Updated

Updated · SwimSwam · Aug 13

Hein, Matsushita and Walsh Top Pan Pac Prelims as 4:07.61 and 52.57 Set Day 2 Pace

Updated

Updated · SwimSwam · Aug 13

Hein, Matsushita and Walsh Top Pan Pac Prelims as 4:07.61 and 52.57 Set Day 2 Pace

Q: With a dramatic tie in the men's 400 IM, how will Japan choose their final swimmer for the evening showdown?

Japan will likely have to decide the second berth with a swim-off unless one swimmer withdraws or the team makes an administrative choice allowed by meet rules. In the men’s 400 IM prelims, Tomoyuki Matsushita safely qualified fastest at 4:07.61, but Yumeki Kojima and Asaki Nishikawa tied at 4:08.69 for the next Japanese spot. Because Pan Pacs allows only two swimmers per country in the A final, that tie leaves Japan with one guaranteed finalist and one unresolved place. The most straightforward solution is a head-to-head swim-off between Kojima and Nishikawa later in the session. That is the standard method when a tie affects advancement, and the meet report explicitly said Japan’s staff would have to determine whether a swim-off is needed. If neither swimmer scratches, a swim-off is the fairest and most likely route. Japan’s decision is complicated by how evenly matched the two are. Kojima owns the 2026 world junior record at 4:08.84 and was entered faster on paper, while Nishikawa recently won the 400 IM at the Japan Championships in 4:08.66 and has been as fast as 4:07.67 in his career. On form, there is little to separate them. So the evening showdown hinges on whether Japan triggers the usual swim-off procedure. If both want the lane, expect Kojima and Nishikawa to race again for it.

1 articles · Updated · SwimSwam · Aug 13

Agostina Hein led the women’s 400 IM qualifiers in 4:35.43, edging Jenna Forrester’s 4:35.45 and Summer McIntosh’s 4:35.56 in a top-five spread of less than seven-tenths.
Alex Walsh’s 4:36.11 grabbed the second U.S. spot in that final and pushed Emma Weyant out of the championship heat under the two-per-country rule.
Tomoyuki Matsushita dominated the men’s 400 IM in 4:07.61—0.02 off Ryan Lochte’s meet record—while Japan’s Yumeki Kojima and Asaki Nishikawa tied for the second national spot at 4:08.69.
Gretchen Walsh then posted the fastest women’s 100 free time at 52.57, a personal best, with Simone Manuel and Australia’s Olivia Wunsch tying for second overall at 53.08.
The Day 2 morning session in Irvine set up selection drama for the finals, with possible swim-offs still looming in the men’s 400 IM and women’s 100 free.

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SwimSwam7d ago

2026 Pan Pacific Championships Day 2 Prelims: Hein, Matsushita, Walsh Lead

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SwimSwam7d ago

2026 Pan Pacific Championships Day 2 Prelims: Hein, Matsushita, Walsh Lead

Hein, Matsushita and Walsh Top Pan Pac Prelims as 4:07.61 and 52.57 Set Day 2 Pace

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