{"id":650434,"date":"2026-08-12T22:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=650434"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:39:07","slug":"flash-pan-pacific-championships-us-mixed-400-medley-relay-crushes-world-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-pan-pacific-championships-us-mixed-400-medley-relay-crushes-world-record\/","title":{"rendered":"FLASH! Pan Pacific Championships: US Mixed 400 Medley Relay Crushes World Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pan Pacific Championships Day One Finals: Mixed 400 Medley Relay<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most fun events at the Pan Pacific Championships is the mixed medley relay.<\/p>\n

It blends the countries, strokes and men and women into one sensational race full of nation pride.<\/p>\n

It is also a chess match of which swimmers should swim which strokes – and could just lead to a world record.<\/p>\n

Will Modglin, Van Mathias, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass threw down the first world record of the meet with a time of 3:36.70.<\/p>\n

“It means a lot. As we were sitting for two hours, we kind of threw out the idea of breaking a world record. I don’t know if anyone thought we would do that tonight. I got to give it my all at the end,” Douglass said. “I knew I had a really fast split in me and I was confident that if I could do that, we could break the record.”<\/p>\n

Modglin<\/strong> gave the U.S. an early lead on the backstroke leg. Mathias<\/strong> then had the breaststroke leg in 57.3 as the Americans went with a two men, then two women lineup. Japan closed in as the third leg dove in.<\/p>\n

“I am speechless,” Mathias said. “I never knew what it would be like to win a world record … I guess it feels like this.”<\/p>\n

Walsh<\/strong> dove in for the butterfly leg with the lead and went a 54.99.\u00a0 as Australia gave chase with Kate Douglass and Meg Harris<\/strong> anchoring.<\/p>\n

Douglass had enough to get the U.S. to the wall in 3:36.70. She finished in 51.01.<\/p>\n

“One of the benefits of being the anchor is watching my teammates kill it and feel the energy of the crowd,” Douglass said.<\/p>\n

Australia set the meet record in 2018 at 3:38.91, while the U.S. set the world record (3:37.43) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

“We were just trying to keep the energy really high. We knew we could and it was all really exciting,” Walsh said.<\/p>\n

The Splits<\/h3>\n

Pan Pacs 2026 (3:36.70)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will Modglin 53.40 \u2013 Van Mathias 57.30 \u2013 Gretchen Walsh 54.99 \u2013 Kate Douglass 51.01<\/p>\n

Paris 2024 Olympics (3:37.43)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ryan Murphy 52.08 \u2013 Nic Fink 58.29 \u2013 Gretchen Walsh 55.18 \u2013 Torri Huske 51.88<\/p>\n

“I am just a little speechless. I feel like I have been watching Gretchen and Kate do this for a long time and breaking a world record with them is such an honor,” Modglin said. ;<\/p>\n