American Paralympian Evan Wilkerson delivered a standout performance on the final day of the 2026 Para Pan Pacific Championships, breaking the men’s 100-metre backstroke S11 world record twice in a single day at Mt. San Antonio College. Wilkerson first clocked 1:04.84 in the preliminary round, establishing a new world record before returning in the final and producing an even faster performance of 1:02.62, subject to classification review.
Wilkerson’s first record-breaking swim came during the morning preliminaries, where he completed the 100m backstroke S11 in 1 minute 4.84 seconds. He then raised the benchmark dramatically in the final, lowering his own newly established record by more than two seconds to 1:02.62. The performance marked a significant milestone for Wilkerson, who had recently been reclassified into the S11 category and had spent several months training at altitude.
Wilkerson said the performance gave him significant confidence as he works toward the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. Competing outdoors in challenging heat conditions, he was able to translate months of preparation into two world-record swims on the same day. The result also highlighted his rapid adaptation to the S11 classification and positioned the 100m backstroke as one of his strongest events moving forward.
Wilkerson’s achievement headlined another strong day for Team USA, which also produced seven additional American records. Katie Kubiak broke the women’s 200m individual medley SM5 American record twice, first swimming 3:29.68 in the preliminaries before improving to 3:27.29 in the final. Those performances gave her six American records during the meet. Olivia Chambers also improved her own mark twice in the women’s 50m freestyle S12, swimming 28.50 in the preliminaries and then lowering the record to 28.34 in the final.
Piper Sadowski added two American records on the final day, clocking 2:44.68 in the women’s 200m individual medley SM14 and 1:12.99 in the S14 100m backstroke. Paralympian Ali Truwit broke her own American record in the S10 100m backstroke with a time of 1:08.40, earning her second silver medal of the championships. Meanwhile, Mallory Weggeman claimed gold in the 200m individual medley SM7 with a time of 2:54.60, while Gia Pergolini earned bronze in the S13 100m backstroke in 1:06.21. The final day capped a highly successful weekend for the American team, with Wilkerson’s double world-record performance standing out as the defining moment. By lowering the men’s S11 100m backstroke world record from 1:04.84 to 1:02.62 in the same day, Evan Wilkerson delivered one of the most impressive performances of the championships and strengthened his momentum on the road to LA28.
