To see all of our 2022 Swammy Awards, click here.
2022 U.S. FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: KATIE LEDECKY
It was another record-setting 2022 for Katie Ledecky, with a return to top form and four gold medals at the World Championships earning her U.S. Female Swimmer of the Year honors for the eighth time.
It was certainly a strong year for the American women at the World Championships in Budapest, as five different swimmers won individual titles, but Ledecky was the only one to win multiple, claiming the women’s distance treble with gold medals in the 400, 800 and 1500 free.
That marked the fourth time Ledecky has swept the women’s distance events at Worlds, having also done so in 2013, 2015 and 2017. At the 2019 World Championships, Ledecky fell to Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free, and then due to illness, scratched out of the 1500. She then battled her way to gold in the 800 free, which was an important victory for her career resume.
That 800 free win in Gwangju was her fourth consecutive world title in the event, and with her victory earlier this year in Budapest, she became the first swimmer to win the same event five straight times at the World Championships (LCM). It also gave her 10 straight wins in the event at major championships (Olympics, Worlds and Pan Pacific Championships) dating back to her 2012 Olympic gold medal.
Ledecky also dropped the 200 free from her individual lineup in Budapest, but had arguably her best swim of the meet swimming the third leg on the U.S. women’s 800 free relay, splitting 1:53.67, faster than she did in Rio (1:53.74), to help propel the team to gold and a new world record of 7:41.45.
Had Ledecky opted to race the 200 free, she would’ve been in position to win gold. Her relay split was 1.25 seconds faster than what it took to win the individual race (Yang Junxuan, 1:54.92), and the following month, Ledecky clocked 1:54.50 at U.S. Nationals in Irvine.
At that same meet, Ledecky also put up a personal best time of 4:35.77 in the 400 IM, ranking her fourth in the world for 2022. That gave her five events in which she ranked fourth or better globally this year.
| Event (LCM) | 2022 World Rank | Time | Competition |
| Women’s 800 freestyle | 1st | 8:08.04 | 2022 World Championships |
| Women’s 1500 freestyle | 1st | 15:30.15 | 2022 World Championships |
| Women’s 400 freestyle | 2nd | 3:58.15 | 2022 World Championships |
| Women’s 200 freestyle | 3rd | 1:54.50 | 2022 U.S. Nationals |
| Women’s 400 IM | 4th | 4:35.77 | 2022 U.S. Nationals |
Not only did Ledecky continue to hold her place as the best female distance swimmer in the world, but she also showed personal improvements after making a change and moving to the University of Florida and joining coach Anthony Nesty in September 2021.
Ledecky’s 800 free time of 8:08.04 at Worlds was her fastest since 2018, and her 1500 free showing of 15:30.15 was her quickest since March 2020 and more than sevens seconds faster than she went in the Tokyo Olympic final.
As an encore to her swims in the summer, we got a rare glimpse of Ledecky racing in short course meters this year, as she attended two legs of the FINA World Cup.
At the Toronto stop in late October, Ledecky shattered the world record in the 1500 free by 10 seconds in a time of 15:08.24, and also set a new American Record of 3:52.88 in the 400 free, losing a razor-thin battle with Summer McIntosh (3:52.80) as they swam the second and third-fastest times ever.
The following week, Ledecky broke the world record in the 800 free in SCM, clocking 7:57.42.
To close things out, the 25-year-old got redemption on McIntosh at the U.S. Open in early December, beating her head-to-head in another epic battle in the LCM 400 free (3:59.71), with Ledecky also winning the 200 free (1:56.74), 800 free (8:13.90) and 1500 free (15:44.13) in impressive fashion.
2022 was very much a bounceback year for Ledecky. Despite the fact that she won two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, many questioned whether her best days had passed her given that her times, specifically in the 800 and 1500, were well off her career bests.
But this year Ledecky showed that she’s not going anywhere. She may have lost her world record in the 400 free to Titmus, but didn’t get the opportunity to battle her rival head-to-head, and will (hopefully) get the chance in 2023.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Torri Huske – Huske won six medals in her LC World Championship debut, highlighted by an individual title in the women’s 100 butterfly, where she set a new American Record of 55.64 to hold a half-second margin of victory over the runner-up. Huske also swam the fly leg on the gold medal-winning women’s and mixed 400 medley relays for the U.S., and she added a second individual medal with a bronze in the 100 free. She also made two more individual finals in the 50 free and 50 fly, and won bronze medals in the women’s and mixed 400 free relay. The 20-year-old then won seven medals at the SC World Championships, including an individual title in the 50 fly. She was also the NCAA runner-up as a freshman in March in both the 100 fly and 200 IM.
- Alex Walsh – Walsh’s year was headlined by a World Championship title in the women’s 200 IM, as she became the fifth-fastest performer of all-time in 2:07.13, topping the silver medalist by nearly a second and a half. The 21-year-old added a pair of gold medals after swimming on the prelim teams of the women’s 800 free and 400 medley relays. She finished off her year on the international stage by winning silver in the 200 IM at SC Worlds, also claiming an additional five medals on relays. Walsh’s year can’t be summarized without looking at her exploits in the NCAA, having swept the 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM at the Women’s NCAA Championships in March, helping lead the Virginia Cavaliers to a second consecutive team title. Walsh’s 200 IM performance of 1:50.08 also marked a new all-time record.
- Lilly King – King overcame a recent bout with COVID-19 to win her first world title in the 200 breaststroke at the 2022 World Championships, rebounding after missing the podium in the 100 breast after coming in as the two-time defending champion. King also won gold on the U.S. women’s and mixed 400 medley relays, and followed up by winning the short course world title in the 100 breast in December, nearing her American Record in 1:02.67, which is also just three-tenths shy of the world record. The 25-year-old Indiana pro also claimed silver in the 200 breast, bronze in the 50 breast, and won two more medals on the U.S. medley relays.
Previous Winners
- 2021 – Katie Ledecky
- 2020 – Lilly King
- 2019 – Simone Manuel
- 2018 – Katie Ledecky
- 2017 – Katie Ledecky
- 2016 – Katie Ledecky
- 2015 – Katie Ledecky
- 2014 – Katie Ledecky
- 2013 – Katie Ledecky
Play it again, Sam:
https://youtu.be/8XIC6O9P4WE
Better than Phelps #provemewrong
#28medals
Case closed lol.
Only one freestyle gold, Katie has 6
Better than the bong and perp walk photos, that’s for sure, though he later disclaimed this photo also, saying he was more than his medals and that his work on his mental illness and mental health advocacy is what defines him.
4 finals, 4 titles, it doesn’t get any better than this.
As a footnote:
FINA World Aquatics Championships
Individual Gold Medals
Phelps – 15
Ledecky – 14
Ledecky is the greatest freestyler of all times, but Phelps skipped 2 worlds where he would have easily won 2 or 3 individual golds each, for 2015 we literally have proofs haha, also if he swam less relays he could have won even more individual titles, I suppose he could have ended up in the low 20s if he placed his personal achievements over team success
Yes, and if not for multiple DUIs, suspension, bong hits, and his now admitted mental issues, who knows what may have happened, right?
Reagan Smith
Kate Douglass doesn’t get an honorable mention?!
She didn’t do enough lcm likely. He has 1 LCM individual medal with three bronzes total with relays. Her relay splits were good but nothing to write home about. Yes, she broke the NCAA record in the 200, very impressive. Yes, SCM she was great but I think the lack of LCM stand out swims is the cause. Walsh, Huske , and king all have golds.
What’s amazing is that Douglass managed to win back the sc events in 200 im and 200 breast, the two events she got bronze at last year Olympics and this year world champs along with relay events.
Only an individual bronze at Worlds, the rest of the HMs all got individual gold.
Douglass swam the wrong lineup at worlds. She would be near the top of this list if she’d get the 50 freestyle out of her head and prioritize 200 medley. I’m convinced she’s more explosive and dynamic than Walsh and would have won the long course version also, with extended emphasis. And if she’s going to add another event it should be 100 breaststroke. Very difficult team to make but she showed over the final 50 in Melbourne that she can now change gears and kick up the urgency when needed.
Regardless, Douglass should have received honorable mention. When I think of 2022 American swimming I think of her, given the remarkable versatility and how she bookended the year… Read more »
I agree with Swimswam on this one. None of her LCM swims this year were all that exciting.
Look there’s no denying that Douglass had a really good year including last week wc but Walsh also did amazing swim this year at wc at Budapest by going PB and second fastest time on 200 Im and you gotta give her credits for that and maybe Douglass could have won the 200 IM at Budapest if she’s going for it but it would be really hard cause Walsh is really fast for someone to beat her.
Kate will be the Women’s NCAA Swammy Award winner (or there will need to be a recount).
We moved our NCAA awards to post-NCAA Championship, because I got sick of trying to justify awards off two half-seasons.
Thanks, Braden. For those, like me, who had forgotten – here is the link:
2022 Swammy Awards: NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving (swimswam.com)
SCM – yes
LCM – no
Kate Douglass needs to work on long course meters for calendar year 2023.
Shocker