Anna Moesch Among American Swimmers Set for Valuable International Experience at AP London International
Eight women set to represent the United States at this summer’s Pan Pacific Championships train at the University of Virginia. Anna Moesch, fresh off an incredible college season in which she became the second-fastest woman ever in the 200-yard freestyle, is not among them.
Yes, Moesch was part of the U.S. team at last summer’s World Championships, where she earned silver medals for her role as a prelims swimmer on both of the American women’s freestyle relays. Her results in the collegiate format indicate she has taken her career to the next level in the months since. But the Pan Pacs roster, determined based on championship times last year, includes up to five swimmers in the 100 and 200 free, rather than a potential group of six taken to Worlds and the Olympics. Relay alternates play a lesser role at Pan Pacs with no prelims relays.
Moesch ended 2025 with the seventh-best time among U.S. women in the 100 free, so leaving no chance for a roster spot. The American women will already be in really good shape for the 400 free relay this year, with the likes of Torri Huske, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Simone Manuel and Rylee Erisman as the primary options with Erin Gemmell in reserve. Ditto for the 800 free relay, with Claire Weinstein, Katie Ledecky and Anna Peplowski part of the group that will also include Huske, Gemmell, Manuel and Erisman.
Still, Moesch looks like she could become a central figure for the American women in the freestyle races moving forward; her NCAA results also included a time of 45.54 in the 100 free, moving her to No. 3 all-time behind Walsh and Huske. Fortunately for Moesch, USA Swimming has created international racing opportunities this year for swimmers not on the Pan Pacs roster.
Moesch is one of eight women who will compete for the U.S. at the AP London International meet May 23-26. Moesch will have the chance to race the 100 and 200-meter free against high-level European competition and post times that stack up against her compatriots racing later in the year in Irvine, Calif., at Pan Pacs. Moesch and most members of this team will likely continue their long course seasons afterward, with U.S. Nationals in late July a target competition for many.
Additional experience will be especially crucial in the 200, an event Moesch admitted “has always kind of scared me” in the past. Prior to the NCAA Championships, she told Swimming World, “After the training I’ve done this year, I don’t really fair anything anymore. I think I’ve also become a lot more comfortable with the 200 free short course, so I think the 200 free long course will come.”
Madi Mintenko — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
She will have some familiar company at the AP meet in Madi Mintenko, a freshman on Virginia’s national-title team who joined Moesch on a pair of national-title-winning relays. Mintenko came to Virginia as already one of the top 200 freestylers in the country, having gone 1:56.95 in 2025 to become the eighth-fastest swimmer in the country. Standout teenager Audrey Derivaux is also part of that group, along with Charlotte Crush, Piper Enge, Brady Kendall, Mila Nikanarov and Annam Olasewere.
On the men’s side, the Cavaliers will have a representative in David King, the runnerup in the 200 backstroke at the NCAA Championships, and there will be two swimmers who joined Moesch on last year’s Worlds team, only to be knocked out of Pan Pacs due to a roster crunch.
Both played larger-than-expected roles for the U.S. men in Singapore, handling legs on finals relays and earning bronze medals. Jonny Kulow anchored the American men to bronze in the 400 free relay while Tommy Janton was the leadoff swimmer on the men’s 400 medley relay.
Breaststrokers Alexei Avakov, Ben Delmar and Gabe Nunziata will also race in London, with Ryan Erisman and Michael Hochwalt rounding out the team.
For USA Swimming, the crystal-clear objective here is the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The goal is to get as many swimmers as possible into highly-competitive racing opportunities in international waters, providing growth experiences that could be critical in coming years. A lack of a selection meet this year is a bummer for rapidly-improving swimmers like Moesch, but if there is a year to skip out on trials, it’s this middle one in the Olympic quad with no global long course meet.
In past cycles, USA Swimming has opted against a qualification meet in the year before the Olympic Games, allowing swimmers an opportunity for a longer training block through the summer in advance of their championship meet. No longer: next summer, the best swimmers in the U.S. will assemble in one place with World Championships spots on the line, meaning the Stars and Stripes will send the best possible team to Budapest for an Olympic dress rehearsal.