IRVINE, Calif. — In a stunning turn, world record holder Summer McIntosh failed to qualify for the 400-meter freestyle final at the Pan Pacific Championships (Pan Pacs), finishing ninth Friday morning in an event in which she is the defending world champion.
McIntosh finished in 4 minutes, 8.56 seconds, more than 14 seconds off her world record time of 3:54.18, and qualified for the B final. The 19-year-old star didn’t speak to reporters in the mixed zone after the race, and a Team Canada representative said McIntosh would talk after her race Friday evening. China’s Fan Yaqi, a 15-year-old, beat McIntosh at the finish of their heat.
McIntosh, who trains with the University of Texas pro group, made her first Olympics in 2021 and finished fourth in two events. She won four medals at the 2026 Games: gold in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and the 200 butterfly, and silver in the 400 freestyle. She won all four of those events at last summer’s World Championships and is the world record holder in all four.
The 400 freestyle was one of the most highly anticipated events of the Pan Pacs, Team USA’s biggest meet of the year and one of the biggest in the world. McIntosh entered as the favorite, with American Katie Ledecky and Australian Lani Pallister her top challengers. Instead of all three stars squaring off in the final, it’s set to be only Ledecky and Pallister.
Ledecky is the top seed entering the evening after swimming a 4:03.48 in her morning swim.
“It’s not every meet where we get a chance to race like this; it’s really just about once a year,” she said after her race. “Just excited for the opportunity, and hopefully we can all push each other to some great times tonight.”
Pallister finished fourth in prelims but entered the meet with the third-fastest seed time. She won gold in the 200 freestyle earlier at Pan Pacs and silver behind Ledecky in the 1,500 freestyle. She was also on Australia’s winning 4×200 freestyle relay team.
“I love racing,” she said. “I love being eye to eye. I’ve gotten the best out of myself this week doing that.”
Australian Erika Fairweather and American Kennedi Dobson will also challenge for medals Friday night. They were the second- and third-fastest prelims swimmers, respectively.
McIntosh won the 400 individual medley Thursday, though she wasn’t pleased with her race, saying afterward “I should be capable of more based off my training.” She finished second to Pallister in the 200 freestyle and picked up a bronze on Canada’s 4×200-meter relay team.
