Pan Pacific Championships Day One Finals: Women’s 100 Backstroke
The women’s 100 backstroke was destined to be fast at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships. So fast that a meet record didn’t make the finals.
Three successive meet records by U.S. swimmers during prelims set the table for a speedy final on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Katharine Berkoff used a strong finish to overtake Regan Smith and Taylor Ruck in the final 50 to get to the wall first in 57.93.
“It was by far my best outdoors time, and the fastest I’ve been since Olympic trials. So, I’m happy with that for sure,” Berkoff said. “I think some people are better at it than others. I definitely have improved a ton this year. This is my third outdoor meet of the season, so I think I’ve gotten really good at swimming straight. Especially in Irvine, it’s pretty easy because you can see the stands a little bit. But it definitely adds an element of unknown when you’re swimming outside, especially when it’s this dark. It’s kind of weird.”
In the final, Ruck led at the turn ahead of Berkoff and Smith. Smith finished in 58.11, while Ruck earned her second medal of the night with a 58.40.
Smith was not happy with her performance.
“Not good at all. It just wasn’t a very good swim,” Smith said. “And really frustrating because, Bob (Bowman) always tells us not to go off of feel so I apologized to him, but it felt very strong and controlled going out, which is where I want to be. And I don’t feel like I died. But I haven’t been 58 at night at an important meet since I was a teenager. So I’m just very frustrated.
“This is the first event, and I want to leave this at the pool. One really crummy event doesn’t mean that the rest of my weekend’s necessarily going to be crummy. And I absolutely, as a veteran member of USA Swimming, I don’t want to bring this negative energy that I’m feeling back to my team. That’s the last thing I want to do. I’m going to be pissed off, I think, in my head for a little while, but I really like that to fuel me, especially because the 50 backstroke isn’t necessarily my ‘strongest event.’ So I need to really be on it tomorrow in prelims. So we’re going to get a good night’s sleep and try to use this to fuel me instead of to drain me.”
Ruck also won the bronze in the 50 butterfly to lead off the night, completing a double-medal-double.
“It feels really great. I am really happy with the results. I just love racing,” Ruck said.
The Pan Pacific records started to fall early in the morning session.
Claire Curzan broke the meet record in the 100 backstroke in the prelims, going a 58.21 to break the mark set by Canada’s Kylie Masse in 2018.
Berkoff then set a new record with a 58.09 swim in the next heat. Smith broke Berkoff’s meet record with a 57.86 to keep Curzan out of the finals with only two swimmers from each country allowed in the finals at the Pan Pacific Championships.
Showcasing the depth of the USA in the backstroke, Leah Shackley, Rylee Erisman and Phoebe Bacon all finished in the top eight during prelims and also had to set out the A final.
