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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Rachel Stege wrapped up a standout showing at the 2023 Pan American Games in style on Wednesday, coming from behind to win gold in the women’s 1500 freestyle in a massive personal best time.
Stege, 20, trailed Chilean veteran Kristel Kobrich by more than six seconds at the halfway mark, and with 100 meters to go, she was still down by 1.28 seconds. After pulling even at the final turn, Stege turned on the jets coming home in 30.64 to secure her first individual gold medal of the competition in 16:13.59, setting a new Games Record to boot.
Stege took down the previous Pan Am mark of 16:16.54, established by Argentine Delfina Pignatiello (the only other time the event was contested at the Games) while also obliterating her previous best of 16:29.55 set at U.S. Nationals on July 1.
Split Comparison
| Stege, 2023 U.S. Nationals | Stege, 2023 Pan Ams |
| 1:01.92 | 1:02.56 |
| 2:07.10 (1:05.18) | 2:08.58 (1:06.02) |
| 3:13.20 (1:06.10) | 3:14.44 (1:05.86) |
| 4:19.43 (1:06.23) | 4:20.45 (1:06.01) |
| 5:25.72 (1:06.29) | 5:26.76 (1:06.31) |
| 6:32.32 (1:06.60) | 6:32.68 (1:05.92) |
| 7:39.06 (1:06.74 | 7:38.46 (1:05.78) |
| 8:46.03 (1:06.97) | 8:43.98 (1:05.52) |
| 9:53.01 (1:06.98) | 9:49.38 (1:05.40) |
| 11:00.22 (1:07.21) | 10:54.88 (1:05.50) |
| 12:07.25 (1:07.03) | 12:00.00 (1:05.12) |
| 13:14.14 (1:06.89) | 13:04.52 (1:04.52) |
| 14:20.55 (1:06.41) | 14:07.81 (1:03.29) |
| 15:26.59 (1:06.04) | 15:11.24 (1:03.43) |
| 16:29.55 (1:02.96) | 16:13.59 (1:02.35) |
After the first 200 meters, Stege immediately set a quicker pace than she had at Nationals, holding 1:05-mids during the middle 500 before ratcheting up the pace down the stretch to ultimately overtake Kobrich.
Stege vs Kobrich
Currently in her junior year at the University of Georgia, Stege also set lifetime bests in the 400 free (4:06.94) and 800 free (8:28.50), narrowly missing out on a medal in the 400 (4th, .06 back of bronze) before earning silver in the 800 behind teammate Paige Madden.
Stege finished her senior international debut with three medals, also earning gold as a prelim member of the U.S. women’s 800 free relay.
She represented the U.S. at the junior level at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Indianapolis, winning bronze in the women’s 400 free.
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Stege is reminding me a lot of Ally McHugh. Both have that conservative feeling in the front of their races, but absolutely crush the finish.
Go Stege! Go dawgs!
A Bobby Finke-esque finish! Those are some beautiful splits!