Australian distance specialist Sam Short and American Olympic gold medallist Bobby Finke produced one of the highlight races of the 2026 TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont, with Short edging the men's 800m freestyle as a meet record tumbled in a star-studded final.
Short, who claimed silver behind Finke at the Paris Olympic 800m and 1500m freestyle events, has spent the early part of 2026 reasserting himself as one of the cleanest distance technicians in world swimming. Westmont gave him another marker.
The Australian led from the front, controlling the middle 400m of the race against a field that included Finke and a handful of fast-rising US distance hopefuls. Short's split-by-split execution belied a young swimmer who has been consistent at exactly the level the rest of the world is still trying to reach.
Finke, the Tokyo and Paris distance king, remained within striking distance through the back half of the race before Short's metronomic kick split-out delivered the winning margin in the final 100m. Both men dipped under the previous TYR Pro Swim Series Westmont meet record, with Short's time the headline number.
The Westmont meet has built a reputation as one of the leading mid-season tune-ups on the international circuit, particularly for distance specialists who use the event to test pacing strategies in advance of the World Aquatics Championships. Both Short and Finke fit that mould.
Across the wider men's freestyle program at Westmont, depth was the consistent theme. Short, Henveaux and Hobson featured among the fastest qualifiers across the 400m freestyle, with another meet record tumbling in the medal final.
That meet-record salvo across both events suggests the Australian-American distance rivalry is once again in rude health. With World Aquatics Championships on the horizon, Westmont served as a public marker that Short remains the most consistent contender to challenge Finke when stakes climb to global level.
For Short, the 800m freestyle win continued a steady drumbeat of strong international performances since Paris. The Australian has used the post-Olympic period to finetune his back-half execution, identified as the discriminating factor against Finke at championship pace. Westmont suggests the work is paying off.
For Finke, the result is unlikely to provoke alarm. The American has historically used early-season meets sparingly, and the 800m has long been the closer of his two distance events at peak. Even so, Short's clean execution will provide more than enough motivation as the next major meet looms.
Attention now turns to the European stretch of the year and the Australian Open block at home, where Short is expected to reaffirm his championship credentials ahead of the next world title campaign.