Summer McIntosh held Katie Ledecky at bay by a nudge from block to clock with the fastest two 400m freestyle swims of 2026 and Léon Marchand flew to the top of the 200 'fly rankings on day 2 at the Fort Lauderdale Open.

A gap of 3:58.91 to 3:59.02 was the 400 free score of two greats of their sport, one already a legend in her racing days, the other hurtling towards a similar destiny.   

In-training tests don't make it to the wider audience that might use in to swimming if swimming found a way to turn its lights on between ultimate showdowns, and Canada's McIntosh Vs the USA's Ledecky - World record holder (3:54.18, June 2025) and triple Olympic gold medalist of Paris 2024 vs former World record holder (3:56.46 until May 2022) and eight-times Olympic champion in freestyle finals 400m to 1500m, 2012 to 2024 - is certainly a story that ought to play beyond its niche. 

Sadly, it, and many other moments, pass by almost unnoticed by a world beyond the fandom and aquatic alcove.

Why? Well, a variety of reasons that include the alcove as comfort zone for a governance leadership seemingly more focused on partnerships with Chinese (see below in this April Vortex) and Hungarian construction companies and a variety of commercial deals - and even the schooling of 'skills' that ought best be left to professionals in appropriate realms - than it is in promoting what the constitution demands: growth.

Expansion happens when someone flicks the switch on the super troupers to make the moments that make up a dull day, from an outside perspective, sing to those who tune into swimming once every four years, or at best once a year for whatever the big one happens to be, in a descending scale at that. 

Our SOS Forum later today picks up the theme from an angle that seeks to explain what governors serious about wanting to now the sport yet also wedded to the same World Cup-style models of 'in-between' Olympic/ World l/c Championship entertainment that's been around for decades, serves as a way of handing out some cash to athletes, but ultimately is falling well shy of nailing that aforementioned constitutional obligation. 

Athletes deserve better. 

Meanwhile, they and their coaches get on with the job that feeds into the moments when Olympic super troupers shine a quadrennial spotlight on swimming.

The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center saw a neck-and-neck nail-biter unfold, in the absence of all that kind of stuff (money ranking, meaning of time and place in a season, season after season and so on) that contributes to the exposure and success of athletes in tennis, golf, etc., etc. The 200m gap of 0.43 was the furthest the two were apart throughout the eight lengths spent mostly within 0.2 of each other:

• 27.56; 57.61; 1:27.78–; 1:58.33; 2:28.95; 2:59.48; 3:29.75; 3:58.91 - McIntosh
• 27.79; 57.91; 1:27.94; 1:58.76; 2:29.03; 2:59.60; 3:29.83; 3:59.02 - Ledecky

Those are the fastest two 400m swims in the world so far this year just ahead of a 3:59.36 from Australia’s Lani Pallister, the third protagonist with them in the fastest women's 800m free battle in history last year:

W800 Free - Empress Of Endurance Ledecky Leads The Greatest Women’s Distance Race In History To Triumph

Gold: 8:05.62 Katie Ledecky (USA); Silver: 8:05.98 Lani Pallister (AUS); Bronze: Summer McIntosh, 8:07.29. “I don’t feel like I have too much to lose ... just knowing what a fast field this was, I knew that if I put my best foot forward, I could be proud of the swim/the season that I’ve had.”

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

If the McIntosh V Ledecky show wasn't enough to answer the Maximus question 'Are you not entertained?', then France's Léon Marchand provided more thrills with a 1:53.08 win in the 200m butterfly.

Star of a home Olympics at Paris when he claimed four golds, among them the 200 'fly, flew to the helm of the 2026 World rankings via these splits:

• 25.01; 53.63 (28.62); 1:22.83 (29.20); 1:53.08 (30.25)

His university of Texas teammate Carson Foster - working, like McIntosh, under the guidance of Bob Bowman - was closest, on 1:55.09, off 54.57.

Marchand’s swim was his fourth fastest 200 'fly, on a list topped by his 1:51.21 Olympic record for gold in Paris, a 1:52.43 from Fukuoka 2023 World titles and 1:52.57 from the U.S. Open last December. Marchand is scheduled to race all his Olympic gold-medal events in Fort Lauderdale, the 200 breaststroke, 200 and 400IMs to come.

• Meet Home
• RESULTS IN FULL - Day 1 Finals - Day 2 Finals

The highlights of day 2 obvious, there were plenty of other fine swims, that from Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Kate Douglass a case in point in a are fashion she's made something of a signature of: wins in the 100m free and 100m breast in the same session. 

There in 25.39, back in 27.62 for a 53.01, Douglass took the freestyle final ahead of Anna Moesch, 53.25, and Gretchen Walsh, 53.44, the USA 's 4x100m free building with a big hare to chase ... make that Dolphin as Pan Pacific Championships loom in Irvine this summer void of a global championship for the first time since 2020.

Douglass was back in for the 100 breast final with Ireland’s olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry, the American's 1:06.58 win over the US-based visitor's 1:06.66 grabbed in the chase: McSharry turned first in 31.21, the 200m champion on 31.37.

Other tussles to the top ...

- Regan Smith, 200m butterfly, 2:05.00 (27.77, 59.75, 1:31.90 home in 33.1), the Olympic silver medalist at the past two Games in a league of her own, Texas training mate Lindsay Looney closest, in 2:07.93.

- Chris Guiliano, 100m free, 48.43, ahead of Lithuania's Tomas Navikonis, 48.69.

- Isabelle Stadden, 50 backstroke, 27.29, over 27.74 for World champion Katharine Berkoff.
- Ireland's Jack Kelly, 100m breaststroke, 1:00.35 over Ian Call, 1:00.72, and Olympic 200m back champion for Hungary Hubert Kos, 1:01.94, in training for multi-stroke challenges to come
- Kos, 50 backstroke, 25.12, with Texas teammate Shaine Casas second in 25.21.

Three Aussie Record Breakers Seal April With Historic Speed

Cameron McEvoy's shatteringly fast 9.26 World best over 25m free, Liam Blair breaking an Aussie junior standard that had stood to Ian Thorpe for 30 years, and the 55th anniversary of the moment Shane Gould shot to prominence by matching fellow Aussie Dawn Fraser's seven-year-old 58.9 World 100m free mark at Crystal Palace in London bring April 2026 to a speedy thread-of-history finish today. On the same day, another Aussie teammate, Karen Moras, took down the World 400m free standard that had stood to American pioneer of the Olympic freestyle triple at Mexico City 1968, Debbie Meyer (holder of all six marks set between 1967 and 1970). The day after, May 1, Gould took down the 200m free world record that had Meyer to place the end of the American's reign in sight: her 800 standard had fallen to Moras in 1970, while fellow American Cathy Calhoun would take Meyer's 1500m mark in August 1971:

When Gould Matched Fraser, Moras Set the Bar For Gould, Who Put Meyer’s Reign On Notice

Timeline - January - April- The SOS Daily Trawl of official World long-course records (plus all pre 1954 standards, all pools and metrics) set this day throughout history.

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Catching up with several strands in this closing April Vortex file, after a couple of weeks of seeing students through their English exams in another world, let's start with The Professor and the smallest test of swimming speed in a pool...

McEvoy The Missile

Not many words needed to describe Cam McEvoy's 9.26sec swim down one short-course length in Lane 0 at the Australian Masters.

It was just about a perfect a sprint as you could imagine, human-lightening-fast start to back-up timekeepers left with only a few breaths between a stop that came sooner than any stop ever had over 25. Between the fire and ash of a thunderous sprint, we got a fleeting glimpse of orca-made-man in full flow and throttle, his stroke a rolling, flowing model of freestyle more modern classic than the straight-arm of current (and for some, effective) vogue: a tribute to every coach he ever had, the latest of them Tim Lane.

Here it is, courtesy of socialkickswim Down Under:

If that was a world best at the deep end of shallow swim speed, the future is forever a wave building. It takes time, of course, for young folk to come along and swim as faster as a Thorpe, a Hackett, a Phelps, etc., did at a very young age, yes, still, they come.

Liam Blair, barely a teen, cracks 2mins 200 Free To Break A 30-Year-Old Thorpe Meet Mark

Young Liam Blair wasn't even a twinkle in his parents' eyes when Ian Thorpe called time on his first and magnificent career in the fast lane.

This past week, however, he did what swimmers in every passing year for 30 hadn't managed to do: he broke a meet record in the under-14s over 200m freestyle when he sacked 2 minutes for the first time.

The Warners Bay native clocked 1:59.74 to shave almost a second off the previous NSW Combined High Schools Championships mark. It had stood since 1996 - to one Ian Thorpe a year out from his Dolphin s debut, two years before he became the youngest male World champion in history, and four years out from claiming two gold medals on a sensational opening night at a home Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at 17.

"Very, very stoked," Blair, aged 13, told the Newcastle Herald poolside from Sydney Olympic Park after his swim on Wednesday.

"To get a 30-year-old record amazing, especially from Ian Thorpe, that doesn't happen very often. I've been thinking about it for 12 months now. I got the 13-year-old record [in 2025] and asked mum 'what's the 14-year-old record?' It was 2:00.52 and I thought 'I really want to get that'. So very stoked and very happy."

A year-8 student at Warners Bay High School, Liam said he knew of the Thorpe legend and folklore, and had "studied his stroke". He added:

"It's very special. Ian Thorpe is such an inspirational person and I look up to him a lot, so very stoked to break his record."

Read the article in full at The Newcastle Herald, Australia:

Thorpedo 2.0? Warners Bay teen smashes a legend’s 30-year-old record

‘I’ve been thinking about it for 12 months now.’

Newcastle HeraldJosh Callinan

Meanwhile, some of Australia's Olympians, legends among 'em, including Thorpe, Kieren Perkins, Daniel Kowalski, Bronte Campbell and Libby Trickett, turned out as school and shoal in support of Michael Klim for the opening of the revamped $122 million North Sydney Olympic Pool today.

The event was to raise awareness of the Klim Foundation, which the Olympic champion and 1998 winner of four golfed and three silvers at the World Championships in Perth, and his fiancee Michelle Owen, founded after the freestyle -and-'fly ace was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), in 2020.

The famous pool overlooking Sydney Harbour closed for a controversial overhaul in February 2021 and will open to the public once more sometime in the coming few months.

Distance legend Perkins old Aussie media assembled at the pool:

"You can't beat the view. I reckon if you need to train somewhere, you cannot do better than this. It's absolutely glorious. I have been swimming in it once or twice, and enjoyed it every time."

Perkins said support Klim and the work of his foundation was "incredibly important", added:

"I think it's one of those moments where a friend in need puts out a call, and everybody's happy to drop everything, be here, be involved and raise awareness for CRDP and the work the foundation is doing."

Klim's story can be read in Klim, which the man put together with the literary steer of journalist, writer and colleague Nicole Jeffery:

KLIM by Michael Klim - Books

<b>As one of Australia’s most celebrated athletes, Michael Klim’s impact extends far beyond the pool.</b>

The Bookish Type

Meanwhile, reporter Tom Decent of the Sydney Morning Herald tells us that Aussie billboarders slalom-canoe queen Jess Fox, swim sprint king Kyle Chalmers and track athlete Gout Gout could soon be "lining up on Bondi Beach in the same colours, racing for the same trophy. It sounds fanciful. But after yesterday's announcement in Sydney of the world's first global professional surf racing league, it is a step closer to reality."

"Guardians League", a six-team franchise competition, has secured backing from "four well-known sporting bodies - bringing together elite athletes from kayaking, swimming, athletics and surf lifesaving in a made-for-television team format set to launch across Australia and New Zealand in 2027".

Decent quote swimmer and ironman Ky Hurst paying plaudits to the plan:

"When I heard the concept, I was on the edge of my seat from the start. I said, 'Gosh, I wish you came to me 10 years earlier'. Who doesn't want to see someone like Gout Gout tag Kyle Chalmers and then tag [Australian sprint kayaker] Riley Fitzsimmons and [Australia board paddler] Cruz Mckee to finish on the board? Track and field athletes on the beach would be really interesting."

A decision on surf lifesaving being included in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics is expected later this year.

In different news from Down Under...

Ex-Olympic Swim Physio Pleads Not Guilty Of Sexual Misconduct With Elite Swimmers

A former Olympic swim physio has pleaded not guilty to sexual misconduct against elite swimmers after multiple charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

Peter John Wells, 55, entered the plea in the Brisbane Magistrates Court this week following a lengthy committal hearing relating to his alleged abuse of six female athletes.

Wells, supporters in tow, was emphatic in his plea. He is committed to stand trial on five counts of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child and one count of sexual assault.

Police allege that Wells committed the offences against several swimmers – including two Olympians – in the course of his work as a swim physio. He is accused of lifting up swimming suits of multiple complainants and touching them inappropriately.

Crown prosecutor David Nardone offered no evidence on three remaining charges of sexual assault, conceding there was insufficient evidence to take those to trial.

Olympic coach David Lush was among those who gave evidence, and said he had not seen anything personally to suggest that Wells had ever acted inappropriately.

Peter Wells will stand trial at a date to be set.

April 29

Katie Ledecky Keeps It Moving With Her & The Fifth Swiftest 1500

Katie Ledecky chose the Fort Lauderdale Open to unleash her latest 1500m free at a pace to a place no woman had ever boldly, or in any other fashion, gone before: 15:25.62 to get the meet started.

The winner of the first 1500m Olympic titles for women, Ledecky was inside her global-mark pace of 15:20.48 (2018) early in the swim - 58.74, 2:00.14, 4:04.12, 8:12.66 . The second-fastest ever performer is Italian Simona Quadarella (15:31.79), who's best is now the No14 all-time performance. Ledecky holds the best 13.

The opening session of the Fort Lauderdale meet up the road from the Gators base at Gainesville where Ledecky works under the guidance of coach Anthony Nesty, the 1988 Olympic 100 'fly champion for Surinam, saw Harvard's William Mulgrew take the win in the men's 1500m, his 15:05.30 god enough to keep Olympic champion of 2020ne and 2024 Bobby Finke at bay (on 15:13.62).

Daniel Wiffen Goes Home

Olympic 800m freestyle champion Daniel Wiffen has moved back to Dublin to train at home in Ireland after a short stint at the University of California. He will take guidance once more from his Loughborough mentors.

Wiffen, who also claimed bronze in the 1500m at the Paris 2024 Olympics, followed his twin brother Nathan to Cal last year after five years at Loughborough with coach Andi Manley, who together with coach and sports scientist Mike Peyrebrune steered the Irishman to historic crowns Olympic and World:

How Peyrebrune’s Prowess Has Profited Those Pursuing Pioneering Performance

What has Dan Wiffen’s victory at Paris 2024 got in common with Becky Adlington’s golden double at Beijing 2008 & the roots of several other big results in the intervening years? Dr. Mike Peyrebrune is a part of the answer in a sea of hidden excellence. As he’s honoured by the BSCA, we dive in

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

On The Trail Of Excellence With Dr. Peyrebrune

“I feel very fortunate to have had so many mentors ... From Turner to Sweetenham, Armiger and Titley, McNulty and Marshall, Furniss and full circle to Manley; all these coaches have had a profound and long-lasting impact on my knowledge and experience” - Mike Peyrebrune - Part 2

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Speaking to the Irish media, Wiffen said:

“I’m looking at it as a permanent move. I thought California was a permanent move, but that didn’t work out. This is the plan to stay here until LA [Olympics in 2028]. We have a good set-up here, we have been working on it for two weeks, very short notice but training in the national centre in Dublin and my old coach Andi [Manley] from Loughborough has also got some input on what I’m doing too. It’s an improved version of Paris, I get to train here and it’s all very specialised. Now it’s how much can I progress.”

Meanwhile, Daniel Wiffen & Mona McSharry will spearhead Ireland’s largest European Championships team - of 26 swimmers - in Paris this August.

Swim Ireland National Performance Director Andy Reid noted:

“To bring an Irish team of this size and quality to the European Aquatics Championships is a significant moment for our programme. We have Olympic and European champions leading the way, athletes looking to convert short course success onto the long course stage, and a strong group of emerging performers gaining valuable championship experience. That blend is critical as we continue building towards LA 2028.

“For this championships, we incorporated U23 standards within our senior selection policy, ensuring we capture athletes transitioning from junior to senior level and support their progression more effectively. Equally important is the strength of our junior pathway. While teams are smaller this year, we are encouraged by the depth building in our younger cohorts, reflecting the excellent work being done across our clubs.”

The Irish Squads:

April 28

World Aquatics & Its African Pools Deal With Chinese Construction Firm

World Aquatics is building pools in Africa in a partnership with Chinese firm
Guangdong Lokang Sports Technology Co., Ltd. (Yinghui), which makes interlocking modular sports flooring, portable stadium event flooring, and, more recently, prefabricated swimming pools.

World Aquatics provided an update on its Africa venture, part of its “Pools for All” program at a time when many key stakeholders and leading swim nations are in a battle back home to stem a tide of pool closures.

Construction is underway on aquatics facilities in fBurundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Lesotho, with an estimated completion date of October.

The build project is part of World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam (of Kuwait but based in Hungary) pledge to help "underserved regions" half a century after my own father and other coaches and officials were part of a similar project led by FINA with a view to raising awareness of water safety and reducing the risk of drowning, long before elite athletes may emerge from those countries.

Al-Musallam noted, in a press release:

In Africa, where access to safe swimming facilities remains limited in many regions, these pools represent a transformative step, serving both as training environments for elite athletes and as community hubs where young people can learn to swim safely and develop a love of aquatics.

World Aquatics looks forward to the continued progress of these important facilities in Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Lesotho, and celebrating their completion later this year.

Crucially, in terms of transparency, the financial details of the partnership, including who ends up owning the facilities and who make profit (or loss) from them, including any 'invesdtment' gains associated with the arrangement, were not provided.

Also in the April Vortex:

• Johnson & Betlehem Add OW Cup 3k Knockout Sprint Titles To Ibiza Haul
• Wasick and Masiuk Provide Polish Showcase Highlights
• GB team selected for Paris Europeans
• Neutral Champs End In Saint-Petersburg After 5 Days Of Racing
• Steenbergen, Haughey, Märtens & Van Mathias Beam in Bergen At Swim Festival
• Cerasuolo & Curtis Steal The Show At Italian Nationals, Quadarella's Reign Continues
• Popovici Adds 200 Free To Dash Crown in 1:45.8 At Nationals
• Milak Is Back - 50.22 100 'Fly Confirming Top Form
• Ponti Back In The 200 'Fly For 1:56 Swiss Title
• Ellen Walshe Makes It Five Golds As Irish Opens Ends In Bangor
• Henry Allan An Aussie Backstroke Breakout To Reckon With
• Haughey & Sjöström Split By 0.02 As Impact Of Liebmann's Leap Lingers
• Shortt Sets Another Irish Record: 1:55.7 200 back In Bangor
• Mityukov Rattles His Swiss 200 Back Mark After Matching His 100m Record At Nationals in Uster
• All The 2s For No1 As Mona McSharry Sets 2:22.22 Irish Record at Bangor Nationals
• Mollie O'Callaghan Goes Sub-1:54 For Record 10th Time
• Wiffens Back From Across The Pond For Irish Open Action
• Distance Brace For Pallister & Short
• Clareburt Crushes Kiwi 200 Free Mark
• Mona McSharry Not Done With LA2028 California-Dreaming
• Tunisian Switches To Swim For Saudi After Easing Of Nationality Rule
• Federica Pellegrini & Matteo Giunta Welcome Rachele, Daughter No2
• Jane Asher Still Setting Global Standards At 95
• April 1: Peaty & Main Plot Unexpected Tilt At Olympic 50m Free
• FORUM: May One Seismic Shift On Olympic Heights Follow Another