Short Course World Championship Trials Stacked With Big Names and Olympic Comebacks
The pre-scratch psych sheet has been released for the 2026 U.S. Short Course World Championship Trials.
The meet runs from Oct. 28-31 in Westmont, Illinois.
Plenty of the sport’s biggest names are slated to compete, including Caeleb Dressel, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Simone Manuel, Van Mathias, Torri Huske, Katharine Berkoff, Regan Smith, Jack Alexy.
Katie Ledecky is not on the docket, but a slew of superstars are set to race.
Olympians Breeja Larson and Molly Hannis are back on deck, continuing their careers at 34. Olivia Smoliga will be back competing in her home pool.
Some of the women’s top names for Short Course trials include Anna Peplowski, Isabelle Stadden, Phoebe Bacon, Claire Curzan, Rylee Erisman, Lucy Bell, Claire Weinstein, Liberty Clark and Alex Shackell.
The men’s top names include Gabriel Jett, Destin Lasco, Christ Guiliano, Brooks Curry, Michael Andrew, Van Mathias, Kieran Smith, Luke Hobson and. Grant House, Ilya Kharun, Dare Rose and Luca Urlando.
There will be some intriguing events in short course.
The men’s 100 butterfly could see Dressel square off against Kharun, Rose and Urlando in Short Course.
The women’s backstroke events will be stacked as always, with Smith, Berkoff, Smoliga, Bacon and Stadden.