The Oldest Pan Pacific Champs Record: Ian Thorpe Still Reigns in 400 Freestyle
The 14th edition of the Pan Pacific Championships will be held this summer, contested from August 12-15 at the William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine, California. This year’s meet will mark the first Pan Pacs since 2018, as the 2022 competition was scrapped when the global calendar required shuffling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not surprising, the majority of the Pan Pacs records were set in either 2014 or 2018, although several preceded those dates. Of all the records, however, only one was set last century, and it belongs to one of the sport’s all-time greats: Ian Thorpe. At the 1999 Pan Pacs, held in Sydney as a prelude to the next year’s Olympic Games, a 16-year-old Thorpe – fast on his way to Hall of Fame status – clocked 3:41.83 in the 400-meter freestyle, an effort that was good for a world record.
In the five installments of Pan Pacs since Sydney served as host, the Australian’s championship record has not been sniffed. The closest anyone has come is 3:43.15, that time delivered by Korea’s Tae-Hwan Park in 2014. Thorpe’s performance signified his first world record in the event, breaking the 1994 standard of Aussie Kieren Perkins, who held the record at 3:43.80. Thorpe went on to break the mark four other times, his best a 3:40.08 that remains the third-fastest time in history.
If Thorpe’s record goes down this summer, the favorite to accomplish the feat is Aussie Sam Short, the 2023 world champion in the event, and the silver medalist from the 2025 World Champs in Singapore. Short, who will compete at this week’s Australian Trials, owns a personal best of 3:40.68. Thorpe is also the Pan Pacs record holder in the 200 freestyle, thanks to his swim of 1:44.75 from 2002.