{"id":652140,"date":"2026-08-18T18:48:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=652140"},"modified":"2026-08-19T10:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:27:14","slug":"combined-world-championships-top-womens-performances-from-summers-international-meets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/combined-world-championships-top-womens-performances-from-summers-international-meets\/","title":{"rendered":"Combined World Championships: Top Women’s Performances from Summer’s International Meets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Combined World Championships: Top Women’s Performances from Summer’s International Meets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past several weeks, most of the world’s top swimmers have raced in their main long course competition for 2026. The Commonwealth Games came first in Glasgow, Scotland, before the European Championships in Paris and the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif., took place simultaneously. While there will be a Short Course World Championships in December, the best way to determine the best long course swimmers of the year is to compare times from these three meets plus the upcoming Asian Games.<\/p>\n

Below are the top-five times recorded in finals at the three recent international meets. Swimmers who raced at two of these competitions are considered with their fastest finals time between the two opportunities, and only the top two swimmers per country were ranked. These competitions took place under different circumstances with different event programs, but this mythical World Championships show how the swimmers stack up.<\/p>\n

We begin with the women’s events, where Australia’s Lani Pallister<\/strong> each topped the standings in three individual events while Americans Gretchen Walsh<\/strong> and Katharine Berkoff<\/strong> led the way in two each. This list includes two world-record-breaking performances: the stunning 23.19<\/a> from\u00a0Kate Douglass<\/strong> in the 50 freestyle<\/a> at Pan Pacs and the 26.56 from\u00a0Sara Curtis<\/strong> in the 50 backstroke at the European meet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Notably, this list includes the B-final performance from\u00a0Summer McIntosh<\/strong> in the 400 free at Pan Pacs. Additionally, Douglass clocked 51.69 in the 100 free<\/a>, just one hundredth off the world record, but that time is not included since it came on a relay leadoff. Douglass would be first in that event if she was on the list.<\/p>\n