{"id":629650,"date":"2026-01-01T08:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=629650"},"modified":"2026-01-01T08:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:54:18","slug":"top-swim-meets-to-watch-in-2026-regional-championships-short-course-worlds-highlight-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/top-swim-meets-to-watch-in-2026-regional-championships-short-course-worlds-highlight-calendar\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Swim Meets to Watch in 2026: Regional Championships, Short Course Worlds Highlight Calendar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top Swim Meets to Watch in 2026: Regional Championships, Short Course Worlds Highlight Calendar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The midway point between the Paris and Los Angeles Olympics will arrive in 2026, but this coming year will mark a rare one with no global long course championship meet. While almost all of the world’s top swimmers had last year’s Singapore World Championships<\/a> circled on their calendar, this year will look much different. Instead, swimmers will target national and regional championship meets over the summer. After that, many big names will attend the Short Course World Championships in December.<\/p>\n

The results this year will set the stage for the next long course championship meet in 2027, set for Budapest, and then the Olympic year beyond that. Here is a preview of the biggest events on swimming’s calendar.<\/p>\n

1. NCAA Women’s Championships, March 18-21 \u2014 Atlanta<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The quest for six consecutive national titles will be on as the Virginia Cavaliers descend on Atlanta this March. While accomplished sisters\u00a0Alex<\/strong> and\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> have finished their collegiate eligibility, the Cavaliers return multi-time NCAA champion\u00a0Claire Curzan<\/strong>, rising freestyle star Anna Moesch<\/strong>, two-time Olympian\u00a0Katie Grimes<\/strong> and consistent performers such as\u00a0Leah Hayes<\/strong>,\u00a0Tess Howley<\/strong> and\u00a0Aimee Canny<\/strong> to bolster their title hopes. Italian sprinter\u00a0Sara Curtis<\/strong> is among the major additions to the roster.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Stanford’s\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> will race in her final NCAA Championships, hoping to win multiple individual titles and give the Cardinal a chance to take down Virginia. Other defending champions returning include Texas’\u00a0Jillian Cox<\/strong> and the Stanford duo of\u00a0Caroline Bricker<\/strong> and\u00a0Lucy Bell<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2. NCAA Men’s Championships, March 25-28 \u2014 Atlanta<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The University of Texas men will go for a repeat national title after last year’s down-to-the-wire, 19-point win over Cal.\u00a0Hubert Kos<\/strong> is the leading returning swimmer for Texas after he won national titles in both backstroke events plus the 200 IM last year. The Longhorns also return 500 free and 400 IM NCAA champion\u00a0Rex Maurer<\/strong> plus backstroke and medley swimmer\u00a0Will Modglin<\/strong>. The Texas breaststroke group might be the best in the country, with World Championships team member\u00a0Campbell McKean<\/strong> and transfer\u00a0Baylor Nelson<\/strong> among the high-profile additions.<\/p>\n

Florida’s\u00a0Josh Liendo<\/strong> returns to cap off his marvelous college career that already includes six individual national titles. A 200 fly showdown between\u00a0Luca Urlando<\/strong> and\u00a0Ilya Kharun<\/strong> will be can’t-miss while\u00a0Zalan Sarkany\u00a0<\/strong>is aiming for his third consecutive win in the 1650 free.<\/p>\n

\"kaylee

Australia’s Kaylee McKeown — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Australian Swimming Trials, June 8-13 \u2014 Sydney<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Australia will pick its teams for a busy summer that includes the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships. This selection meet will be the first since\u00a0Ariarne Titmus<\/strong> officially retired, but the Aussies still have plenty of talent seeking a return to international waters. Kaylee McKeown<\/strong>,\u00a0Mollie O’Callaghan<\/strong>,\u00a0Cameron McEvoy<\/strong> and\u00a0Meg Harris<\/strong> all won individual world titles last year while\u00a0Kyle Chalmers<\/strong> remains one of the best swimmers in the world. Distance swimmer Lani Pallister<\/strong> had a breakout year in 2025 while\u00a0Alex Perkins<\/strong>,\u00a0Elizabeth Dekkers<\/strong>,\u00a0Harrison Turner<\/strong> and\u00a0Jenna Forrester<\/strong> were the country’s other individual medalists at Worlds.<\/p>\n

4. Canadian Swimming Trials, July 6-9 \u2014 Montreal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Paging\u00a0Summer McIntosh<\/strong>, entering her final season as a teenager after two years as the top female swimmer in the world. McIntosh has broken world records at the selection meet each of the past three years, and her efforts at this meet in 2025 marked one of the best single performances by any swimmer ever<\/a>. McIntosh lowered global standards in the 400 free and both individual medley races while becoming the second-fastest swimmer ever in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM. Perhaps this will be the meet where she knocks off Liu Zige’s<\/strong> world record in the 200 fly.<\/p>\n

5. Commonwealth Games, July 24-29 \u2014 Glasgow, Scotland<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Swimmers from Commonwealth nations will compete at this event in late July, and the results typically matter to participating swimmers more than any other meet outside of the Olympics. This is the only event on the calendar where British swimmers are split up into their home nations, England, Scotland and Wales, and competitors from Australia, Canada and South Africa are typically in attendance. McIntosh and the Australians will highlight the women’s competition while Pieter Coetze<\/strong>,\u00a0Duncan Scott<\/strong> and\u00a0Adam Peaty<\/strong> are the biggest names expected to compete for the men.<\/p>\n

6. U.S. National Championships, July 28-August 1 \u2014 Irvine, Calif.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The biggest domestic meet in the United States this year will have virtually no stakes, with USA Swimming already selecting its team for the Pan Pacific Championships based on 2025 results<\/a>. However, many top Americans may choose to travel to Southern California and compete as they prepare for Pan Pacs in the same pool two weeks later.<\/p>\n

\"david

Romania’s David Popovici — Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron<\/p><\/div>\n

7. European Championships, July 31-August 16 \u2014 Paris<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This will be the summer’s major competition for swimmers from Europe, a list that includes all three men who won multiple individual world titles in 2025. Two years after starring at a home Olympics,\u00a0Leon Marchand<\/strong> will again seek to thrill the home crowd as he chases world records in multiple events. Fellow Frenchman Maxime Grousset<\/strong> should star in the sprint butterfly events while David Popovici<\/strong> targets historic numbers in the 100 and 200 free. Other world champions from 2025 expected to compete are Germany’s\u00a0Lukas Martens<\/strong>, Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo<\/strong>, Hungary’s Hubert Kos<\/strong>, Germany’s\u00a0Anna Elendt<\/strong> and Lithuania’s\u00a0Ruta Meilutyte<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

8. Pan Pacific Championships, August 12-15 \u2014 Irvine, Calif.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This will be the target meet for top swimmers from the United States this season, with representative teams from Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries outside of Europe all converging on Irvine, less than two years before the Olympic swimming competition takes place just a bit north in Inglewood. The United States rolls out a deep, well-rounded women’s team led by\u00a0Katie Ledecky<\/strong>,\u00a0Gretchen Walsh<\/strong>,\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong>,\u00a0Torri Huske<\/strong> and\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong>, and a highlight of the competition is expected to come in the women’s freestyle relays as the Americans seek rare victories over Australia.<\/p>\n

For the men, Pan Pacs will show the American team’s progress in rebuilding after a pair of lackluster performances at major international meets.\u00a0Bobby Finke<\/strong> was the only swimmer to win individual gold in Paris before\u00a0Luca Urlando<\/strong> was his team’s sole winner last year in Singapore. The Americans will be measured against strong international competition as well as times posted at other major meets around the world.<\/p>\n

9. Asian Games, September 19-October 4 (all sports) \u2014 Aichi\u2013Nagoya, Japan (swimming in Tokyo)<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The swimming competition for this year’s Asian Games will take place at the Tokyo Aquatic Center, with the dates still to be announced. All Asian nations typically focus on thi meet as their main competition for the middle year of the quad. A rising men’s team from Japan is expected to shine on home soil, with the likes of\u00a0Shin Ohashi<\/strong>,\u00a0Tomoyuki Matsushita<\/strong>,\u00a0Asaki Nishikawa<\/strong> and\u00a0Tatsuya Murasa<\/strong> among the main players. China, meanwhile, will bring\u00a0Pan Zhanle<\/strong>,\u00a0Qin Haiyang<\/strong>,\u00a0Li Bingjie\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Tang Qianting<\/strong> on its team, and South Korea always has strong freestylers such as\u00a0Hwang Sun-woo<\/strong> and\u00a0Kim Woo-min<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

10. Short Course World Championships, December 1-6 \u2014 Beijing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another Asian-based competition will round out the year’s biggest events with six days of 25-meter global racing inside the famous Water Cube<\/a>. This will be the first time a major swimming competition returns to Beijing since the 2008 Olympics. While we do not know yet which swimmers will opt to attend, the last edition of Short Course Worlds featured multi-gold-medal performances from Americans Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> and\u00a0Regan Smith<\/strong>, Canada’s\u00a0Summer McIntosh<\/strong>, China’s\u00a0Qin Haiyang<\/strong>, Switzerland’s\u00a0No\u00e8 Ponti<\/strong> and neutral athlete\u00a0Miron Lifintsev<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top Swim Meets to Watch in 2026: Regional Championships, Short Course Worlds Highlight Calendar The midway point between the Paris and Los Angeles Olympics will arrive in 2026, but this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":593993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[137176,58728,137173,137174,137175,136551,137172],"class_list":["post-629650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world","tag-137176","tag-2026-asian-games","tag-2026-european-championships","tag-2026-ncaa-mens-championships","tag-2026-ncaa-womens-championships","tag-2026-pan-pacific-championships","tag-2026-short-course-world-championships"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nTop 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