James Sutherland contributed to this report
2026 U.S. Short Course World Trials
The first night of the 2026 United States Short Course World Trials saw two athletes earn their way onto the 2026 SC Worlds Team, Katie McCarthy and Ryan Erisman.
As a reminder, here is a simplified selection process:
- The top-two finishers in each event will be selected to the team in that event—provided they’ve both hit the ‘A’ qualifying standard.
- If the winner of an event does not hit the ‘A’ qualifying time, but does hit the ‘B’ cut, the winner will qualify for the team in that event, but the 2nd-place finisher will not.
- If the winner of an event hits the ‘A’ qualifying time but the 2nd-place finisher does not, and the 2nd-place finisher has not achieved the ‘A’ cut at any sanctioned meet from July 27, 2025 through October 31, 2026, then only the winner in the event will be selected to the team and not the runner-up.
- Beyond individual selection, the top four finishers in the 100 and 200 freestyle will be named to the team, provided the roster doesn’t exceed capacity (see priorities below).
Selection Priorities
- The top two finishing swimmers in the 100 and 200 free
- The top finishing swimmer in every event other than the 100 and 200 free
- The 2nd finishing swimmer in every event other than the 100 and 200 free
- The 3rd finishing swimmer in the 100 free
- The 3rd finishing swimmer in the 200 free
- The 4th finishing swimmer in the 100 free
- The 4th finishing swimmer in the 200 free
The United States roster is capped at 40 swimmers total — 20 men and 20 women.
If the roster exceeds capacity after adding all Priority 2 swimmers, then swimmers will be added to the team in order of the highest percentage of the ‘A’ standard in the event in which they qualified.
Night One Selections
The first event of the meet was the women’s 1500 freestyle, which had only one entrant, Katie McCarthy, who swims at the University of Minnesota. All she needed to do was win the event under the ‘B’ standard time of 16:37.32. She stopped the clock in 16:10.50 to pick up a Priority 2 designation, and earn a spot on her first-ever international team for the United States.
Cal’s Ryan Erisman dominated the men’s 800 freestyle, which only had four entrants, to stop the clock in 7:34.84, almost eight seconds under the AQUA ‘A’ cut of 7:42.39.
