Weekend of Erisman: Siblings Rylee and Ryan Make Statements in Austin
Through their performances in 2025, both Rylee and Ryan Erisman established themselves as contenders for senior-level U.S. national teams. Rylee shined at the World Junior Championships, securing five gold medals and three silvers while booking her ticket to the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships. Ryan came close to qualifying for the 2025 Worlds team, ending up just three tenths back of second-place in the 400 freestyle at U.S. Nationals.
Now, in the first national meet of 2026, both swimmers took additional steps forward with multiple wins against high-level competition. At USA Swimming’s Pro Swim Series in Austin, Texas, both Rylee snagged first place in the 100 freestyle and Ryan claimed first in the men’s 200 and 400 free.
Rylee has earned the higher profile of the two through her international exploits, in particular a 52.79 effort in the 100 free that put her among the top-five swimmers in the world for 2025, and her national high school record in the 100-yard free in the fall. Shortly after setting that mark, she announced plans to reclassify from the class of 2027 to 2026 and enroll one year early at Cal-Berkeley. She would go off to college at age 17 as already perhaps the best high-school sprinter in U.S. history.
The younger Erisman then put forth sensational results in her first long course meet since World Juniors, with four top-three finishes and a pair of lifetime bests. Erisman clocked 59.25 for second place behind Regan Smith in the 100 backstroke, clipping her previous top time by 0.14. She grabbed third in the 400 free while crushing her best time twice in one day, going from 4:14.74 to 4:11.02.
And in her two main events, Erisman was competitive (or better) with much older established stars. She came in third in the 200 free in 1:57.19, within a half-second of her best time of 1:56.76. She was behind only Claire Weinstein, the World Championships bronze medalist in the event and her future teammate at Cal, and Anna Peplowski, a member of the U.S. 800 free relay team the last three summers. Erisman’s 29.47 closing split helped her get by veteran Simone Manuel for the top-three finish. The next day, Erisman came back on Manuel again to win the 100 free, finishing in 53.34 to Manuel’s 53.55.
Ryan Erisman — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Her brother, meanwhile, upstaged some of the top American men in the mid-distance events. Ryan has already matriculated to Cal, and his freshman season is off to a hot start. He opened the meet by placing third in the 1500 free, beating his previous best time by 13.5 seconds while trailing only Olympic champions Bobby Finke and Daniel Wiffen. The next day, he pulled away from the field to claim the 400 free title in 3:46.75, within three-quarters of a second of his best time.
His biggest statement came in the 200 free as Erisman beat four swimmers who have taken part in the U.S. men’s 800 free relay at Paris Olympics or the 2025 World Championships. The group included Luke Hobson, the Olympic bronze medalist and Worlds runnerup in the 200 free, plus Carson Foster, Gabriel Jett and Chris Guiliano. All four clocked 1:47s, solid in-season marks, but Erisman blasted from fourth at the halfway point into the lead by six tenths the end. His final time of 1:46.66 shattered his previous best time of 1:47.52.
Even more impressive, that 200 free came only minutes after Erisman raced to a third-place result in the 800 free, coming within two tenths of his best and finishing behind only Wiffen and Finke. He concluded the meet with one additional top-three finish and best time in the 200 butterfly, going 1:58.00
Unlike his sister, Ryan is not part of the American team at this year’s Pan Pacs, as he finished the 2025 summer season with the fourth-best mark in the 400 free. None of his times from Austin would have been sufficient to earn a nod, but they are strong indicators for what he could accomplish at the end of the season. He will surely have his chances to throw down middle-distance times to indicate he deserves a spot on future international teams as soon as 2027.
And so emerges another duo of siblings with star potential. Rylee and Ryan join the likes of the Alex and Gretchen Walsh plus Aaron and Alex Shackell, all four of whom were part of the Paris Olympic team in 2024. While Rylee prepares to join the U.S. women in pursuit of 400 free relay excellence as soon as this year, Ryan appears not far behind.
