Lani Pallister and Sam Short have showcased Australia’s glittering 2028 Olympic middle-distance swimming prospects by claiming multiple gold medals at the Pan Pacific championships in California.
The 24-year-old Pallister continued her stunning meet when she downed American legend Katie Ledecky to win the 400m freestyle title on Saturday (AEST), following her 200m freestyle victory over Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh and silver behind behind Ledecky in the 1500m free, as well as gold in the 200m free relay.
“It’s been an incredible week,” Pallister said. “Chasing my goals, chasing dreams and having fun doing it.”
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Short backed up his 800m freestyle gold when he clocked a career-best time of three minutes 40.52 seconds to win the men’s 400 freestyle, eclipsing the great Ian Thorpe’s Pan Pacs meet record of 3:41.83 set in Sydney in 1999, four years before Short was born.
He won from China’s Zhang Zhanshuo (3:42.42) and American Aaron Shackell (3:43.44) at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
“I thought I was going 3:39. I had so much left for the end, but personal best — can’t complain, and to beat Thorpe’s record … it’s about time it went,” Short said.
“He was one of my heroes growing up. I’ve watched every single one of his races.”
Both Pallister (800m) and Short (1500m) have the chance to add more gold to their carry-on luggage on the final day of competition.
Pallister was under world-record pace in her 400m final through 150 metres, before touching in 3:58.42. Ledecky had over a second to make up on the final lap and took silver in 4:00.15.
“I could see Katie catching me on the last 150 and that’s a very nerve-racking feeling,” said Pallister, who also won four gold medals and a silver at the recent Commonwealth Games.
“The back end got me. Gosh, it hurt a lot. But it’s so much fun standing up in an international final and racing the best in the world and trying to challenge for top times.”
The 29-year-old Ledecky was philosophical about her loss to Pallister.
“I never like being over four minutes in an international final, but I put together the best race I could,” she said.
“I thought I had a good back half, just wasn’t out quick enough.
“I’ve never taken my competition for granted, even when I was winning by big margins. I just have a lot of great competition from all over the world right now.”
Australia’s Sam Williamson won the men’s 50m breaststroke in a championship-record time of 26.36 seconds. American Van Mathias and Michael Houlie of South Africa tied for silver in 26.42.
And Aussies also went 1-2 in the men’s 100 butterfly, with Matthew Temple winning gold and teammate Ben Armbruster earning silver.
The US swept the 4x100m freestyle relays, beating Australia in both the men’s and women’s races. The women hadn’t defeated the Aussies in the event since 2017.
