SANTIAGO, Chile – The swimming competition of the 2023 Pan American Games kicked off today at the Centro Acuático del Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, and the United States started things off by winning 10 medals (4g, 3s, 3b) to open the event. Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala./New York Athletic Club) also set a new Pan American Games record with her winning time in the women’s 400m freestyle (4:06.45). 

More than 350 athletes from 41 federations are competing over the five days of pool competition – the most athletes competing in a sport at the Pan American Games.  

Women’s 400m Freestyle 
1 – Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala./New York Athletic Club), 4:06.45 
4 – Rachel Stege (Naperville, Ill./Athens Bulldog Swim Club), 4:06.94 

Madden on her performance: “Looking at the results, that’s faster than I went this summer so that’s good progress. I did exactly what I wanted to do, took the race out, but kind of died at the end. Did what I wanted to do so that’s good.” 

Race Notes: 

• Madden’s time of 4:06.45 sets a new Pan American Games record by nearly two seconds. 

• Madden’s win marks the first international gold medal of her career. 

• Stege’s time of 4:06.94 is a new personal best. 

Men’s 400m Freestyle 
3 – James Plage (Glastonbury, Conn./Wolfpack Elite), 3:50.74 
4 – Jay Litherland (Alpharetta, Ga./Sun Devil Swimming), 3:52.72 

Plage on his performance: “It was a hard race. Hard adjusting to the time down here but it was my first time representing Team USA and nothing feels better. Doing it with a veteran like Jay [Litherland], it’s the best to go three-four and have a teammate like him to celebrate with.” 

Women’s 100m Breaststroke 
5 – Emma Weber (Boulder, Colo./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:08.13 
15 – Anna Keating (Alexandria, Va./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:11.73 

Men’s 100m Breaststroke 
1 – Jake Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays/University of Texas), 59.99 
2 – Noah Nichols (Midlothian, Va./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:00.43 

Foster on finishing 1/2 with Nichols: “Going into that, that was the goal, to put two Americans preferably one and two. The fact that we were able to pull that off was personally exciting.” 

Foster on his first international gold-medal finish: “That was the first time that I’ve been able to win an international competition so that’s a huge milestone for my career and I think gives me a lot of momentum moving into the rest of the year.” 

Nichols on his performance: “This is an interesting time of the year. Switching in and out of long course during practice and training is interesting. Pretty happy with the swim. I know it will be better by the end of the year when we’re directly focused on long course but pretty happy with that.” 

Race Notes: 

• Nichols wins silver in his international swimming debut. 

Women’s 200m Butterfly 
1 – Dakota Luther (Austin, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics), 2:09.97 
3 – Kelly Pash (Carmel, Ind./Carmel Swim Club/University of Texas), 2:10.30 

Luther on sharing the podium with her training teammate: “It’s great. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to go to a big meet with a teammate of mine and we’ve had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the experience together.” 

Pash on competing with Luther: “It’s awesome being here with her, having a teammate and someone reliable to talk to whether it’s about life or about swimming. Honestly, training with her has helped me so much within the past few years because Dakota [Luther] is such a hard worker. She’s always pushing it at practice and giving it her all. It’s pushing me to go to the next level as well.” 

Men’s 200m Butterfly 
1 – Mason Laur (Naples, Fla./University of Florida), 1:56.44 
3 – Jack Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn./University of Missouri), 1:57.53 

Laur on his race strategy: “I just wanted to keep it smooth the first 100 and stay as strong as I could coming home. I think I executed that pretty well. It was a lot of fun racing with my boy Jack [Dahlgren] here. I couldn’t be more thankful to do this with Team USA.” 

Dahlgren on working with Laur: “We’ve been in separate groups doing our own thing, but we’ve had some delays in the ready room and a lot of time sitting around waiting for races, so we got some good bonding with that, and it’s been a lot of fun getting to know him. We’re rivals in the SEC in the college days so it’s always fun seeing someone from the NCAA succeed.” 

Race Notes: 

• Laur wins gold in his international competitive debut. 

• Dahlgren’s bronze is the first international medal of his career. 

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay 
2 – USA, 3:38.42 
Gabi Albiero (Louisville, Ky./Cardinal Aquatics), 55.02 
Catie DeLoof (Grosse Pointe, Mich./New York Athletic Club), 54.19 
Kayla Wilson (Virginia Beach, Va./Tide Swimming), 54.85 
Amy Fulmer (Bellefontaine, Ohio/The Ohio State University), 54.36 

Albiero on the team’s performance: “Honestly, it’s such a blur. Everything happens so fast. The excitement just takes over. It’s always a little nerve-wracking, but it carries you along. I’m happy to get a silver with these girls.” 

Race Notes: 

• Reilly Tiltmann, Camile Spink and Olivia Bray also receive silver medals for their relay swims during the preliminaries. 

Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay 
2 – USA, 3:14.22 
Jonny Kulow (Lander, Wy./Sun Devil Swimming), 48.45 
Adam Chaney (Mason, Ohio/University of Florida), 48.17 
Jack Aikins (Atlanta, Ga./Swim Atlanta/University of Virginia), 48.60 
Brooks Curry (Atlanta, Ga./Dynamo Swim Club), 49.00 

Kulow on his first international trip and swimming in finals: “It’s an honor. I think the USA relays are the epitome of swimming – like that’s the best that we can get. I mean it was really exciting, a little nerve wracking, but I’m glad to represent the country and put up a good showing here.” 

Race Notes: 

• Coby Carrozza and Lukas Miller also receive silver medals for their relay swims during the preliminaries. 

The pool competition continues through Wednesday. For more information, please visit the swimming page on the Pan American Games website. The open water competition will take place on October 29. For information on the open water competition, please visit the open water page on the Pan American Games website. Learn more about Team USA’s performance at the Pan American Games by visiting the Team USA website. 

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