David Rieder - Senior Writer - (Author)

Pan Zhanle Trying to Reclaim 100 Freestyle Dominance at Asian Games Two years ago, Pan Zhanle was the envy of the sprinting world. Days before his 20th birthday, Pan unleashed in the Olympic final of the men's 100 freestyle, dominating the field by more than a second and shattering the world record....

After Golden Summer, McKenzie Siroky Entering Fall With Opportunities to Continue Momentum Perhaps no American woman put together a better summer season than McKenzie Siroky. The 21-year-old Division I ice hockey commit-turned-standout breaststroker qualified for her first World Championships team i...

Men's 100 Freestyle Short Course World Record Should Fall This Winter An October 2021 World Cup in Kazan, Russia, played host to Australian sprinter Kyle Chalmers as he sought the first world record of his already-accomplished career. Chalmers had narrowly missed the world mark in the short course 1...

Luka Mijatovic Confirms Plans to Graduate Early, Join Texas in December The swimmer who has rewritten the National Age Group record books in mid-distance and distance freestyle over the past several years will begin his college career earlier than expected. Luka Mijatovic confirmed in an Instagram p...

World Record Double-Double: When Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith Both Swam Under a Record Twice in a Week Women's backstroke has belonged to Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith since Smith broke world records in the 100 and 200-meter events at the 2019 World Championships. McKeown won silver behind Smith ...

The Coaching Trio Behind Caeleb Dressel: Unique Collaboration Produced Stellar Results In 2025, Caeleb Dressel raced sparingly and only in 50-meter events. He skipped U.S. Nationals as he and wife Meghan prepared for the birth of their second child, although Dressel did compete at USA Swimming's Sum...

Tomoyuki Matsushita Entering Rarified Air With 4:05 Breakthrough in 400 IM Ever since Tomoyuki Matsushita graduated to senior-level international competition, he has reliably performed at his best when it counts. Matsushita was just a year removed from winning the world junior title in the 400 IM wh...

Coaches Corner: Why Are Swimmers Now Able to Produce More Consistently Fast Performances Throughout the Year? In the past, swimmers tended to produce fast times only once or twice per year. Now, we are seeing consistently swift performances across the calendar. Why? In this Coaches Corner, several c...

Gretchen Walsh Could Pound Short Course Meters Records Again This Fall No one doubted Gretchen Walsh would immediately find success in the short course meters format. She first contested SCM seriously in the fall of 2024, three years into her NCAA career at the University of Virginia in which she di...

Short Course Meters Set for Showcase in Final Months of 2026 The 2026 summer championship season has largely concluded after the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships, with only the Asian Games still to come. That means it's time for the most significant stretc...

Battle for LA28: U.S. Women Facing Epic Challenge for Qualification in Sprint Freestyle and Backstroke The group of women representing the United States in international swimming over the past few years represents one of the greatest shows of depth in the sport's history. At the 2025 World Champions...

Throwback Thursday: Alexander Dale Oen Wins Emotional Gold for Norway at His Final Major Meet The news was a gut punch not just for his family and friends but for the entire swimming community. Late at night on April 30, 2012,  Norwegian breaststroker Alexander Dale Oen passed away suddenly, his cau...

Aaron Shackell, Luka Mijatovic, Ryan Erisman Leading American Resurgence in 400 Freestyle The 400 freestyle has been a constant struggle for the U.S. men over the last decade, with few breakthroughs at major international meets. Kieran Smith pulled off a surprise bronze medal in the event at the Tok...

How Caeleb Dressel Regained His Confidence and Returned to Superior Sprinting Ways Swimming saw very little of Caeleb Dressel in the two years after the Paris Olympics. Dressel had returned from an extended break to capture three relay medals, two gold and one silver, although he struggled in his in...

Combined World Championships: Hubert Kos, Sam Short Lead Two Events Apiece Over the past several weeks, most of the world’s top swimmers have raced in their main long course competition for 2026. The Commonwealth Games came first in Glasgow, Scotland, before the European Championships in Paris and t...

Absent American Swimmers Who Could Have Boosted Pan Pacs Medal Haul As expected, the Pan Pacific Championships featured most of the top times recorded by American swimmers in 2026, but there were numerous exceptions. In some cases, swimmers posted their best times at mid-season competitions while ot...

Combined World Championships: Top Women's Performances from Summer's International Meets Over the past several weeks, most of the world's top swimmers have raced in their main long course competition for 2026. The Commonwealth Games came first in Glasgow, Scotland, before the European Championships ...

Could Australia Take Down Legendary World Record in Men's 400 Freestyle Relay Before United States? Thanks to the heroics of Kyle Chalmers, Australia captured world titles in the men's 400 freestyle relay in 2023 and 2025, both in upset fashion. On both occasions, Australia had never led before Chal...

United States Swimmers and Coaches Not Sweating Imperfect Pan Pacs No international swim team selected one year in advance will be perfect. Inevitably, swimmers left off the team will drop massive swaths of time during the gap while others will struggle to replicate their form 12 months down the lin...

Pan Pacific Championships, Night Four Finals: American Women Maintain Medley Relay Winning Streak in Blowout For four consecutive years, the United States women have finished off the summer's major international competition with dominant performance in the 400 medley relay, breaking world records at...