She had not even swum the 50m freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. So as she settled onto the blocks in Indianapolis, this was supposed to be another chance to test the limits of her versatility. Nothing more.

Then the clock stopped at 23.59 seconds.

She had taken down Sarah Sjöström’s 23.61-second world record, turning an event she had barely been expected to dominate into one she suddenly owned. The record did not stay with her for long.

Nine days later, Walsh, her training partner and former University of Virginia teammate, lowered it to 23.55 seconds in Rome. The exchange gave their 50m freestyle rivalry another layer: Douglass had found a world-record event almost by surprise, only for someone who trains alongside her to take it away.

By the time the two lined up again at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, Walsh had the record and Douglass had a reason to chase it. Douglass reclaimed it in the morning heats with a 23.49-second swim, cutting six hundredths off Walsh’s mark. She was not satisfied with that, either.

Roughly nine hours later, she was back on the blocks. This time, Douglass touched in 23.19 seconds, lowering the world record she had set that morning by another three-tenths of a second. Walsh finished second in 23.74, while Australia’s Meg Harris took bronze in 23.89.

“Definitely wasn’t expecting that,” Douglass said after the morning swim. She knew she could get under 24 seconds, but the world record was beyond what she had planned for.

The evening swim made the morning performance look like only the first chapter. In less than a day, Douglass had gone from reclaiming the world record to making her own mark look outdated. She had now broken the long-course 50m freestyle world record three times in her career.

That first breakthrough in Indianapolis had already been difficult for Douglass to process. She had gone into that race hoping only to lower her personal best and reclaim the American record. “I was really just hoping to go a best time, break the American record,” she said on Peacock. “That’s a lot faster than I ever thought I would go tonight, or ever.”

Her rise in the event is even more striking because the 50m freestyle was not the race that defined her path to the Olympics. She has built her reputation across breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley events, and the 200m breaststroke was the event in which she won Olympic gold in Paris. She is also a five-time Olympic medalist.

Douglass has since added another layer to that versatility. In October 2025, she broke the short-course 100m freestyle world record with a 50.19 in Westmont, then became the first woman to swim the event under 50 seconds when she lowered the mark to 49.93 in Toronto. World Aquatics lists both performances as world records.

Her 50m freestyle record also ended a long wait for an American woman. Dara Torres was the last American woman to hold the long-course world record in the event, setting the mark multiple times between 1983 and 1984. Douglass is the first American woman to take the record since that era.

Kate Douglass’ schedule after record-breaking performance

The second world record was not the end of Douglass’ night. It was barely the beginning.

Just 25 minutes after winning the 50m freestyle, she was back in the pool for the 200m breaststroke final, the event in which she won Olympic gold at Paris 2024. She finished second in 2:22.57 after Canada’s Alexanne Lepage led from start to finish and won in 2:21.73.

The turnaround was so tight that Douglass later described the challenge of coming down from the adrenaline of the world-record swim. “I felt I was going to throw up, pass out on the block there,” she said, describing the difficulty of switching from the excitement of the 50m record straight into another race.

And there was still one more race waiting for her. After the 200m breaststroke, Douglass returned to the podium for her 50m freestyle gold medal, then had only a short window before heading back to the pool for the women’s 4x100m medley relay. She anchored the U.S. team, completing a three-race stretch that began with a world record and ended with another gold medal.

The schedule was only the final-night snapshot of what had already been a huge meet for Douglass. Earlier in the Pan Pacific Championships, she had helped the United States set a world record in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, swimming alongside Gretchen Walsh, Will Modglin and Van Mathias. The American quartet finished in 3:36.70.

She had also come within one-hundredth of the individual 100m freestyle world record the night before, leading off the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay in 51.69 seconds. That performance gave her another reason to believe the 50m freestyle could produce something special the following morning.

“Just barely missing the world record last night kind of fueled me a little bit for today,” Douglass said after her 23.49 in the 50m freestyle preliminaries.

That context makes the two 50m world records feel less like an isolated burst and more like the culmination of a meet in which Douglass kept finding another gear. She was named the Pan Pacific Championships’ best female swimmer, edging Australia’s Lani Pallister for the honor after a meet that included her two 50m freestyle world records and multiple relay performances.

For Douglass, the strangest part may be how quickly the 50m freestyle went from an event she had not even contested at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials to the race in which she now owns the fastest time in history. The record has changed hands between her and Walsh three times since June, but after Pan Pacs, Douglass is holding it by a much wider margin than either swimmer had managed before.

The post American Swimmer Achieves Historic Feat After Breaking World Record Twice In Same Day appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Reid, 35, is now speaking publicly about the eight-year marriage for the first time in a detailed interview with PEOPLE. And one part of the story still appears to sting more than most: Molly Gillihan, Lochte’s new fiancée, was someone Reid once considered a friend.

The history made it a bitter pill to swallow. Reid says Gillihan had followed her on social media, sent encouraging messages, attended gatherings with her and even sought her help with a proposed children’s café. They also exchanged advice about careers, schools and life.

But everything changed as Reid’s marriage began falling apart… In June 2025, while Reid was in Las Vegas celebrating her son Caiden’s birthday, she sent Gillihan a furious message after learning she was dating Lochte. The exchange quickly turned bitter, with both women eventually telling PEOPLE very different versions of how their relationship with one another began and ended.

Reid says she had even confided in Gillihan during the early stages of her divorce.
“We had an hour and a half conversation on the phone,” she recalled. “And lo and behold, she was dating my husband.” For Reid, that revelation was particularly difficult because she says Gillihan had been encouraging her to move on and had told her she deserved someone better. “It’s honestly quite sick when I think about it,” Reid said.

Reid and Lochte’s relationship had already been unraveling long before Gillihan entered the picture. The pair first connected through Instagram in 2016, married in 2018, and went on to have three children: Caiden, Liv and Georgia.

But behind the family photos, Reid says the marriage became increasingly difficult. She has accused Lochte of repeated infidelity and substance abuse, while also describing years of self-doubt and emotional strain.

By early 2025, she says, she had reached her limit. After an ultimatum involving inpatient treatment and marriage counseling, Reid filed for divorce on March 26, 2025. The divorce was finalized on July 1, 2026.

What do Ryan Lochte and Molly Gilihan say about Reid’s claims?

Lochte has acknowledged that he made mistakes during the marriage, but he disputes some of Reid’s characterization of what happened. “Looking back, I wasn’t ready to be a husband or the man my family deserved at that point in my life,” Lochte told PEOPLE. “That’s on me.”

He also said he would not engage in a public back-and-forth over the divorce, stressing that his priority was protecting their three children.

The former Olympic champion has since become engaged to Gillihan. He previously denied that they had any involvement while he was married.

Gillihan has also pushed back against Reid’s description of their relationship, saying the two were never truly friends but “simply acquaintances who crossed paths occasionally.”

According to Gillihan, Lochte had contacted her in 2019 while still married. She says she rejected him at the time and did not communicate with him again during his marriage.

She says they only reconnected after Lochte was living independently and the divorce proceedings had begun. “I was incredibly hesitant,” Gillihan said, acknowledging his previous approach while married was an “obvious red flag.”
Eventually, however, the relationship developed.

For Reid, the pain of the divorce has not disappeared, but she says she is finally looking toward what comes next. She remains in Florida with the children, while Lochte has moved to Missouri, where he coaches college swimming.

The 12-time Olympic medalist’s career made him one of the most recognizable swimmers in the world. But away from the pool, his marriage has become a very different chapter of his life.

Reid, meanwhile, says she is ready to rebuild. “I get to have a second chance at life and love,” she said.

The post “Honestly Quite Sick”: Ryan Lochte’s Ex-Wife Shares Details of ‘Friend’ Dating Olympian Behind Her Back appeared first on EssentiallySports.

McIntosh entered the women’s 400m freestyle as the top seed and world-record holder, making her one of the biggest favorites to reach the championship final. She swam in the fifth and final heat, with Katie Ledecky having already posted a 4:03.48 in the previous heat and Erika Fairweather clocking 4:04.50. McIntosh, however, could not match the pace expected from her and finished the morning in 4:08.56.

The time left her ninth overall, just one place outside the eight swimmers who advanced to the A final. It was a stunning result for a swimmer whose world record stands at 3:54.18, meaning her heat time was more than 14 seconds away from her global mark. But McIntosh did not try to hide from the disappointment. Instead, she took responsibility for what had happened, admitting on Instagram, “I take full responsibility for my misjudgment in this morning’s heats.”

Her ninth-place finish meant that the world-record holder would have to race in the 400m freestyle B final rather than compete for a medal in the championship final. She returned to the pool for the B final that evening and produced a far stronger performance. McIntosh won the race in 4:00.58, nearly eight seconds faster than her morning swim.  Her B-final time would have been fast enough for third place in the A final.

In other words, McIntosh had the speed to reach the podium. Her morning mistake simply prevented her from getting the chance to compete for it. While McIntosh was racing in the B final, Australia’s Lani Pallister took control of the championship race.

Pallister won the A final in 3:58.42, defeating American swimming great Katie Ledecky, who finished second in 4:00.15. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather claimed the bronze medal in 4:02.35. Yet McIntosh’s surprising setback was not enough to shake the confidence surrounding a swimmer who has long been viewed as special.

How Rare Is This?

Other than McIntosh’s anomaly, there have been a few occasions where a world record holder missed a final due to a sudden drop in performance. 

Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú, the reigning world record holder in the 200m backstroke, mistimed her finish and placed a shocking 20th in the heats at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Pan Zhanle, who set the 100m freestyle world record of 46.40 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, missed the final completely at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. 

In fact, even Michael Phelps nearly missed the 400m individual medley final at the London Games, qualifying eighth in the heats by just 0.07 seconds. 

Michael Phelps Became Part of Summer McIntosh’s Swimming Journey

Summer McIntosh grew up admiring Michael Phelps and his approach to swimming. Team Canada currently lists Phelps as one of her inspirations, specifically noting that she was inspired by the hard work he put in to become the best. In a July 2024 Team Canada interview, McIntosh was asked whether she really had a cat named after the swimming legend. She smiled and explained that she actually had three cats, Riley, Duke and Mikey, with Mikey named after Michael Phelps.

The connection became much more direct when McIntosh decided to work with Bob Bowman, the coach who guided Phelps through most of his legendary career. In early 2025, McIntosh announced that she would leave her previous training setup and work with Bowman in Austin. When discussing the decision, she specifically mentioned Phelps as part of what attracted her to Bowman’s program.

McIntosh said: “Bob having someone like the greatest of all time swimmer Michael Phelps, being able to do all those events is definitely an attraction, and along with Léon as well.”

By 2026, the comparison was no longer simply something fans were making. Bowman, who knew Phelps better than almost anyone in swimming, was asked about McIntosh. His response was blunt: “They’re very similar.” Then he went even further: “Scarily similar in some ways.”

At the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Phelps was asked about McIntosh.

“You can tell by her reaction after the race, right? She writes it all across her face,” Phelps said. He then made the comparison that immediately stood out.

“To be honest, when I see her compete, and when I see her train, it reminds me a lot about me,” Phelps added.

And that makes McIntosh’s latest setback even more revealing, because even a swimmer Phelps sees so much of himself in can still have a race that goes completely wrong.

The post Michael Phelps’ Favorite Apologizes Over Grave Mistake That Caused Her Out of Finals appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Speaking with the media in Irvine on August 14, Phelps discussed McIntosh’s personality and the way she handles competition. He pointed out that her emotions are easy to read after a race. “You can tell by her reaction after the race, right? She writes it all across her face,” Phelps said. He then made the comparison that immediately stood out. “To be honest, when I see her compete, and when I see her train, it reminds me a lot about me,” Phelps added.

Phelps’ comments come at a time when McIntosh has already established herself as one of the world’s leading swimmers despite being only 19. She won three Olympic gold medals at Paris 2024 in the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley, while also taking silver in the 400m freestyle. At the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, she added four gold medals and one bronze.

With such a record already behind her, Phelps believes there is still plenty of room for McIntosh to develop over the next two years for the LA 28 Olympics. He also highlighted the environment around her and the daily challenges she faces in training. “She’s in the right, like, I mean, we talk about the training group, like, you’re in a great spot. You’re challenged every single day,” Phelps said.

He also praised her mindset, adding, “She’s got a great head on her shoulders, and I’m excited to watch.” In 2025, McIntosh started collaborating with Bob Bowman at the University of Texas, where he has had a significant affiliation with Phelps’ career. Bowman was the coach who coached Phelps throughout his career. Phelps and Bowman started working together when he was 11 and they went on to form one of the most successful coach-athlete relationships in swimming history.

Under Bowman’s guidance, Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, winning 28 Olympic medals, including 23 golds. Bowman now has McIntosh under his guidance as she prepares for the next stage of her career and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The similarities have not gone unnoticed by Bowman either, as he has previously compared McIntosh with Phelps while pointing to similarities in their training habits, competitive approach, and commitment to swimming.

With LA 2028 still two years away, McIntosh has plenty of time to add to her already remarkable résumé. For Phelps, the Canadian star’s recent performances are only another reason to be excited about what she could accomplish next. But long before McIntosh began working with Phelps’ longtime coach, she had already been looking up to Phelps herself.

From childhood idol to a FaceTime call with Michael Phelps

McIntosh grew up in Toronto in a sporting family, but swimming was not always her only focus. As a child, she tried several sports, including soccer, gymnastics, figure skating, horseback riding and artistic swimming, before eventually choosing swimming as her main pursuit. She started to develop her own drive at about seven years old, and at that time, Michael Phelps was one of the athletes she looked up to.

As McIntosh became an all-time great international swimmer, Phelps continued to be someone she greatly admired. By 2025, she was already a three-time Olympic champion from Paris 2024 and a world-record holder, yet her respect for Phelps had not changed. Speaking about comparisons between the two swimmers, McIntosh made her admiration clear, telling The Times, “I really like Michael. He’s the GOAT, the face of swimming.” 

That admiration soon turned into a personal moment when McIntosh finally got the chance to speak with her childhood idol. After her impressive performance at the 2025 Canadian Trials, former Canadian Olympic swimmer Brittany MacLean approached her and said that someone wanted to talk to her before handing her a phone. On the other end was Phelps.

McIntosh was reportedly in “utter shock” when she realized who was calling. The conversation took place through FaceTime rather than at a public event, giving McIntosh a rare opportunity to speak directly with the swimmer who had inspired her from a young age. The moment also showed how much her journey had changed.

The post Michael Phelps Makes Bold Claim for Canadian Record Holder’s Future at LA Olympics appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Manaudou officially announced his retirement from swimming on Thursday, August 13, i.e., two years after his last Olympic race in Paris. “Two years on from the Paris Olympics, that’s it – I’m announcing my retirement,” Manaudou said on France TV. He added that his farewell ceremony will take place Saturday during the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.

Manaudou even shared an IG story, inviting fans to the Olympic Aquatics Center on Saturday at 6 p.m., promising “a few surprises.”

Talking about surprises, well, was his retirement a big surprise, though? Probably not! Because he had previously revealed that without the prospect of a home Olympics in Paris, he might have stopped after Tokyo in 2021. But the opportunity to race in front of a French crowd gave him one more reason to keep going.

And he made that final chapter count…

At the Paris Olympics, Manaudou added two more bronze medals to his collection, finishing third in the 50m freestyle before helping France to another podium in the 4x100m medley relay. The 50m freestyle bronze was particularly significant… it gave him a medal in the event at four consecutive Olympic Games.

His Olympic journey began with a shock in London 2012. At just 22, Manaudou won the 50m freestyle gold at his second major senior meet and suddenly became a name to watch.

More medals followed. He won three Olympic silvers across Rio and Tokyo before adding those two bronzes in Paris, finishing his four-Games career with six Olympic medals.

There was plenty more success along the way, including four World Championship golds and 11 European titles. But Manaudou’s journey was anything but straightforward.

Florent Manaudou once even took up professional handball

After winning two silver medals at Rio 2016, Manaudou walked away from swimming. Instead, he took up professional handball with Aix-en-Provence.

The decision came after years of dealing with pressure from the media and public. Following his disappointment at missing out on another Olympic title in the 50m freestyle, Manaudou felt he was no longer swimming for the right reasons.

Handball gave him something swimming couldn’t at that point: a completely different environment and the feeling of being part of a team. It worked…

When Manaudou returned to swimming in 2019, the break had helped him rediscover his enjoyment of the sport. He went on to win another Olympic silver in Tokyo before becoming one of the faces of France’s home Games in Paris, where he served as a flag bearer.

Then, after Paris, he stepped away from competition once again.
His final race came in Saint-Dizier in October 2024. This time, however, the pause became permanent.

His retirement announcement quickly drew reactions from across swimming.
Michael Phelps responded to a SwimSwam Instagram post about Manaudou’s retirement with three clapping emojis. Olympic champion Chad le Clos left three heart emojis, while British Olympic champion James Guy also sent his love.

Former Brazilian swimmer Bruno Fratus, another familiar face from the sprinting world, offered something more personal. “True champion, it was my absolute honor to have the privilege to race this guy,” he wrote.

Now, after 35 years and six Olympic medals, Manaudou is ready to leave the pool behind for good. This time, there is no next comeback waiting around the corner.

And perhaps that is what makes his goodbye so fitting. Manaudou never took the easy route, but every comeback, setback, and medal added another chapter to a career that will be remembered long after he leaves the pool.

The post 6-Time Olympic Medalist Confirms Retirement Before LA at 35 appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The injury was especially cruel because the 200m butterfly had made Urlando’s name, and the shoulder was now standing between him and his best event. He missed the rest of the 2022-23 NCAA season and spent months rebuilding after surgery. By 2024, he had made his first Olympic team; a year later, he was a world champion in the 200m butterfly. The swimmer who had once been forced to step away from the pool was back on the blocks in Irvine, ready to see how far that shoulder, and his butterfly, could take him. But…..

“‘It’s gone!’ Phelps said after watching the finish,” reported Peter Baugh, talking about Urlando breaking his 200m butterfly Pan Pacific Championships record.

Luca Urlando broke Michael Phelps’ Pan Pacific Championships record with a 1:53.11. The American beat teammate Carson Foster, who finished second in 1:53.47 at Irvine. Urlando overtook Phelps’ 1:53.80 mark by 0.69 seconds, breaking a record that stood since 2006. That finish had been building toward a showdown long before the final 50 meters.

Urlando and Carson Foster had entered the final as the top two seeds, and both were coming off their fastest swims of the year. Urlando had also won the U.S. national title in the same pool less than three weeks earlier, clocking 1:54.45 without a full taper or shave.

The performance also came in a meet where Americans could not afford to treat the morning session as a warm-up. The Pan Pacific Championships limit each country to two swimmers in a championship final, meaning Urlando and Foster first had to navigate a field where a strong preliminary swim was essential just to secure a lane at night.

Phelps had set the mark on August 17, 2006, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was his final individual Pan Pacific Championships record, making Urlando’s swim the one that finally removed the last of Phelps’ individual meet marks from the record book.

Urlando and Foster entered the final as the top two qualifiers, setting up another American battle. Urlando reached 50 meters in 25.4 seconds, sitting just behind the early leader. By the 100-meter mark, Urlando had moved ahead, but Foster was only 0.1 seconds behind.  

That gap did not disappear immediately. Foster stayed with Urlando into the closing stages, forcing the reigning world champion to keep working rather than simply protect the lead. Urlando eventually found the separation he needed and reached the wall first in 1:53.11, with Foster second in 1:53.47 and Australia’s Harrison Turner third in 1:54.44.

And then Urlando looked up and saw exactly who had been watching.

Phelps was in the stands with his family during the final. For Urlando, that made the swim more than another championship win. He had grown up in the 200m butterfly era Phelps had defined, and now the man behind the record was there as Urlando took it away.

After the race, Urlando described the moment as “the dream right there,” adding, “That’s great. It can’t get much better than that.” He also said he had been focused on swimming his own race and holding his stroke together over the final 50 meters.

“I thought I held my stroke together on that last 50,” Urlando said. “I wanted to win that race. But I think more than anything was swimming by race and just really honing in on my details to make me successful.”

There was also a small detail that showed just how close the race had been. Foster had tied his best time in the 200m butterfly, finishing only 0.36 seconds behind Urlando. He had entered the morning session feeling rough, but said coach Bob Bowman had urged him not to read too much into how the swim felt. By night, he had produced one of the best swims of his career.

After the race, Urlando met with Phelps and asked him, “Michael, is that your record?”

Phelps responded, “Yeah, they’re all gone now.”

The exchange lasted only a few words, but the setting made it hard to miss what had changed. Phelps had spent years collecting records in this event. Now he was standing beside the swimmer who had just taken one of them.

Then came the scene that made the record-breaking night even more memorable for Urlando. Phelps stepped forward at the medal ceremony and presented the gold medal to Urlando, while also presenting medals to Foster and third-place finisher Harrison Turner.

But, beyond this, the night carried another kind of longevity, too.

While Phelps’ record fell, Ledecky’s streak rolled on

While Urlando ended a nearly two-decade-old championship record, Katie Ledecky extended an unbeaten run in the women’s 1500m freestyle that now stretches back 16 years.

The American touched the wall in 15:36.09, beating Australia’s Lani Pallister, who finished in 15:38.62. Ledecky was ahead of her own world-record pace early in the race, sending the Irvine crowd to its feet, before Pallister settled into the chase.

Pallister stayed close during the opening stages, but Ledecky gradually built the gap. Once she moved clear, the race became less about whether she would win and more about how much ground Pallister could take back. The Australian finished 2.53 seconds behind.

Ledecky’s winning time was still well outside her world record of 15:20.48, set in 2018. But the time mattered less than the streak: she has now won every 1500m freestyle race she has entered at a major international meet since 2010.

She also returned to the Pan Pacific Championships as the defending champion after winning gold in 2018. This was different in one important way: it was her first international medal on U.S. soil.

So on a night when one American star watched his old record disappear, another added another chapter to a streak that has survived for more than a decade.

The post Michael Phelps Watches On as Luca Urlando Shatters His 20-Year-Old Pan Pacific Record appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The 25-year-old is Indiana’s director of swimming operations, a job that keeps him busy with travel plans, recruiting and the daily work behind one of America’s top collegiate programs. Then he puts the paperwork aside and returns to being one of the fastest breaststrokers in the country.

It is an unusual routine for someone who now has his eyes on Los Angeles 2028. Just a year ago, Mathias was barely swimming at all. Today, he holds the American records in the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke and is one of the biggest names on the U.S. roster heading into the Pan Pacific Championships.

And perhaps the strangest part? He never planned any of it. Perhaps, if anyone is going to set fire to conventional thinking in the sport, it might as well be Van Mathias.

He is a part-time swimmer with a full-time job, a former distance butterflyer turned sprint breaststroker and, somewhat famously, an athlete who refuses to shave his mustache before major meets. “I’m scared that if I shave it, I might lose all my powers,” Mathias joked. “Look good, feel good. So for now it’s going to stay.”

Mathias’ comeback has been almost as unexpected as his training schedule.
He left competitive swimming after the 2023 NCAA Championships and returned to Portland, where he worked odd jobs and coached a high school team. He also spent plenty of time in the weight room, training alongside his mother, Nancy Maxwell, a competitive bodybuilder.

“I was not touching the water at all,” he recalled. “Only the weights.” Then came a call from Indiana coach Ray Looze.

Looze offered Mathias a director of operations role, bringing him back to Bloomington. The plan wasn’t for another swimming career. Mathias was returning to help run the program, not chase another national team. But being around the pool changed something.

In the summer of 2025, he decided to get back into the water and see what happened. The timing was particularly interesting because Los Angeles 2028 will introduce 50-meter events in strokes other than freestyle at the Olympic level, opening another door for sprint specialists.

Mathias had also returned with considerably more muscle. He had reached roughly 235 pounds at one point before settling around 220, giving him the power his new sprint-focused approach demanded. Looze noticed immediately.
“If he’s not the strongest guy in USA Swimming, I would be surprised,” the Indiana coach said. “He is a monster.”

What followed was not supposed to happen so quickly…

The comeback of Van Mathias that nobody saw coming

Mathias made the U.S. Pan Pacific team last summer after winning the 50-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Pro Championships in 26.76 seconds. That earned him his first senior national team appearance since the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Then 2026 turned his comeback into something much bigger. At the Bergen Swim Festival in April, Mathias lowered his 100 breaststroke personal best to 58.19 seconds in the final, narrowly missing the American record. Two days later, he delivered the breakthrough he had been chasing.

His 26.39 in the 50 breaststroke erased Nic Fink’s American record of 26.45.
It wasn’t a one-off. At the U.S. Championships in Indianapolis, Mathias lowered the 50 breaststroke record again to 26.30 and followed it by setting the American record in the 100 at 58.01.

He had gone from stepping away from the sport to becoming its fastest American in both events. And he did it without returning to the traditional grind.

Looze, hardly an advocate for taking it easy, has become one of the biggest believers in Mathias’ approach. “I’m the last person on the face of the coaching earth that people would’ve thought would sign off on this,” he said. “But this is perfect for him. He keeps getting better.”

For Mathias, the results speak loudly. In 33 official swims this year, he has produced 21 lifetime-best performances. But how does he manage to balance a 9-5 job with his swimming routines?

Perhaps surprisingly, the office job hasn’t become a distraction. Mathias believes it may actually be helping him.

His responsibilities include organizing Indiana’s team travel, helping with recruiting and arranging campus visits. During the season, there’s plenty to keep him occupied. That means he doesn’t spend every waking hour thinking about his times or his growing reputation.

“I’ve tried to distract myself with work and other things to not let that feeling set in,” Mathias said. “I think that’s when I swim my best.” That mindset could prove valuable as expectations rise.

And if the American record holder keeps progressing at this pace, he’ll not only become a big contender for gold at the LA Olympics, but also his day job may soon become the least surprising thing about him.

The post American Record Holder Is Working a 9–5 While Being the Biggest Gold Hope for LA Olympics appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Roney (39) died on July 5 at a pool in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the autopsy and investigative report obtained by The News & Observer, he had been swimming at the Hampton Ridge Swim Club that evening and practicing breath-holding exercises.

His wife, Maresa, told emergency responders that she had stepped away to make a phone call. When she returned roughly five minutes later, she found her husband face down and unresponsive in the middle of the L-shaped pool, where the water was about six feet deep.

She pulled him from the water, called 911 and immediately began CPR. Paramedics arrived within minutes and continued resuscitation efforts before taking Roney to WakeMed. He was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m.

The circumstances made the tragedy particularly difficult to understand. Roney wasn’t an inexperienced swimmer caught off guard in unfamiliar water. Swimming had been a huge part of his life.

The medical examiner ultimately ruled the death an accidental drowning. The report noted no signs of trauma and said there were no concerns involving suicide, substance abuse or foul play.

Surveillance footage later gave investigators a clearer picture. Roney could be seen swimming before submerging for roughly two minutes and 14 seconds. He briefly surfaced before going underwater again and did not resurface. That detail has led his family to believe they know what happened.

Roney’s father, John, told The News & Observer that he believes his son experienced a shallow water blackout, a sudden loss of consciousness associated with prolonged breath-holding underwater. It can happen without the swimmer showing obvious signs of distress, making it particularly dangerous.

“We want it known that holding one’s breath underwater for extended periods is dangerous,” John said. “We’d like to prevent this from happening to someone else. Jack would too.”

That warning has given Roney’s death a painful significance beyond his own family. Breath-holding and underwater training can carry risks even for experienced swimmers, and an unexpected loss of consciousness can quickly turn fatal.

As per a report published by CFMWS, there are approximately 140,000 deaths annually due to drowning worldwide. And guess what? It’s estimated that shallow water blackout is the sole cause of drowning for up to 20% of all those cases.

Shallow water blackout can also be called “hypoxic blackout” and it’s basically a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia during breath-hold submersion. This condition often occurs in water less than 15 ft (5 m) deep. However, it may affect swimmers or divers at greater depths as well.

Interestingly, Roney’s case also arrives amid other recent tragedies involving swimmers.

In April, Brazilian athlete and influencer Mara Flavia Souza Araujo died during the swimming portion of Ironman Texas in The Woodlands. A search was launched after officials reported a missing swimmer, and she was eventually found about 10 feet underwater. Rescue officials cited extremely poor underwater visibility as they worked to locate her.

The tragedy also renewed concerns surrounding open-water race safety after deaths at Ironman 70.3 events in the United States the previous year. But coming back to the former NC State swimming coach…

A glimpse at Jack Roney’s swimming career

Before he became a coach, Roney was one of NC State’s swimmers. A Florida native whose family later moved to Charlotte, he began making a name for himself in the pool at a young age. He eventually earned a scholarship to NC State and left the program as the school’s 200-yard breaststroke record holder.

It was also at NC State that he met Maresa, who was a fellow Wolfpack swimmer. The two eventually married and built a family together, raising five children.

After graduating in 2009, Roney returned to the program as a volunteer assistant coach. He later served as director of operations and an assistant coach from 2014 through 2016 before eventually moving into software sales.

His connection to the Wolfpack never really disappeared. Braden Holloway, who coached at NC State and remained close to Roney, remembered him as someone who made the people around him better. “Jack was one of those rare people who made everyone around him better,” Holloway wrote in an Instagram tribute, remembering him as a devoted husband, father and friend.

The loss has since sparked an effort to preserve Roney’s memory. A GoFundMe established for Maresa and their five children has raised more than $230,000, while plans are also underway for a “Jack Roney Memorial Pavilion” at Lake Johnson Pool.

For a man whose life revolved around the water, the circumstances of Roney’s death are especially painful. But his family’s decision to speak about the dangers of prolonged underwater breath-holding could ensure that his final tragedy becomes a warning for others.

Jack Roney spent much of his life teaching people to become better swimmers. In the aftermath of his death, his family hopes one final lesson might save someone else’s life.

The post Autopsy Reveals Former Coach’s Cause of Death Behind 20% of All Drownings appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Legend Storer, a former Concordia University Irvine swimmer, is facing second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and indecent exposure charges in connection with the death of security guard Michael Dyer. Storer has pleaded not guilty.

According to the Maui Police Department, the incident began around 1:45 a.m. on August 5 at a condominium resort on Lower Honoapiʻilani Road in Lahaina. Dyer was working his overnight shift when a man allegedly entered his office and attacked him.

Surveillance footage later became a key part of the investigation…

Police say the footage showed a naked man approaching Dyer’s office before assaulting him and fleeing on foot. Court records cited by local reports allege that the weapon used in the attack may have been a five-gallon water container.

Dyer was later found unresponsive inside the resort. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

The details became even more disturbing as the investigation unfolded.
Around 3 a.m., police began receiving reports about a naked man wandering through the Kahana area. Officers located Storer roughly 30 minutes later. He was still unclothed and had numerous abrasions, according to police, and was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center for evaluation.

Investigators then reviewed surveillance footage and allegedly determined that the man taken to the hospital was the same person captured during the attack.

Storer was subsequently transported to the Wailuku Police Station without incident. While authorities worked to piece together what happened, Dyer’s family was left dealing with an unimaginable loss.

Dyer’s relatives described him as a devoted husband who had been working the graveyard shift when he was killed. He and his wife, Joy, had been married for 26 years, according to the family’s fundraising campaign.

“Mike was a family man and very devoted to his wife, Joy,” his relatives said in a statement to Hawaii News Now.

A coworker also recalled the final ordinary moments before the tragedy, saying Dyer had been eating during his break when the attack occurred.

“He was a great person and he was just in his office having a cheeseburger on his lunch break,” coworker Bell Hill told the outlet.

The family has since started a GoFundMe campaign to help Joy through the sudden loss.

A glimpse at Legend Storer’s swimming career

Long before his name appeared in court records, Storer was known in Hawaii and collegiate swimming circles for what he did in the pool.

Born in 2006, Storer attended Maui Preparatory Academy and competed for the Lahaina Swim Club. He became a two-time Maui Interscholastic League champion and finished runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Hawaii LSC State Championships. Swimming eventually took him to California.

Storer joined Concordia University Irvine’s men’s swimming program for the 2024-25 academic year. The breaststroke and sprint specialist was part of the school’s conference championship team in 2025 and was studying business finance. His collegiate chapter, however, was brief…

Concordia discontinued its men’s swimming program in May 2025. According to the university, Storer did not return to the school afterward. “After Concordia discontinued the Men’s Swim program in May 2025, Legend did not return as a student,” Ann Ashmon, the university’s associate vice president of strategic communications, told the Orange County Register.

That brought an end to his connection with the NCAA program, but the swimming background remains a notable part of his story. Now, his future is being decided in a very different setting.

Storer is being held in Maui without bail. During his court hearing, District Court Judge Christopher Dunn cited concerns about community safety and the likelihood that no set of conditions would adequately address those concerns.

For now, the investigation and legal proceedings continue. Storer is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and authorities have not publicly established a motive for the alleged attack. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 11.

The post American Swimming Champion Accused of Killing Security Guard After Exiting NCAA appeared first on EssentiallySports.

On August 10, 2026, Boulder County authorities released the news that Hilliard had been arrested in Colorado and charged with “Theft, Embezzlement, and Official Misconduct. The charges are related to his actions at CU Boulder. Hilliard, 54, was the administrator of the university’s Nike Elite program, which is responsible for distributing employee product benefits.

According to the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, the alleged wrongdoing occurred from 2021-2025.  Hilliard allegedly used the Nike Elite fund for his personal benefit  and this resulted in a $9,510.50 loss, as per the university.

The allegations were initially made on July 22, 2025, when CU Boulder Athletic Director Rick George reported to the university’s Department of Internal Audit about potential fiscal misconduct with Hilliard. The university later went through a self-audit and examined financial statements and financial transactions associated with Hilliard’s Nike Elite account.

Later, a criminal investigation was launched by the CU Boulder Police Department, which included examining financial records and interviewing University personnel and working with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. After the investigation, prosecutors filed three charges against Hilliard: theft, a Class 5 felony; embezzlement of public property, a Class 5 felony; and first-degree official misconduct, a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Under Colorado law, the two felony charges can result in prison time and financial penalties. But the charges are allegations and Hilliard is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Remarkably, the arrest was just months after Hilliard left CU Boulder and was hired as CFO of USA Swimming in December 2025. According to USA Swimming, it was notified of Hilliard’s arrest on Aug. 10 and put him on leave. The group also cut his access to the company’s financial controls and data and started its own investigation.

Another interesting factor is that USA Swimming at this time is participating in the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships. The open water events started Aug. 10 in Long Beach, California and the pool competition is set for Aug. 12-15 in Irvine. Hilliard was still serving as the organization’s CFO when the arrest became public.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said, “In any case involving possible Official Misconduct, the community trust requires a thorough investigation. So, I truly appreciate the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of the CU Police Department.” CU Boulder Police Chief Ashley Griffin also said:

 “The CU Boulder Police Department would like to thank the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office for its steadfast support in prosecuting financial crimes. CU Boulder does not tolerate fiscal misconduct in any form and once CUPD was notified it took immediate investigative action.” That statement came after an investigation that put the spotlight on Cory Hilliard, but his story in sports began decades before he became a senior athletics administrator.

From track athlete to college Athletics executive

Growing up in Colorado, Hilliard was a standout track and field athlete at Manitou Springs High School, where he competed in the hurdles and relays. He was part of successful state championship teams and earned recognition for his performances in the 300-meter hurdles. His athletic background eventually took him to college, where he continued competing in track and field.

Hilliard first attended the University of Wyoming before transferring to Minnesota State University Moorhead. He graduated in 1995 with a degree in Health Education and continued his involvement in track and field during his college years. He later earned an MBA from the University of North Dakota in 2006, giving him a stronger foundation for the business side of athletics.

Soon after, Hilliard joined the University of North Dakota’s athletics department in 2001, where he worked in business services before moving into a role as assistant athletic director for business operations. 

Eventually, that experience led him to the University of Colorado Boulder, where he had been for approximately 18 years, steadily climbing through the ranks to become a senior leader. Hilliard went on to serve as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Business Operations and CFO, overseeing the financial operations of 17 Division I programs and an athletics budget in excess of $135 million.

Alongside his work in athletics administration, Hilliard also had an academic connection to sports business. He taught as an adjunct instructor at the CU Denver Business School, where he taught courses related to the business of sports and entertainment. However, his long career has come under scrutiny after allegations from his time at CU Boulder led to a criminal investigation.

The post USA Swimming CFO Arrested Over Theft, Embezzlement, and Official Misconduct appeared first on EssentiallySports.