Five Storylines to Follow at the US Summer Championships
Hunter Armstrong is not only hunting for a win at the 2025 US Summer Championships but could nab a spot on the USA’s Pan-Pac roster if he plays his cards right. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography
2025 Summer Championships
- August 5-8, 2025
- Irvine, California
- LCM (50 meters)
- Psych Sheets
If you are facing withdrawals from high-level competitive swimming, don’t worry, as the 2025 Summer Championships kick off tomorrow. With the Olympics occurring last year, the USA’s usual pattern of holding a large domestic meet after the international one was disrupted. However, this year, the four-day Summer Championships provides a perfect opportunity for numerous swimmers to either end their seasons on high notes or continue their run of good form from Worlds. As you watch the meet, keep an eye out for how these storylines, just a few of the many, unfold.
A Different Dirty-Double
In swimming, pulling a double usually refers to swimming two events in the same session, which is a common occurrence outside of championship meets, but when one is trying to perform at their very best at the end of the season, it becomes rare. With this being a four-day meet, there are bound to be multiple doubles, but in this case, the sub-heading (excuse the aliteration), refers to those that are making the quick turn-around from Worlds and are at least entered in this meet.
While they still may not compete, the US’s Claire Weinstein is entered to compete in Irvine. With a very quick turnaround and an 18-hour flight, Weinstein, who won an individual bronze in the 200 free with a new PB of 1:54.67 and was a part of the silver medal winning American Record setting 4×200 free relay, appears on the pre-scratch pysch sheet in five events, with an unusual entry in the 50 breast kicking things off. She returns to a more normal schedule as she is the top seed in the 100/200/400/800 free.
Also slated to make the long journey home are her Sandpiper of Nevada clubmates, Bella Sims and Applejean Gwinn. Sims, who swam a leg in the prelims of the USA’s 4×200 free relay, is entered in a staggering seven events: the 50/100/200/400 free, 200/400 IM, and 100 fly. Gwinn, who represented Taiwan at Worlds, also has a busy schedule and is slated to compete in six events.
The trio may all have been entered by their coach and may still opt out, but they aren’t the only ones slated to pull off the double, as David Johnston, too, is entered in the meet. Johnston, who placed 9th in the prelims of the 1500 in Singapore, is the top seed in the 800 free and 6th seed in the 400 IM.
Redemption
While the four above had the privilege of representing their nations in Singapore, a few others came tantalizingly close, but ultimately fell just short of making the roster, none more so than Kieran Smith. Smith placed 6th at US nationals in the 200 free, a spot that would have qualified him for the team, but due to roster size limitations, he was left off the team. Smith, a 2024 Olympic silver medalist, is the top seed in the 200 IM and 200 free, and is the 2nd seed in the 400 frees and IM.
Smith won’t be the only swimmer looking to see how his times would have fared against the rest of the world, as 2024 Paris Olympians, Alex and Aaron Shackell, are also entered in the meet. Alex, who placed 6th in the 200 fly final in Paris, missed the Singapore team by one spot as she finished 3rd in the 100 fly, albeit behind the WR holder Gretchen Walsh and Olympic Champion Torri Huske. Shackell, who also finished 4th in the 200 fly at Nationals, is taking on the two fly events as well as the 100 free.
Her brother, Aaron, who made the final of the 400 free in Paris, had an off meet at Nationals, failing to place in the top eight in any of his events. Like his sister, Aaron is slated to swim in three events: the 100/200/400 free, with the last two in tantalizing showdowns against Smith.
Brooks Curry, too, is in a similar boat. He finished 9th in the 100 free and 15th in the 200 free at US Nationals and will be looking for a big rebound as he takes on the sprint free trio of the 50/100/200.
Return
While the four above are all Paris Olympians and carried over that success into 2025, both Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong, medalists in Paris, opted not to compete at US Summer Nationals, and will either be using this meet at their end-of-season championships or the kick-start to their 2026 campaign, as this meet serves as the last selection meet for the 2026 Pan-Pacs.
Dressel, who has competed twice since the Olympics, is the top seed in the three events he is entered in, the 50s free and fly, and the 100 fly. Dressel is not entered in the 100 free, an event where he was the American Record holder, until this past week when Jack Alexy‘s 46.81 overtook the top spot.
With no Dressel in the 100 free, his Olympic relay teammate, Armstrong, occupies the top spot. Armstrong, too, missed the US Nationals, and in a candid interview with SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges, he explained that he had nearly retired from the sport but on the rebound from a rough 2024.
Pan-Pacs
As previously mentioned, times from the finals of this meet factor in to determining the USA’s roster for the Pan Pacific Championships, which are scheduled to be held in one year’s time, right here in Irvine. In the past the Pan-Pac roster had been selected from a qualifying meet earlier in the summer, but USA Swimming has opted to change its selection procedures and select its team from the results of the 2025 USA Swimming National Championships, the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, the 2025 World Aquatics Junior Championships, the 2025 World University Games, and the 2025 Summer Championships.
While this meet is not as competitive or large as the meets above, there may be a few swimmers who post times that could earn them a spot on the Pan-Pacs team, especially in events, where not only are the US weak, but were also hit hard by illness.
Forefront among those events is the 100 backstroke. Armstrong, a three-time Worlds medalist in the event, is the top seed at 52.72. Seeded 2nd is Adam Chaney at 53.08, and the pair could challenge for the two roster spots. Currently, the two fastest Americans at the qualifying competition are Will Modglin and Daniel Diehl, who missed Worlds but collected the silver and bronze, respectively, at the World University Games.
The men’s 400 free, too, could be under threat as the two entrants at Worlds, Rex Maurer and Luka Mijatovic, were both well off their times from Nationals and could be targets for the likes of Smith and Shackell.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Hoping to make the trip to Irvine again next year, the Australians have sent a strong contingent of swimmers who missed qualifying for their team in Singapore.
Two-time Olympian Se-bom Lee placed 3rd at the Australian Swimming trials in the 400 IM and is the top seed in the 200 back and the 5th seed in the 400 IM. He is not the lone Aussie to be a top seed as Tiana Kritzinger tops the field in the Women’s 1500 and Isabella Boyd tops the field in both the Women’s 200 IM and 50 fly.
As customary for the Australians, they bring a strong contingent of sprinters with Jaimie De Lutiis the 3rd seed in the 50 free, the 2nd seed in the 100 free, and the top seed in the 200. On the men’s side, the Australians occupy three of the top five seeds in the men’s 50 free, with Jamie Jack posing the biggest threat, on paper, to Caeleb Dressel as he is seeded just a quarter of a second back.
Australia is also seeded well in the breaststroke, and it will be very interesting to see how Joshua Collett and Sienna Harben perform after the Australians struggled in the event at Worlds, especially on the men’s side.
