Short Course Meters Set for Showcase in Final Months of 2026
The 2026 summer championship season has largely concluded after the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships, with only the Asian Games still to come. That means it’s time for the most significant stretch of short course meters racing across this entire four-year quad, with the Short Course World Championships scheduled for December 1-6 in Beijing.
The competition takes place biannually, but this one should get better attendance than the meet two years ago in Budapest since it will not occur months after an Olympic Games. That meet featured world-record-breaking performances from Gretchen Walsh, who finished with seven gold medals, as well as Summer McIntosh, Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Noè Ponti and Luke Hobson while Hubert Kos finished just off the global standard in the 200 backstroke.
Hubert Kos — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Most or all should return for the follow-up in China. Kos has completed his ascent to stardom after breaking SCM world records in the 100 and 200 back last fall during the World Cup circuit before challenging the legendary long course mark at the European Championships while Walsh’s long course success has largely caught up with her short course skills.
Moreover, Kos’ training partner Leon Marchand is expected to race at Short Course Worlds for the first time, a format in which he should dominate based on his otherworldly underwater dolphin kicking. Marchand has previously unleashed incredible performances during World Cup meets as well as in short course yards during his collegiate years at Arizona State University.
Before that championship event, World Aquatics will hold its annual World Cup circuit in October, with stops along the “Silk Road” in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in October. Those stops might not draw the same crowd as last year’s tour through the United States and Canada, but Australia’s Cam McEvoy has already signaled his intention to attend all three. At those meets, McEvoy will be competing in the 100 freestyle for the first time in more than five years.
McEvoy’s fellow Australians will compete in short course meters September 29 through October 2 as they try to qualify for Short Course Worlds, and the American qualifying meet will follow October 28-31. This Westmont, Ill., selection event marks the first time in many years that USA Swimming has held a selection meet specifically for the 25-meter format rather than base its Short Course Worlds team off long course results.
In addition to aforementioned standouts Walsh, Smith, Douglass and Hobson, the meet should include reigning short course world champion Jack Alexy as well as Caeleb Dressel, the 30-year-old coming off a stellar long course showing at U.S. Nationals. Dressel is another swimmer whose talents fit the shorter pool perfectly, and he could excel in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events as well as the 100 IM, in which he still holds the world record.
In the aftermath of the global meet in China, expect many top swimmers to travel to London for the newly-announced International Swimming League all-star meet, a one-day event which will mark the league’s first competitive event in more than five years.
All these meets give plentiful opportunities for a run of short course world records. Most elite swimmers place so much focus on long course year after year, making this autumn stretch their best chance for big results in the shorter pool. Scan through the list of short course world records, and you will find very few that truly appear safe. Perhaps this is time for a correction, bringing short course speed in line with the incredible results from long course over the past few years.
Three years ago, Marchand clocked 4:02.50 in the long course 400 IM to blow away the final world record belonging to Michael Phelps. According to our very unofficial time conversion tool, that time equates to 3:51.20 in short course meters, more than 3.5 seconds under Daiya Seto’s short course mark. That is one of many that could tumble in the coming months.