Pan Pacs Team Imperfect, But 2026 is Best Year for No U.S. Selection Meet
Any list of the world’s fastest women in the 100 freestyle must now include Anna Moesch, who ranks third-fastest in history following her American-record-setting performance at the recent AP London International. Isabelle Stadden, also based at the University of Virginia, has also risen to international prominence this year with backstroke times that rank first or second in the world in the 50, 100 and 200-meter races. Her 200 time of 2:04.27 ranks fourth-quickest in history.
Neither woman will be part of the American delegation at the Pan Pacific Championships, which will take place Aug. 12-15 in Irvine, Calif., and mark the first major international competition in the U.S. since the same meet in the same location 16 years earlier. Also missing from the roster will be a pair of rising male teenagers who specialize in the freestyle events: Ryan Erisman was brilliant at the same London meet as Moesch, making him the clear No. 2 American performer in the 400 and 800 while Luka Mijatovic continues to drop time and break age group records after his World Championships debut last year.
These four swimmers, all no-brainer candidates for inclusion on the roster were it selected today, will have to finish their seasons at U.S. Nationals in late July or sooner. USA Swimming announced the Pan Pacs roster last September, having based it on times recorded throughout all major competitions in the summer of 2025. The majority of swimmers from the World Championships team carried over to Pan Pacs, with Moesch and Mijatovic the two biggest exclusions. Only five swimmers were eligible for selection in relay events, eliminating Moesch, while Aaron Shackell knocked out Mijatovic from the 400 free.
Anna Moesch is the most prominent swimmer missing from the Pan Pacs team — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Ideal? Hardly, for these swimmers or the medal prospects of the U.S. team this year. But this procedure marks a massive improvement over the way USA Swimming conducted business in the previous five normal Olympic cycles.
If picking the Pan Pacs team a year out sounds silly, doing so for a World Championships roster was nearly nonsensical. But the teams who represented their country on the global level in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 had all been picked the previous summer, with a system combining results from a national meet plus Pan Pacs. That meant deserving swimmers remained at home during the world’s biggest competition of a pre-Olympic year, with many competing at alternate competitions instead.
In 2019, for instance, breaststrokers Annie Lazor, Will Licon and Nic Fink all impressed at the Pan American Games, swimming faster than their counterparts on the Worlds team. Lazor, in fact, won the 200 breast title at Pan Ams with a mark that would have won a medal at the World Championships. At the World University Games, Austin Katz took bronze in the 200 backstroke in a time that would have been good enough for bronze at Worlds. None had the opportunity that year to qualify, their fates having been sealed 12 months earlier.
At those same 2019 World Championships, Regan Smith broke world records in the 100 and 200 backstroke. The 200-meter record came first, in the semifinals of the individual event before Smith won gold in the final. That 200 earned her the leadoff spot on the U.S. women’s 400 medley relay, where she broke the record over two laps. A year earlier, the then-16-year-old Smith had not been one of the top-two Americans in the event, so the Worlds spots went to Kathleen Baker and Olivia Smoliga.
During the shortened three-year gap between the Tokyo and Paris Games, USA Swimming opted for a selection meet each year. Now, with the typical competition schedule restored, the organization returned to a one-year break from a trials meet but switched the year. Now, the best swimmers in the United States will compete for spots on the 2027 Worlds team at a dedicated selection meet next June in Indianapolis. Much better, even with a slightly-weaker team at Pan Pacs.
And thanks to the format of Pan Pacs, the best swimmers in an event will not be watching from the sidelines, like Smith was during the 100 back at the 2019 Worlds. Anyone qualified for their country’s team can pick up additional events. Van Mathias, who came up just short of the American record in the 100 breast earlier this year, can swim the race at the meet thanks to his qualification via the 50-meter event last summer.
The only restriction is that no more than two swimmers per country can qualify for the championship final (as well as the consolation final). This also allows the American coaching staff to assess swimmers for relays based on their performances in the corresponding individual events, which cannot always happen at a World Championships.
Finally, the absence of a selection meet this year gives swimmers and coaches more flexibility in their preparation. Perhaps some took an extended break in the fall, and others could add additional international racing experiences throughout the year. For some coaches, this meant a longer training block without having to worry about a double taper.
Yes, the American Pan Pacs team would benefit if Moesch, Stadden, Erisman and Mijatovic were competing — but at least they are not missing a World Championships. Next year, when the stakes are higher, this group and other potential rising stars will have their chances.
