World Cup Westmont — Day One Finals: Australia Picks Up Three Victories to Start Meet
Swimmers from Down Underneath put up massive performances to open the center cease of the World Cup circuit in Westmont, Ailing., with Lani Pallister and Sam Quick opening the session with wins of their respective 400 freestyle finals earlier than Kaylee McKeown got here by means of for her second consecutive victory within the 50 backstroke. Pallister opened the session in sensational kind as she lowered her personal Australian and World Cup information within the 400 free.
Later within the session, Hubert Kos would proceed his dominance of the boys’s 200 backstroke whereas Regan Smith clipped her personal American and World Cup information within the girls’s 200 butterfly. Additional winners within the session included Noè Ponti, Kate Douglass, Ilya Shymanovich, Kasia Wasick and Ilya Kharun earlier than People Gretchen Walsh and Shaine Casas blasted scorching performances within the 100 IM to wrap up the session.
Ladies’s 400 Freestyle
Two weeks, two dominant wins for Lani Pallister within the girls’s 400 free. One week after she pulled away to win by 4 seconds on the Carmel cease, Pallister jumped on the tempo even earlier in opposition to an analogous discipline in Westmont and emerged with a record-setting swim. Pallister arrived for this 12 months’s American swing of World Cup meets already the third-fastest performer in historical past, having gone 3:53.73 for Quick Course Worlds silver final 12 months, however Pallister now sits at No. 2.
The 23-year-old Australian motored to a time of three:52.42, a whopping 1.31 seconds faster than her earlier greatest time from final December’s international meet. Solely Summer season McIntosh has ever been sooner with the time of three:50.25 she swam final December. Pallister was two seconds away from that however nonetheless beneath the World Cup document of three:52.80 that McIntosh swam in Toronto in 2022, and he or she jumped forward of Katie Ledecky (3:52.88) within the all-time rankings.
Putting second right here was New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, who pulled into second place with a time of three:57.99. Fairweather was virtually a second faster than she swam final week in Carmel. Bella Sims was the highest American and the ultimate swimmer beneath 4:00 as she got here in at 3:58.29 for third.
Males’s 400 Freestyle
Australia’s Sam Quick returned to the apex of the world rankings in mid-distance freestyle this 12 months as he grabbed silver within the 400 free on the World Championships, lacking out on gold by simply two hundredths. Quick additionally handled a troublesome loss within the occasion final week, albeit in much less consequential circumstances, as he fell to second place within the occasion on the opening cease of the World Cup. At that competitors, American Carson Foster had an excessive amount of closing pace for Quick to deal with in a race the place the top-four swimmers have been separated by lower than a second.
Completely different story in Westmont as Quick blasted forward of the sphere and didn’t let Foster shut the hole down the stretch. Quick clocked 3:36.27, greater than one-and-a-half seconds away from the sphere. Foster positioned second in 3:37.93, only a tick behind his Carmel time, whereas American Kieran Smith positioned third in 3:38.79. Luke Hobson, the brief course world-record holder within the 200 free, put up a time of three:38.90 within the early heats that ranked fourth general.
Ladies’s 50 Backstroke
The Australian guests began off the session three-for-three with victories as Kaylee McKeown received the 50 again for the second consecutive meet, overcoming an exceptionally tight discipline the place solely 0.13 separated the top-four finishers. The hole on the prime was even tighter as McKeown overcame a problem from Gretchen Walsh. The star sprinter not often competes in backstroke, no less than in lengthy course, however her unimaginable underwater dolphin kickouts made Walsh the quickest swimmer ever within the 100-yard again, and he or she as soon as held the American document within the brief course 50-meter race.
Australian swimmers flipped 1-2 on the midway level on this last, with Mollie O’Callaghan beneath world-record tempo and McKeown in second, however Walsh blasted forward off the wall. On the finish, although, McKeown battled again to complete in 25.63, simply away from Walsh’s 25.65. O’Callaghan was an additional seven hundredths behind in 25.72, adopted carefully by American Katharine Berkoff (25.76). Kylie Masse, the Canadian who additionally has world titles to her credit score, took fifth (25.89).
Males’s 200 Backstroke
These days, nobody is ever a match for Hubert Kos within the 200 backstroke. Leon Marchand, the person medley maestro who trains alongside Marchand on the College of Texas, truly led Kos within the early levels of final week’s last in Carmel, however Marchand was one-and-done for the World Cup circuit. That gave the Hungarian the chance to cruise to his second consecutive win on this occasion, even with out threatening his European-record time of 1:45.65.
Kos pulled into the wall in 1:47.51, a bit down on the 1:46.84 he notched final week. Kos received by 1.25 seconds right here over Thomas Ceccon, the Italian swimmer who’s the Olympic champion and lengthy course world-record holder within the 100. Ceccon truly made up floor on Kos within the last levels of the race, and he managed a time of 1:48.76 for second place. Alexandre Desangeles, a French swimmer who coaching on the College of Arizona, positioned third in 1:51.17, simply 4 hundredths away from Australia’s Joshua Edwards-Smith.
Males’s 100 Butterfly
Switzerland’s Noè Ponti was undefeated within the dash butterfly occasions on the World Cup circuit final fall, and he’s midway to going undefeated once more in 2025. The Westmont race unfolded almost the identical as final week’s last in Carmel as he edged out Canadian Ilya Kharun by a half-second. Ponti was out in 22.76, two hundredths away from Kharun, earlier than pulling away down the stretch to swim a time of 48.47. That point was merely seven hundredths slower than his World Cup document of 48.40. Ponti’s world document from final December stands at 47.71.
Kharun picked up second place right here in 49.00 whereas fellow Canadian Josh Liendo got here in simply behind at 49.56. Nobody else obtained beneath 50 seconds right here, with Finn Brooks (50.06) and Simone Stefani (50.08) one of the best of the remainder.
Ladies’s 200 Breaststroke
There’s by no means any doubt with regards to Kate Douglass within the 200 breaststroke. Within the final 15 months, Douglass has received Olympic gold plus world titles in lengthy course and brief course on this occasion, and he or she clobbered the world document within the 25-meter format final fall. Final week in Carmel, Douglass grew to become the primary girl to ever clock a time within the 2:13-range, having beforehand skipped straight from 2:14 to 2:12, and right here she cruised to a wire-to-wire, four-second triumph.
Douglass recorded a time of two:14.57 on the way in which to her fifth 200 breast victory over the previous two World Cup seasons. The time truly matched the time that had been the world document set previous to Douglass’ emergence, which was held by former U.S. star Rebecca Soni. Second place right here went to Alex Walsh, a coaching associate of Douglass on the College of Virginia. Walsh clocked 2:18.54, whereas South Africa’s Rebecca Meder got here in third at 2:18.88.
Males’s 100 Breaststroke
The world-record holder on this occasion turned the tables on Carmel winner Caspar Corbeau to select up the win by two hundredths. Ilya Shymanovich has been largely quiet since setting the world document within the 100 breast 4 years in the past, with lots of these years spent away from worldwide competitors with most Belarusian swimmers. However he rocketed up the lengthy course world rankings in 2025 earlier than making a pair of semifinals on the World Championships, and now he has a World Cup victory.
Shymanovich was one hundredth behind Corbeau on the midway level, however he cleared his Dutch rival by two hundredths coming dwelling. Shymanovich completed in 56.41, two hundredths forward of Corbeau’s 56.43. Each swimmers swam a lot faster than one week earlier, the place Corbeau received in 56.67 and Shymanovich took second in 57.18.
Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi positioned third in 56.79 whereas Adam Peaty, the Olympic champion on this occasion in Rio and Tokyo, obtained fourth in 57.00. Peaty, returning to competitors after a yearlong layoff, was greater than a second faster than his Tenth-place mark of 58.27 final week.
Ladies’s 50 Freestyle
The rostrum within the girls’s 50 free was an identical to that from the primary cease as Kasia Wasick, the 33-year-old Polish sprinter who has competed on the previous 5 Olympic Video games, saved Australian Alex Perkins at bay by 0.15. Wasick went 23.30 for the win right here, one hundredth behind her mark from final week, whereas Perkins dropped 5 hundredths on the way in which to a time of 23.45. Mollie O’Callaghan made her second podium of the night with a time of 23.87, simply forward of Canadian Taylor Ruck (23.87).
Males’s 50 Freestyle
A pair of Canadian males, each higher identified for his or her butterfly talents and each simply minutes faraway from competing within the 100 butterfly, confirmed off some sizzle on this occasion. Ilya Kharun got here by means of down the stretch, overlaying the second size in 10.61 to simply surpass the remainder of the sphere. That introduced him to the wall in 20.72, 0.15 forward of a discipline consisting of swimmers who compete extra persistently in dash freestyle.
The following three finishers have been separated by simply 4 hundredths. Josh Liendo, third within the aforementioned 100 fly last, touched in 20.87 to beat out Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter (20.89) and American Jack Alexy (20.91). Chris Guiliano, the U.S. swimmer who swam 20.83 for the win on the first cease, was a lot slower right here with a fifth-place time of 21.03.
Ladies’s 100 IM
Count on a world-record scare each time Gretchen Walsh enters the water to race the 100 IM. She doesn’t get a whole lot of probabilities to swim the dash medley, however the race completely fits her skillset, as evidenced by her world title and world document final December in Budapest. Nobody else in historical past has ever swum beneath 56, and Walsh has now completed so on 5 separate events, the newest Friday night in Westmont.
Walsh by no means trailed on this last, dropping some floor to College of Virginia coaching associate Kate Douglass on the again half however by no means being challenged. Walsh completed in 55.77, the third-fastest efficiency ever and 0.14 forward of the earlier World Cup document she set final week. Douglass was second in 56.42, simply behind her personal better of 56.34 from final week however nonetheless forward of anybody else on the all-time checklist, whereas Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk positioned third in 57.41.
Males’s 100 IM
Shaine Casas survived a scare within the preliminary spherical, when he was merely the seventh-best qualifier for the ultimate. As soon as he made it into the top-eight, the 25-year-old American by no means trailed, beating butterfly specialist Noè Ponti to the wall on the midway level and supreme backstroke Hubert Kos to the midway level. Casas prolonged the benefit on breaststroke earlier than powering to the wall in 50.45. With the swim, he grew to become the fifth-fastest man in historical past behind Caeleb Dressel, Leon Marchand, Vladimir Morozov and Ponti.
Taking second right here was Ponti, the Swiss star who’s the reigning world champion on this occasion. Ponti had one of the best freestyle leg (12.42) to leap from fourth to second place on the finish with a last time of fifty.76. Kos was third in 50.99, simply forward of American Grant Home (51.07). Thomas Ceccon, second to Kos within the 200 again earlier within the night time, got here in fifth (51.35).
