Swims You Would possibly Have Missed On The First Evening Of The 2026 Austin Pro Swim Series

2026 PRO SWIM SERIES – AUSTIN

Day 1 of the Pro Swim Series in Austin was highlighted by Katie Ledecky‘s scintillating swim in the women’s 1500 free, the place she swam the #2 time in historical past. However, not each swim is as clearly flashy – right here’s a couple of you may need missed.

Skyler Smith took 2nd within the ladies’s 100 breast in 1:07.87, lower than a second behind World Champion Anna Elendt and simply 0.04 seconds off her private finest from the Mare Nostrum tour two years in the past. What was notable was her again half pace, as she closed eight-tenths sooner this time round, 35.85 to 36.66. Primarily a 50 swimmer, that will portend some large swims within the 100 later within the yr.

Benjamin Jaggers gained the 100 again at Speedo Winter Juniors – West a month in the past, and got here in 0.17 seconds off his finest time in his first lengthy course swim of the season. He blasted 56.83 to win the ‘B’ closing, quick sufficient to have positioned sixth within the ‘A’ closing.

Ryan Erisman has been having a quietly underrated freshman season at Cal to date, and continued that with a 14 second drop within the males’s 1500 free to position third, simply behind 2024 World and Olympic Champions, Dan Wiffen and Bobby Finke. He unfavorable cut up his race, going 7:36-7:30, closing three seconds sooner than any of his rivals.

His sister Rylee additionally set a finest time in her first lengthy course swim of the season, after setting some large new bests at Winter Juniors in December. She shaved 0.14 seconds off her 100 backstroke time to go 59.25 and take 2ndbehind Regan Smith. Erisman stays fifth within the 15-16 rankings, however is now simply 0.07 seconds behind Missy Franklin. Smith had a notable swim of her personal as she broke 58 seconds once more to win in 57.98, her twenty seventh 57-point swim.

Anna Peplowski swam the 50 free/100 again double, nearing her better of 25.29 within the former along with her swim of 25.41 to qualify 4th for in the present day’s closing, and setting a finest time in each heats and finals of the 100 again. She was 1:00.52 within the morning to shave 5 hundredths of a second off her earlier better of 1:00.57, earlier than dropping one other 0.34 seconds to take third within the closing.

She had a unbelievable summer time within the 200 free in 2025, decreasing finest from 1:57.04 to 1:55.70, and cut up 1:54.75 to assist crew USA to silver within the ladies’s 4×200 free relay.

Becca Mann positioned third within the ladies’s 1500 free, six and a half years on from profitable bronze on the 2019 Pan American Games. She has been competing on a fairly common foundation since early final yr, and the 16:35.09 she swam final night time was the quickest swim of her comeback by over eight seconds. Possibly higher often called an open water swimmer, Mann grew to become the primary particular person in historical past to finish the Triple Maui Nui Channel Swim again in 2019.

Luc Dionne, a Virginia commit for the autumn of 2027, shaved 0.17 seconds off his finest time within the males’s 100 breast, going 1:02.73 to take third within the ‘B’ closing out of lane 1. That moved him up seven locations within the 15-16 rankings, simply forward of Andrew Seliskar. After he delivered some large drops in yards on the Katie Ledecky meet in December, he has wasted no time in adjusting to lengthy course.

Also within the 100 breast, a pair of former NCAA standouts continued their comebacks. Mitch Mason, previously of LSU, got here inside seven-tenths of his finest time from 2023 as he clocked 1:00.50 for third general in simply his second meet because the summer time of 2024, however an excellent larger swim got here from general winner Van Mathias.

He clocked 59.45 to match the Pool Record held by Alexei Avakov and knock 0.29 seconds off his finest time of 59.74, set final summer time. However, that stat alone doesn’t present how fast his development has been over the previous few months.

Having been a fly swimmer for many of his swimming profession, together with profitable silver within the 200 fly at Junior Pan Pacs in 2018 behind Luca Urlando and forward of Tomoru Honda, Mathias switched to breaststroke in his closing yr at Indiana. That proved an impressed determination, as he positioned 2nd within the 100 breast at NCAAs that yr, in what was his closing meet earlier than stepping away from competing and Indiana swimming’s Director of Operations.

Just over two years later he was again within the pool. On simply eight weeks of coaching, Mathias blasted to a time of 26.76 within the 50 breast to win U.S. Nationals in August, changing into the third-fastest American in historical past and qualifying for the Pan Pacs crew for this summer time. He clocked 59.74 for silver within the 100 breast, a drop of 1.7 seconds from simply 7 weeks beforehand. Prior to the summer time of 2025, his finest within the 100 breast stood at 1:03.48.

He competed on the World Cup tour this fall, the spotlight being a 56.72 within the 100 breast which ranked him because the 4th-fastest American in historical past. His time within the lengthy course 100 tonight moved him up seven locations to thirteenth all-time amongst Americans, and makes him the third-fastest American over the previous 12 months. He will likely be one to maintain a watch out for within the 50 breast later this week, particularly so provided that he was 26.84 on the U.S. Open in December, a meet at which he was simply 1:00.77 within the 100 breast.