Aussie Lani Pallister beats Katie Ledecky to win Pan Pacs 400 free

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Lani Pallister of Australia defeated Katie Ledecky to win the 400-meter freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships on Friday night in a final that lacked some luster without world record holder Summer McIntosh.

Pallister was under world-record pace through 150 meters before touching in 3 minutes, 58.42 seconds. Ledecky had over a second to make up on the final lap and took silver in 4:00.15.

“I could see Katie catching me on the last 150 and that’s a very nerve-wracking feeling,” Pallister said.

Erika Fairweather of New Zealand was third.

“It was OK, not super happy with it,” Ledecky said. “I never like being over 4 minutes in an international final, but I put together the best race I could. I thought I had a good back half, just wasn't out quick enough.”

Pallister has firmly established herself as one of Ledecky's top rivals two years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The 24-year-old Aussie who cites the 29-year-old American as her inspiration has been piling up international medals in freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters.

Pallister won the 200 free over McIntosh and Fairweather on Wednesday. Ledecky didn’t compete in the event this week. Ledecky topped Pallister in the 1,500 free that same night.

“I've never taken my competition for granted, even when I was winning by big margins,” Ledecky said. “I just have a lot of great competition from all over the world right now.”

McIntosh surprisingly failed to advance to the evening final. The 19-year-old Canadian's time of 4:08.56 was ninth-fastest in the preliminaries and more than 14 seconds slower than her world-record time.

“I take full responsibility for my misjudgment in this morning’s heats,” McIntosh posted on her Instagram account.

McIntosh led all the way in winning the ‘B’ final in 4:00.58, which would have earned her the bronze in the final.

She's had mixed results in Irvine. She was second in the 200 freestyle and then won the 400 individual medley with a time that was about 3 1/2 seconds slower than her fastest time.

Sam Short gave Australia a sweep in the 400 free, winning the men's final in 3:40.52, breaking the 27-year-old championship record of 3:41.03 set by his countryman Ian Thorpe.

“I had so much left at the end,” Short said.

Zhang Zhanshuo of China took silver.

The Aussies went 1-2 in the men's 100 butterfly. Matthew Temple won gold and teammate Ben Armbruster earned silver. American Gretchen Walsh won the women's race in 55.15 seconds. Taylor Ruck of Canada took silver in 56.71.

Regan Smith led a 1-2 U.S. finish in the 200 backstroke. She was under world-record pace after 100 meters and touched in 2:05.57. Teammate Claire Curzan earned silver in 2:06.44.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Katie Ledecky, of the United States, competes in the women's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Lani Pallister, of Australia, celebrates after winning the the women's 200-meter freestyle final at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused on Friday to block the Trump administration from taking steps to build 62 miles of international border wall along part of a Native American tribe's reservation without its consent.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., denied the Tohono O’odham Nation's request for a court-ordered halt to border wall construction on its 2.8-million-acre reservation. Leon ruled the tribe hasn't established that a border wall will change its reservation boundaries without congressional authority.

The judge also rejected the tribe's claim that the planned border wall would illegally trespass on its reservation.

“And in any event, I find that the Government’s interests in securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and ensuring public safety outweigh any surviving irreparable harms at this juncture,” Leon wrote.

The tribe released a statement late Friday strongly disagreeing with the decision.

"Too many critical issues were not adequately addressed, such as inevitable impacts construction will have on the Nation’s land and the permanent destruction of sacred sites," Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon M. Jose said. “The Nation will consider all possible options for moving forward, as this issue is simply too important to the O’odham.”

The O’odham reservation in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona abuts 62 miles of the Mexico border. The tribe has over 37,000 members, including thousands who live in Mexico.

Building the border wall would led to “significant devastation” on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks that are sacred to the O’odham, tribe attorneys said.

“It would fray the ties between O’odham communities and families on opposite sides of the border, interfere significantly with O’odham religious rituals and practices, and destroy plant and animal resources sacred to the O’odham,” the lawyers wrote.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued a proclamation reserving a 60-foot strip of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border for a buffer zone called the “Roosevelt Reservation,” which was formed a decade before the reservation's establishment.

Tribe attorneys say it is “fanciful at best” to suggest that border wall construction can be confined to a 60-foot-wide corridor.

During a July 22 hearing, Leon appeared to be skeptical that U.S. laws tip in favor of the tribe’s bid for a preliminary injunction, calling it an “extraordinary” request. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said he couldn’t find a previous court ruling under comparable circumstances.

“This is a novel case with novel issues,” the judge said.

FILE - The sun sets over a section of the border wall, June 18, 2025, in Mission, Texas. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)