USA Swimming to Utilize Points System to Determine Open Water Team for Pan Pacs
The pool team set to represent the United States at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships was announced at the end of last summer, but open water selections are still to be determined. That process will begin Thursday at the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships in Sarasota, Fla., and continue with a pair of World Cup events over the ensuing month.
The top six women and men from the upcoming 10-kilometer race will receive invitations to join the American team for World Cup events on April 24 in Ibiza, Spain, and on May 1 in Golfo Aranci, Italy. The six American representatives will accumulate points based on their finishes at all three qualifying competitions, and then four will receive berths to race at Pan Pacs.
As usual with the organization’s selection procedures, a swimmer declining the invitation will result in the next highest potential qualifier earning selection. The final grouping of athletes will be revealed by May 4.
The open water races at Pan Pacs will take place August 10 in Long Beach, Calif., two days before the pool competition begins in nearby Irvine. Swimmers from the charter nations of Australia, Canada and Japan will join the U.S. athletes, while select others from non-European countries may also be in attendance.
Also this week in Sarasota, USA Swimming will pick its national team and national junior team for open water. The national team will include the top-four available swimmers from Nationals plus any swimmer who wins a medal in the 10k at Pan Pacs. The 5k national winners plus the next two qualifiers from the 10k could be added for a total of six women and six men. The junior team will include the top four 18-and-under finishers in the 10k who are not already on the national team, then the winner of the 5k race, followed by up to two additional qualifiers from the 10K.