2026 U.S. National Championships: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

Key Points:

• The 2026 U.S. National Championships commenced at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, CA, featuring preliminary heats in the women’s and men’s 200 butterfly and 100 freestyle, along with timed finals for the women’s 800 free and men’s 1500 free.
• In the women’s 200 butterfly prelims, Bella Sims led with a personal best of 2:08.39, while junior swimmers Audrey Derivaux, Zara Kocak, and Ellie Clarke posted top times but will compete in the junior final for Junior Pan Pac selection.
• The men’s 200 butterfly prelims saw Jack Dahlgren claim the top seed with a personal best of 1:55.16, narrowly ahead of reigning world champion Luca Urlando and short course world champion Ilya Kharun, both qualifying for the final.
• American Record holder Anna Moesch led the women’s 100 freestyle prelims with a time of 53.10, closely followed by NCAA standouts Camille Spink and Liberty Clark, while World Junior champion Rylee Erisman also advanced to the final.
• The men’s 100 freestyle prelims featured four swimmers breaking 48 seconds, led by Brooks Curry (47.56), with Caeleb Dressel, Patrick Sammon, and Maximus Williamson also posting sub-48 times; national record holder Jack Alexy qualified eighth for the final.