Five Men’s Storylines to Follow at the Pan Pacific Championships: Bobby Finke, Sam Short Set for Distance Matchups
The Pan Pacific Championships are days away, with swimmers from Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, China and elsewhere traveling to Irvine, California, for what could turn into the year’s biggest long course international meet. The meet takes place at William Woollett Aquatic Center, less than 45 miles from the site of Olympic swimming at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years, SoFi Stadium.
Several contenders are coming straight from the Commonwealth Games while others will use Pan Pacs to kick off a summer season that will include the Asian Games. For the United States, however, this is the lone chance for the senior national team to show off its best this summer. Olympic champion Bobby Finke is the team’s most decorated swimmer, and he will face off with Australian world champion Sam Short in the distance freestyle races, among the meet’s most anticipated events.
Here are five initial storylines to follow in men’s action:
1. Bobby Finke vs. Sam Short
Sam Short — Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan Photos
Over and over, Finke has proven that he should never be discounted in major competitions, winning three Olympic gold medals and one silver in four tries. Finke struggled while battling illness at the 2025 World Championships, placing fourth in the 800 free before scoring bronze in the 1500. He typically swims up to the level of his competition, and he might need to do just that in Irvine with Short bringing momentum into this meet.
The 22-year-old Australian, whose biggest career victory came when he won the 400 free at the 2023 World Championships, is coming off a prolific Commonwealth Games in which he swept the 400, 800 and 1500 golds and helped Australia to a dominant performance in the 800 free relay. It’s tough to imagine anyone surpassing Short in the 400 free at this meet, but the longer distances should be intriguing after he swam times of 7:39.81 and 14:42.11 in Glasgow.
Finke should be motivated to throw down big performances at this meet, which takes place more than two years after Finke last swam close to his best times at the Paris Olympics. Short is known for pushing the pace early and trying to hold on while Finke, after winning his first two Olympic golds with stunning finishes, actually led wire-to-wire when he set the 1500-meter world record in Paris.
2. Jack Alexy and Luke Hobson Climbing Freestyle Rankings
American sprint freestyle specialist Jack Alexy put together the finest season of his career in 2025. He lowered the American record and became the third-fastest man ever in the 100 freestyle on his way to World Championships silver, and he added a bronze in the 50 free. His magnificent 45.95 anchor leg helped the U.S. pull off an unexpected bronze in the 400 medley relay.
At the same meet, Luke Hobson captured silver in the 200 free and almost single-handedly willed the Americans to the podium in the 800 free relay. Amid struggles for the U.S. men, these two were the clear standouts, with only Romania’s David Popovici standing in the way of gold medals.
Neither swimmer has done much thus far in 2026, but both have been clearly targeting Pan Pacs, where they have a chance to win gold medals at international long course competitions for the first time (both won short course world titles in late 2024). They will race against the fields but also the clock, trying to approach or surpass whatever marks Popovici achieves at the simultaneously-held European Championships. Alexy will also have to compare his sprint times against Pan Zhanle, Egor Kornev and absent Australians Cam McEvoy and Flynn Southam.
Alexy and Hobson represent the next wave of potential stars for the U.S. men’s team, which has finished both the Paris Games and 2025 Worlds with one individual gold medal. Their performances at Pan Pacs could build momentum for the world’s next checkpoint, the 2027 World Championships in Budapest.
3. Shin Ohashi Ready for Big Stage in 200 Breaststroke
Shin Ohashi — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
A year ago, China’s Qin Haiyang won the world title in the 200 breaststroke, but Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi finished atop the world rankings despite missing the year’s biggest meet. At age 16, he was the only man to break 2:07 in the event. He has been even better in 2026, getting his world junior record down to 2:06.59 in March to become the seventh-fastest performer in history.
Pan Pacs will mark the first time Ohashi races at a senior-level international competition, and he is already the strong favorite for gold. That best time sits almost a full second clear of anyone else in the 2026 world rankings (with American Josh Bey second at 2:07.58) and a whopping 1.8 seconds ahead of anyone else scheduled to race at Pan Pacs (Canada’s Oliver Dawson). Ohashi will be targeting the Japanese record of 2:06.40 set by Shoma Sato in 2021, and he could threaten the 2:06-barrier.
Perhaps the biggest stumbling block for Ohashi could come in prelims, with only two swimmers per nation allowed to advance to the A final. Japan also brings accomplished 200 breaststrokers Ippei Watanabe, a former world-record holder, and Yamato Fukasawa to Irvine. But if all goes to plan, Ohashi could become the second teenager to score gold in the event this summer following British rival Filip Nowacki at the Commonwealth Games.
4. Australians Matt Temple and Sam Williamson Following Up Commonwealth Victories
Australia will race without sprint freestyle heavyweights McEvoy, Southam and Kyle Chalmers at Pan Pacs, but four individual gold medalists from the Commonwealth Games will participate: Short, breaststroker, Sam Williamson, freestyler Kai Taylor and butterflyer Ben Armbruster. Watch to see how Williamson can follow up his performances from Glasgow, where he overtook the field in both the 100 breast and 50 breast for double gold. Williamson, 28, rebounded from a major knee injury in 2025 to achieve those two victories.
Another Aussie who swam his finest international performance last month was Matt Temple. The 27-year-old missed out on 100 fly gold by just one hundredth, his time of 50.43 ranking No. 4 in the world, and he held on for bronze in the 200 fly. Temple added three relay gold medals, his 50.18 butterfly split fueling Australia’s medley relay triumph, and he made a late decision to attend the Pan Pacs after initially planning to skip the meet. Aside from Short in the freestyle events, Temple in the 100 fly might be the best chance for Australian men’s gold.
5. Van Mathias Making Highly-Anticipated Debut With “A” Team
Van Mathias — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
A stunning late-career renaissance has lifted Van Mathias to the helm of the breaststroke world rankings. The 25-year-old Indiana Hoosier snuck onto the Pan Pacs team with his performance in the 50 breast at last year’s Summer Championships, also held in Irvine, and he has built on that in 2026.
Mathias has already broken three American records this year: he clocked 26.39 in the 50 breaststroke at the Bergen Swim Festival in April, and he followed that with a 26.30 at the Indianapolis Pro Series in June to go to No. 5 all-time. At the latter meet, he won the 100 breast in 58.01 to break a five-year-old domestic mark and become the fourth-fastest performer in history, on the cusp of going 57. In both events, Mathias ranks first in the world this year, clear of the pack in the 100 by more than a half-second.
It’s no stretch to say that Pan Pacs will be the biggest meet of his career. Mathias will be the slight favorite for gold in both events, but he must fend off experienced competition. That includes American rivals such as Campbell McKean, Josh Matheny and Michael Andrew in prelims plus foreign competition from Japan (including Ohashi), Australia (Williamson) and South Africa (Michael Houlie). Expect Mathias to also find himself handling the all-important breaststroke leg on the men’s and mixed 400 medley relays.
