California on Wednesday, touching in 15m 36.09s to extend a 16-year winning streak. Lani Pallister of Australia took silver in a personal best of 15:38.62 while Moesha Johnson of Australia earned bronze.
The two-time Olympic champion in the event raced the 30-lap distance under her own world-record pace in the early stages at the outdoor pool, with spectators on their feet, and the victory was described as her first international medal on home soil. The Pan Pacs returned after the 2022 edition was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic; the meet had not been held since 2018 and was relocated from Canada to Southern California this year.
Gretchen Walsh won the women’s 50m butterfly in 24.65s, improving on her morning prelim time of 24.91s. Kate Douglass produced a prelim time of 24.99s — becoming the third woman to break the 25s barrier in the event — and finished second in the final in 25.06s, while Canada’s Taylor Ruck took bronze in 25.23s. The report noted the American record stands at 24.51s and the world record at 24.43s held by Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden.
Luca Urlando claimed the men’s 200m butterfly in 1:53.11, eclipsing the championship record of 1:53.80 set by Michael Phelps at the 2006 Pan Pacs in Vancouver, British Columbia. “That was like a dream come true,” Urlando said, and Phelps presented the medals to Urlando, Carson Foster and third-place Harrison Turner of Australia.
Katharine Berkoff won the women’s 100m backstroke in 57.93s with world record holder Regan Smith second in 58.11s, slower than the 57.86s she recorded in prelims. Taylor Ruck added a second bronze of the night in the event with a time of 58.40s.
In the men’s 200m freestyle, Luke Hobson touched first in 1:43.85 and teammate Gabriel Jett was second in a personal-best 1:43.96, with Zhang Zhanshuo of China third. Lani Pallister also won the women’s 200m freestyle in a course-record 1:53.67, ahead of Canada’s Summer McIntosh who was second in 1:53.86 and New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather who was third.
Ben Armbruster of Australia won the men’s 50m butterfly in 22.75s over Van Mathias of the United States. The Pan Pacs restrict each nation to two swimmers per championship final, a rule the report said increases the importance of morning prelim performances because swimmers may need to race at full effort to reach evening finals.
Organizers moved this year’s Pan Pacific Championships to Southern California to provide the region with a major international meet ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where swimming will be held at SoFi Stadium in front of nearly 40,000 spectators.