Irvine to host Pan Pacific Championships; McIntosh to lead Canadian contingent

By Liam Tremblay — 10 August 2026 — 4 min read

Canadian hopes at the Pan Pacific Championships

The 2026 Pan Pacific Championships are set to take place from August 12-15 in Irvine, California, at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center. This event, held in a 50-meter long course format, will feature top swimmers from nations including Canada, the United States, Australia, China, and Japan. The competition is considered a significant international meet for non-European nations, as Europe hosts its own continental championships this month.

Summer McIntosh is expected to be a central figure for Canada. She was 11 years old when the last Pan Pacific Championships were held. Now, eight years later, she is anticipated to carry a substantial role for the Canadian team. Other notable Canadian swimmers, such as Josh Liendo and Kylie Masse, will not be competing. Additionally, Ilya Kharun, a 2024 Olympic and 2025 World Championship medallist, is in the process of changing his sporting citizenship to represent the United States.

Canada’s performance at the 2018 Pan Pacs saw the team secure two gold medals and nine total medals, with one coming from open water. The United States dominated the medal table in 2018, earning 20 gold and 45 total medals, while Australia surpassed Japan for the second position.

McIntosh’s potential schedule and key matchups

McIntosh’s last competitive appearance involved breaking a world record in the women’s 200-meter butterfly before withdrawing from the remainder of the Canadian Swimming Trials due to illness. This withdrawal, occurring over a month ago, was likely a precautionary measure, suggesting she could be at full strength for the Irvine competition. Swimmers who qualify for one event at the Pan Pacs can enter as many events as they wish.

Her potential schedule for the championships includes a busy opening day. On Day 1, she may compete in both the 200-meter freestyle and the 200-meter butterfly, with approximately an hour between the start of each race. Her schedule also features the 400-meter individual medley on Day 2, the 400-meter freestyle on Day 3, and the 200-meter individual medley on Day 4, alongside participation in women’s relays on all three days.

If McIntosh competes in both the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter butterfly on Day 1, she could potentially aim for five individual gold medals. Key matchups for McIntosh include the 400-meter freestyle against Katie Ledecky and Lani Pallister. McIntosh has not lost to Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle at a major international meet since 2023 and was ahead of both Ledecky and Pallister at the 2025 World Championships. In the 200-meter individual medley, she previously defeated Kate Douglass at the Paris Olympics and performed strongly at the 2025 World Championships.

Ryan Lochte holds the record for the most gold medals at a single Pan Pacs, achieving six in 2010, two of which were in relays. While McIntosh could potentially win five individual events, adding more through relays might be challenging due to the relative strength of the American and Australian relay teams compared to Canada’s.

Canadian men’s team and other notable swimmers

Taylor Ruck, who achieved eight medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and five medals at the Pan Pacs that same year, is also expected to compete. This year, Ruck has shown strong form, setting a new personal best in the 100-meter backstroke (58.37) and her fastest 100-meter freestyle time (53.06) since 2018. She has medal opportunities in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke. In the 100-meter backstroke, she ranks fifth on the entry lists but could move into a bronze medal position, with Iona Anderson and Canadian teammate Ingrid Wilm as potential challengers. For the 100-meter freestyle, she is eighth-fastest on paper but moves to fourth when considering the two-per-country rule.

Ruck is also expected to have a chance to medal in the 50-meter freestyle and could reach the finals in the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly events. She will also be a key member of the Canadian relays, especially with Penny Oleksiak and Kylie Masse absent from the roster.

For the Canadian men’s team, without Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun, medal hopes in individual events largely rest on Blake Tierney. Tierney finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships in the 200-meter backstroke (1:55.03 in the semifinals) and became the first Canadian to swim under 53 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke (52.95). His national record time places him third on the psych sheets for the 200-meter backstroke, behind Americans Jack Aikins and Keaton Jones. In the 100-meter backstroke, Tierney is seeded fifth, with only two Americans able to advance to the ‘A’ final. However, his recent performance at the Canadian Trials, where he clocked 53.63 in the 100-meter backstroke and 1:58.76 in the 200-meter backstroke, indicates he will need to improve to contend for a podium finish.

The competition begins on Monday with open-water 10km races, which will be streamed live on the USA Swimming YouTube Channel.

Source: swimswam.com