Pan Pacific Championships, Night One Finals: Lani Pallister Clips Summer McIntosh in 200 Freestyle
Last month, Lani Pallister exited the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle, as she finished behind countrywoman Mollie O’Callaghan. A few weeks later, the Australian stands as the champion of the event at the Pan Pacific Championships, having started the meet in Southern California with a victory over Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh.
In a back-and-forth with McIntosh, Pallister led at the 150-meter mark and wouldn’t yield down the final length to claim the gold medal in 1:53.67. McIntosh was the silver medalist in 1:53.86, while New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather picked up the bronze medal with a swim of 1:55.05. Fairweather was also the bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games.
Pallister’s time at Pan Pacs was just .02 off her career best and marked a 1.34-second improvement from the effort she produced at the Commonwealth Games. O’Callaghan was not in the field at Pan Pacs, as she was forced to withdraw from the meet with a back injury.
While Pallister has been one of Australia’s premier distance freestylers for several years, she has risen to another level over the past year-plus, establishing herself as a global threat from the 200 distance through the 1500. Much of her rise can be connected to Pallister’s move to St. Peters Western, where she now trains under the guidance of coach Dean Boxall. In her time with Boxall, career bests have been recorded in all of her prime events.
The 200 freestyle was just the start of the night for Pallister, as she had the 1500 freestyle later in the session as part of a demanding double. She took silver in the longer event and emphasized pride in embracing the challenge.
“I really wanted to come in and do that (double),” Pallister said. “I saw the schedule and took the opportunity, which I think makes you a better athlete. I’m proud of doing both.”
Pallister took the lead on the opening lap, as she split 26.71 to the 26.75 of McIntosh. The Canadian moved in front on the second lap, the women turning at the midway point of the race in 55.38 to 55.50. But Pallister responded over the third 50 and turned for home in 1:24.84, with McIntosh on her heels in 1:24.93. Over the last length, Pallister not only fended off McIntosh, but increased her lead slightly with a closing split of 28.83, to the 28.93 of McIntosh.
For McIntosh, her time was .21 off her personal best, which was posted at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka. The 19-year-old made the decision to contest the 200 freestyle over the 200 butterfly, an event in which she took down the 17-year-old world record earlier this year. For McIntosh, changing up her schedule was a chance to test herself in international waters in the 200 freestyle and gather additional data on the road to LA28. Nonetheless, she was not pleased with the outing.
“It wasn’t good enough,” McIntosh said. “My touch was not good. I know I have so much more than that. It’s disappointing. I’ve got to learn from it.”
The United States’ Anna Peplowski finished just off the podium, going 1:55.94 for fourth place.
