USA Swimming Pro Swim Series Austin, Day 2 Finals: Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh Take Care of Business in 200 IM
The Thursday finals session at the USA Swimming Pro Swim Series in Austin, Texas, opened with world-record holders starring in the 200 individual medley. Summer McIntosh was the class of the women’s field while Leon Marchand took down Carson Foster and Kieran Smith in the men’s event. Immediately after, the women’s 50 freestyle featured Simone Manuel before Andrej Barna beat a competitive field in the men’s splash-and-dash.
Later in the session, Grousset battled Caeleb Dressel in the 100 butterfly, an event where Dressel holds the world record and Grousset is the second-fastest performer in history. Finally, Katie Ledecky was back in the water for the 400 free one day after swimming the second-quickest time of her career in the 1500 free.
Women’s 200 IM
No one was stopping Summer McIntosh in one of the events where she has become utterly dominant. McIntosh is the Olympic and world champion in the event, and she swam a time of 2:05.70 last June to become the first woman ever under 2:06. In her first final of the year, McIntosh easily out-paced the field assembled in Austin, leading by almost a second at the 50-meter mark and going two seconds up by the halfway point. The margin eventually stretched to 5.25 seconds over the field.
After clocking 2:09.27 in the semifinal round, McIntosh was a bit quicker here at 2:08.48. While well off her best mark, it was still quicker than the 2:08.58 that American Alex Walsh went for silver at last year’s Worlds. McIntosh was followed here by France’s Cyrielle Duhamel (2:13.73) and American teen Teagan O’Dell (2:14.06).
Men’s 200 IM
The last time Leon Marchand raced at a Pro Series meet, he fell to second place in the 200 IM, a rare defeat for a swimmer who has been utterly dominant in the medley events since 2022. Not this time, though, as Marchand jumped out to an early advantage over training partner Carson Foster, a swimmer with multiple Worlds podium appearances in the race. Foster out-split Marchand on freestyle, but the Frenchman’s advantage on butterfly and especially breaststroke was too much to overcome.
Marchand posted a time of 1:57.65. That was almost five seconds behind the stunning world record of 1:52.69 he swam at last summer’s World Championships in Singapore. Foster claimed second in 1:58.96 while Kieran Smith, better known for his international success in freestyle, was the only other swimmer under 2:00 (1:59.86).
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Simone Manuel, a 29-year-old American standout who has been among the best sprinters in the country since her teenage years, picked up the 50 free win in a close finish against two French rivals. Manuel finished in 24.79, just behind the 24.77 she posted in the semifinal round. Beryl Gastadello, who previously competed at Texas A&M, came in second at 24.85 while Marie Wattel was third in 24.97. Anna Peplowski was not far away in 25.14 while Analia Pigree (25.23) put another French woman in the top-five.
Men’s 50 Freestyle
A loaded final of the men’s splash-and-dash included the third and sixth-place finishers from last year’s World Championships, another previous global medal winner in the event plus the U.S. Olympic Trials runnerup from 2024. France’s Maxime Grousset, who skipped the 50 free at Worlds as he raced to world titles in sprint butterfly, ended up with the top time of the meet at 21.62 in the semifinal round, but Andrej Barna blasted off the start and count not be caught down the stretch.
Barna, a Serbian swimmer who trains at Louisville, touched in 21.77 to defeat Grousset (21.82) by five hundredths. Jack Alexy, the Worlds bronze medalist last year, came in third in 21.92, just ahead of Cal training partner Brooks Curry (22.00).
Women’s 50 Breaststroke Semifinals
The women’s breaststroke events are lacking depth at this Pro Series meet, but the two women at the top are elite performers. Anna Elendt, the Texas-trained German who won the world title in the 100 breaststroke last year, followed up her 100-meter win with the top time in the semifinal round. She went 30.85 in the first heat, but Skyler Smith followed that up with a 30.86 moments later. Smith will represent the United States in the event at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships.
Kate Canales was the next-best swimmer in 31.96, and it took a time of 33.86 (Kia Alert) to make it back for the final.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke Semifinals
Recent results have put Van Mathias among the top sprint breaststrokers in the world. After notching a stunning best time of 26.76 last year to qualify for the 2026 Pan Pacs team, Mathias went even faster in Thursday’s prelims, his 26.57 coming up just 0.12 off the American record held by Nic Fink. In the semifinal round, Mathias surged again as he touched in 26.62. He will take another record shot from lane four in the final.
Mathias was followed by Mitch Mason (27.34) and Denis Petrashov (27.37). The latter swimmer finished a tenth behind Mathias in Wednesday’s 100 breast final. Finn Brooks and Brian Benzing, who train with Mathias at Indiana, also made the field, while France’s Jeremy Delbois rounded out the top-eight qualifiers at 27.67.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Over the summer, teenager Charlotte Crush grabbed a slice of attention away from the normal backstroke headliners when she led the way into the 200 back final at U.S. Nationals. Crush, who represents the Lakeside Swim Club and will attend the University of Tennessee beginning next fall, is now securely among the group of elite performers in the strong in the United States, and she recorded a strong performance in her wire-to-wire win Thursday evening.
Crush jumped ahead of the field by 0.85 after one length, and she extended the lead slightly on the back half. She finished in 2:09.79, the only swimmer to get under 2:10. Teagan O’Dell secured her second top-three of the night in 2:11.13, with Rowyn Wilber third (2:14.38).
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Of the five men to win multiple world titles last year, two were French: medley star Leon Marchand and sprint butterflyer Maxime Grousset. Joining those two on the individual podium for France was Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, who crushed his best times on the way to bronze medals in both backstroke races. Ndoye-Brouard has started off the 2026 season in fine form as well, dominating the 100 and 200 back in Austin.
Ndoye-Brouard was already almost a second up after one length, and the lead grew from there. Marchand made a rare appearance in a backstroke event here, and he slightly cut into that lead on the back half, but not enough to catch Ndoye-Brouard, who finished in 1:56.68. Marchand, the winner of the 200 back earlier in the evening, was second in 1:57.90. Humberto Najera took third in 1:58.87, with Mewen Tomac, also of France, and Kieran Smith also under 2:00
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Although Summer McIntosh is the world’s dominant 200 butterflyer with Regan Smith in the silver-medal position year after year at global meets, the 100-meter race is a different story. Smith is among the world’s best over two laps as well, only denied a chance to race the 100 fly at the Paris Olympics because of the brilliance of Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske. In Austin, Smith fired off a sizzling performance to set the pace in the world rankings.
Smith finished in 56.18, quicker than the bronze-medal-winning time from the World Championships last year. McIntosh returned to the pool after winning the 200 IM to take second in 58.56. France’s Marie Wattel, returning from her 50 free third-place finish earlier in the night, touched in 59.58 for third.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
The two fastest performers ever raced in the center lanes of the 100 fly final in Austin. Caeleb Dressel holds the world record at 49.45, set on his way to Olympic gold in Tokyo, while Maxime Grousset achieved a mark of 49.62 at the World Championships last year. Dressel missed out on making the 50 free final on day one in Austin, but he swam a strong 100 fly prelim to qualify first and set up the race against the Frenchman.
But at night, Grousset had too much speed for Dressel to match. He was out in 23.45, seven tenths ahead of the field, and he came home in 27.50. Grousset clocked 50.95 for the win while Dressel, who was slightly quicker on the second length, finished second in 51.62. Clement Secchi made it two French swimmers in the top-three with his third-place time of 52.45.
Women’s 400 Freestyle
Opening night in Austin saw Katie Ledecky unleash the second-quickest performance of her career in the 1500 freestyle, swimming a time jut over two seconds behind her own world record. Expectations were high as Ledecky returned to the pool for the 400-meter event, although she would not have quite as much magic to dispense on this occasion. Still, with Summer McIntosh skipping the 400 at this meet, Ledecky was clearly the class of the field, leading her closest competitor by more than three seconds after just 150 meters.
Ledecky split 1:58.15 at the halfway point before showing some fatigue down the stretch. She ended up posting a time of 4:00.54, not close to her best but still quicker than she swam to win Olympic bronze in 2024. Claire Weinstein, the N0. 2 performer in American history who just missed breaking 4:00 last year, came in second at 4:07.37. Rylee Erisman, better known for her sprinting abilities, completed a day when she lowered her best time by five seconds. She touched third in 4:11.02.
Men’s 400 Freestyle
Last summer, Ryan Erisman missed qualifying for the World Championships by one spot and three tenths of a second as he placed third in the 400 freestyle at U.S. Nationals. Now a freshman at Cal, Erisman continues to elevate his standing as he took down a solid field in the event at the Austin Pro Series, coming within three-quarters of a second of his best time. Erisman trailed Lucas Henveaux, a Belgian swimmer who also trains at Cal, through the early portions of the race, but he took over with an impressive surge just past the halfway point.
After splitting 1:52.92 at the halfway point, Erisman covered the next 200 meters in 1:53.83, and the result was a sterling time of 3:46.75. Ilia Sibirtsev, a Louisville-trainee from Uzbekistan, tried to make inroads but could not keep pace down the stretch, finishing second in 3:49.03. Henveaux placed third in 3:51.17, holding off the surging Bobby Finke (3:51.41).
