With his silver medal in the men’s 10k, he became Mexico’s first ever Pan Pacific Championships medalist. Launched in 1985, the Pan Pacific Championships have been held as a European Championships alternative for countries that are not a part of European Aquatics. Strehlke dominated both open water events and annihilated the Mexican record in the 1500 free, chopping eight seconds off to bring it to a 15:03.87. This couldn’t come at a better time, as Mexico will be hosting the first stop of the 2027 Open Water World Cup in November. For what it’s worth, Germany and Italy also earned their first ever Pan Pacific medals in the same race, courtesy of Wellbrock’s victory and Verani’s third place finish.