Walsh's narrow miss in the women's 50m freestyle
Gretchen Walsh won the women's 50m freestyle at the 2026 U.S. National Championships in Irvine, California on Saturday, August 1, clocking 23.60 seconds to claim a new meet record and the national title. The time ranks as the third-fastest performance in history, sitting five-hundredths off Walsh's own world record of 23.55 from the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome on June 28, and one-hundredth behind training partner Kate Douglass' former world record of 23.59 set at the Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis in June. Virginia training partner Anna Moesch took second in 24.05, with Liberty Clark third in 24.28.
"I've had a great summer in that event already, and it's not over yet," Walsh said on the NBC Sports broadcast. "This is a great tune-up swim for Pan Pacs." Walsh, who swept the 50m and 100m butterflies at the 2025 World Championships, also owns the 16 fastest times in history in the 100m butterfly, positioning her for a possible three-event individual gold haul at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if the 50m butterfly remains on the program.
Dressel caps his best meet in two years with the men's 50m free
Caeleb Dressel closed the five-day meet with a victory in the men's 50m freestyle, touching in 21.35 seconds — his fastest time in four years and the third-quickest globally this year behind Australia's Cameron McEvoy (20.88) and Russia's Egor Kornev (21.06). The win gave the nine-time Olympic gold medalist his second national title of the week, following Tuesday's 100m freestyle victory, his first top-level win since the 2024 Olympic Trials.
Dressel also added second-place finishes in the 50m and 100m butterflies, both in his fastest times in several seasons, with Ilya Kharun winning both races. Quintin McCarty, the 50m backstroke winner, finished second in the 50m free at 21.75. "Freestyle is usually second-best, but I think we flipped it at this meet," Dressel said. The sprinter, who turns 30 on August 16, did not qualify for the U.S. Pan Pacific Championships roster, which was determined by times set last year.
Erisman, Grimes and Williamson round out distance and medley titles
Ryan Erisman capped a dominant week with a wire-to-wire victory in the men's 800m freestyle, clocking 7:43.53 to become the second-fastest American in history behind Olympic champion Bobby Finke. The rising Cal swimmer's winning time was his third national title of the meet, having already won the 200m freestyle and the 400m individual medley. William Mulgrew finished second in 7:47.08, an eighth-best all-time American mark.
In the women's 1,500m freestyle, Katie Grimes led wire-to-wire for a second title of the meet, following her 400m medley win, touching in 15:55.69 — her fastest in the event since 2022 and the fifth-quickest world mark of 2026. Kate Hurst took second in a lifetime best of 16:04.46. Maximus Williamson, last qualifier into the men's 200m individual medley, surged to the national title in 1:56.40, vaulting to eighth on the American all-time list. His Virginia teammate Alex Walsh won the women's 200m IM in 2:08.59, repeating her Sette Colli Trophy victory from earlier in the summer, ahead of Campbell Chase.
Douglass's time trial places her among history's fastest
Before the evening finals, Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Kate Douglass time-trialed the women's 100m freestyle in 51.93 seconds, becoming the fifth woman to break 52 seconds and the fourth-fastest performer in history. The swim placed her five-hundredths off Anna Moesch's American record of 51.88 and slotted her fifth on the all-time list. Douglass opted not to contest the 50m freestyle final earlier in the day.
Pan Pacific Championships on the horizon
Both Walsh and Douglass are expected to represent the United States at the Pan Pacific Championships later in August at the same William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, where they will face top non-European swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada and other Pacific-region nations while Europeans compete in their own continental championships. Dressel, excluded from the U.S. Pan Pacs roster, said of his recent form, "We'll keep getting quicker. It's a really exciting year, just so much new."
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