Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985. It was founded as an alternative to the European Championships, for those countries that could not swim in those championships, in a manner similar to the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships which provide a similar 'continental' championships for non-European nations.

The meet was founded by its four Charter nations's swimming federations: Swimming Australia (Australia), Swimming Canada (Canada), Japan Swimming Federation (Japan), and USA Swimming (United States). As part of the Charter, hosting of the meet is to rotate among these four nations, with the meet being held in Japan every other championship. Initially, the meet was open to all countries that border the Pacific Ocean, giving the meet its name. This since has been expanded/opened to include other non-European countries wishing to participate, such as Brazil and South Africa.

The meet is considered to be one of the toughest international swimming competitions outside the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships, due in part to the presence of swimming power-house nationals like the United States and Australia, the first and second most medals winners, respectively.

History

The meet was initially staged biennially (every odd year), to allow for an international championship-level meet in the non-Olympic and non-World Championships years. However, beginning with the 2002 championships, due to the changing of the World Championships from every four years (even year between Olympics) to every two years (every odd year), the meet is a quadrennial event, held in the even year between Summer Olympics.

Unlike the World Championships and Olympic Games, nations can enter as many people as they like in the preliminaries of each event (in most international meets, only two swimmers from each nation are permitted). However, only two swimmers per nation can qualify for the Championships' semi-finals and finals. Prior to FINA's creation of semi-finals in the late 1990s, a total of 3 swimmers per country could qualify for the final and consolation heats of an event, with no more than 2 swimmers per country in a final or consolation.[citation needed]

List of championships

EditionYearHost cityHost countryDatesMedal table winnersSecond in the medal tableThird in the medal tableRef.
11985Tokyo Japan15–18 August United States Australia Canada
21987Brisbane Australia13–16 August United States Australia Canada
31989Tokyo Japan17–20 August United States Australia Canada
41991Edmonton Canada22–25 August United States Australia Canada
51993Kobe Japan12–15 August United States Australia Japan
61995Atlanta United States10–13 August United States Australia Japan
71997Fukuoka Japan10–13 August United States Australia Japan
81999Sydney Australia22–29 August Australia United States South Africa
92002Yokohama Japan24–29 August United States Australia Japan
102006Victoria Canada17–20 August United States Japan Australia
112010Irvine United States18–22 August United States Australia Japan
122014Gold Coast Australia21–25 August United States Australia Japan
132018Tokyo Japan9–13 August United States Australia Japan
142026Irvine United States12–15 August United States Australia Canada
152030Brisbane AustraliaTBATBDTBD

Note: The 1995 and 1999 editions served as the swimming test events for the Olympic venues.

Medal table (1985–2026)

All-time Pan Pacific Championships medal table (Updated after 2026 Championships)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States296214149659
2 Australia113147116376
3 Japan345279165
4 Canada214980150
5 China7111634
6 South Africa5111329
7 New Zealand461929
8 South Korea4217
9 Brazil341219
10 Costa Rica3249
11 Puerto Rico1012
12 Germany1001
 Suriname1001
14 Mexico0101
 Venezuela0101
16 Argentina0011
 Italy0011
Totals (17 entries)4935004921,485

Pan Pacific Championships Records

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Queensland to host 2014 Pan Pacific Championships Archived 11 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, published by Swimming Australia on 2012-05-11; retrieved 2012-05-11.
  2. ↑ For the Record: 1991 Pan Pacific Championships; result listing published by Swimming World Magazine, October 1991 edition, p.52-54.
  3. ↑ 1997 Pan Pacific Championships Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine page from the USA Swimming website (usaswimming.org); retrieved 2012-05-11.
  4. ↑ 1999 Pan Pacific Championships Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine page from the USA Swimming website (usaswimming.org); retrieved 2012-05-11.
  5. ↑ 2002 Pan Pacific Championships Archived 19 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine page from the USA Swimming website (usaswimming.org); retrieved 2012-05-11.
  6. ↑ 2006 Pan Pacs results page Archived 2 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine from Omega Timing. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  7. ↑ 2010 Pan Pacs results page Archived 2 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine from Omega Timing. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  8. ↑ "2026 Pan Pacific Championships Location To Change". www.usaswimming.org. Retrieved 18 September 2024.