Pan Pacs Day 3: Four golds as Pallister and Short dominate

DOLPHINS Sam Short and Lani Pallister (pictured) are spearheading a dramatic resurgence in middle-distance and distance freestyle swimming by the weight of their combined success.

The pair headlined a dominant night for the Dolphins at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California claiming respective 400m free titles in dominant fashion.

With one day of competition remaining, the pair are responsible for seven of Australia’s 26 pool medals including five gold in events ranging from 200m to the 1500m.

And they both still have the chance to add 800m (Pallister) and 1500m (Short) gold to their carry-on luggage.

Pallister set the tone for Australia’s glittering haul of 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze on the penultimate night of racing – her 3:58.42 personal best upstaging USA’s two-time defending Pan Pac champion Katie Ledecky (4:00.15).

For Pallister, the gold was her second individual of the meet and third overall after also claiming gold as part of the women’s 200m free relay.

New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather took third (4:02.35).

World record holder Summer McIntosh, who missed the ‘A’ final, won the ‘B’ final in 4:00.58, which would have been third overall,  in the event, just behind Pallister and Ledecky.

In a moment of prophecy, or some might say destiny, a 14-year-old Pallister received an autograph from the GOAT of women’s distance swimming Ledecky that also said “dream big”.

And so Pallister did.

The men’s 400m freestyle was dominated by Sam Short as he took almost two seconds off Ian Thorpe’s Championships record that was set four years before he was born in 1999.

He stopped the clock in a new PB of 3:40.52, taking a tenth off the 3:40.57 he swam at the Australian Trials in June.

China’s Zhang Zhanshou had a massive final 100m and touched in 3:42.42 to win the silver medal.

Australia’s final two golds came from flyer Matt Temple and breaststroker Sam Williamson.

Temple won the men’s 100 fly in 50.39, setting a new Championship Record by four tenths over Caeleb Dressel’s 50.75 from the 2018 Championships.

Ben Armbruster continued his breakout year, claiming second in 50.59 to touch one hundredth off his lifetime best of 50.58, which he swam at the Commonwealth Games to win bronze.

And Williamson won gold and hearts in the 50m breaststroke with a shout out to the sellout crowd at the meet which he dubbed the Fan Pacs … before cheekily correcting himself to call the meet the Sam Pacs.

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