2026 U.S. Short Course World Trials
Swim fans, it’s time. The first U.S. Short Course World Championship trials kick off tonight in Westmont, Illinois at the FMC Natatorium. It’s a quick first finals sessions with only two events on offer: the women’s 1500-meter freestyle and the men’s 800-meter freestyle. The typical prelims/finals schedule begins tomorrow, with the finals session pushed back an hour to 6 p.m. local time.
Based on the psych sheets, Minnesota’s Katie McCarthy is the lone entrant in the fastest heat of the women’s 1500-meter freestyle. The men’s 800-meter freestyle won’t feature a full heat either but with four men entered there will be more of a battle than McCarthy’s solo duel against the clock.
California’s Ryan Erisman holds the fastest entry time for the men’s race (7:34.47), leading a field of NCAA swimmers. Leonardo Barbieri Alcantara is also seeded in the 7:30 range (7:37.47) while Jakub Poliacik (7:49.46) and Luke Brennan (7:53.23) are seeded further back. However, given that many of these seed times are converted, the race could be much closer than it projects to be on paper.
Live Stream:
Women’s 1500-Meter Freestyle — Fastest Heat
- World Record: 15:08.24 — Katie Ledecky, United States (2022)
- World Junior Record: 15:42.05 — Katie Grimes, United States (2022)
- American Record: 15:08.24 — Katie Ledecky, United States (2022)
- U.S. Open Record: 15:13.83 — Lani Pallister, Australia (2025)
- Beijing ‘A’ Qualification Time: 16:03.59
*Note: Lani Pallister holds the mark for the fastest junior of all time with her 15:28.33 from the 2020 Australian Championships. However, this was one of the performances that was not retroactively ratified following changes made the the junior age classification, so Grimes’ holds the official World Junior record.
Final:
- Katie McCarthy (UOFM) — 16:10.50
McCarthy was the sole entrant in tonight’s women’s 1500-meter freestyle timed final. The race essentially became a time trial for the University of Minnesota senior. She flipped at 5:24.31 at the first 500 meter checkpoint, then clocked a 10:49.99 1000 meter freestyle split.
McCarthy had two 50 splits at 33.03 or above but was quickly able to get back down below that threshold. From the 1000 meter mark she got back down to 32.3 split, and descended from the 1300 meter mark to the finish. She clocked a 30.80 closing split to hit the wall in 16:10.50, well under the ‘B’ qualification time of 16:17.32. Per the in arena announcers, McCarthy’s time in the 14th fastest in the world this year.
Men’s 800-Meter Freestyle — Fastest Heat
- World Record: 7:20.46 — Daniel Wiffen, Ireland (2023)
- World Junior Record: 7:30.47 — Johannes Liebmann, Germany (2025)
- American Record: 7:30.41 — David Johnston, United States (2022)
- U.S. Open Record: 7:29.50 — Zalan Sarkany, Hungary (2025)
- Beijing ‘A’ Qualification Time: 7:42.39
Final:
- Ryan Erisman (CAL) — 7:34.84
- Leonardo Barbieri Alcantara (BAMA) — 7:47.31
- Jakub Poliacik (VT) — 7:51.70
- Luke Brennan (UOFM) — 7:53.96
Erisman left little doubt in the men’s 800 meter freestyle timed final. He had the lead at the end of the first 50 and did not surrender it, continuing his excellent year in the pool. Erisman, a sophomore at Cal, flipped at the 200 meter mark in 1:52.04, giving him a lead of over 1.5 seconds ahead of Virginia Tech’s Poliacik (1:53.66) and Minnesota’s Brennan (1:53.79).
Erisman continued to extend his lead as the race went on, splitting 3:47.23 at the halfway point of the race. Except for a 29.05 split at the 350-meter turn, Erisman kept his splits sub-29 seconds. He dipped under 28 seconds on his final 50 meters, splitting 27.57 and winning the race in 7:34.84. He cleared the ‘A’ qualification time for Beijing by 7.65 seconds in his first official attempt at the 800 meter freestyle in a short-course meter pool. He set his long-course best at 7:43.53 this summer to win the U.S. National Championship title.
Erisman’s swim makes him the fourth-fastest performer in the world this season, slotting in ahead of Hungary’s Oliver Papai (7:35.58). Erisman won this race by 12.47 seconds over Alcantara, who used a strong back half to power ahead of Poliacik and Brennan and clock 7:47.31. Alcantara also ranks in the event’s top 10 rankings for the season courtesy of his 7:37.47 at the José Finkel Trophy in September.
