See all of our 2023 Swammy Awards here.
2023 U.S. MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: BOBBY FINKE
There’s no easy answer as to who the top American male swimmer was in 2023.
Ryan Murphy was the lone U.S. male world champion in an Olympic event this summer with his 100-meter backstroke title in 52.22. Jack Alexy captured five medals — including two individual silvers in the 50 free (21.57) and 100 free (47.31) — during his senior international debut in Fukuoka, Japan.
But it’s difficult to deny that the two best swims of the year belonged to distance king Bobby Finke, who set a pair of American records in the 800 free (7:38.67) and 1500 free (14:31.59). The 24-year-old Florida pro dropped almost a second in the 800 free and more than five seconds in the 1500 free over the past year, taking bronze and silver, respectively, in two historically fast races.
Finke rose the ranks to No. 7 all-time in the 800 free and No. 3 in the 1500 free, but he ran into some rough luck going up against Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui (No. 3 in the 800 free, No. 2 in the 1500 free) and Australia’s Sam Short (No. 4 in 800 free) in both events. Nationally, though, Finke is now the fastest American man in the 800 free by nearly five seconds and in the 1500 free by almost eight seconds.
In the 1500 free, both Finke and Hafnaoui were just over half a second shy of Sun Yang’s world record of 14:31.02 from 2012. It was an all-out sprint over the last 50 with Finke splitting 26.19 to Hafnaoui’s 26.23.
“Bobby pushed me to do that,” Hafnaoui said afterward. “I know he has the fastest finish… I thank Bobby for that. He pushed me to do the championship record.”
Heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic year, Finke has his sights on erasing Yang’s 1500 free world record from the books as he aims to defend both of his Olympic titles in the 800 free and 1500 free from Tokyo.
“The world record is always a goal, no matter what,” Finke said. “I don’t really care what my time is before. If I’ve got to drop five seconds, so be it, 10 seconds, 15 seconds.
“I think that was only Hafnaoui’s second time under 15,” Finke added. “So he went from dropping 15 seconds to dropping another 15 seconds. I don’t really have a point within the last two years where I thought the world record was unachievable.”
Finke also won U.S. national titles in the 800 free (7:40.34) and 1500 free (14:42.81) this summer before capping his year with a 1500 free crown (15:03.97) at the U.S. Open earlier this month.
After bursting onto the international stage with an Olympic sweep of the 800 free (American record 7:41.87) and 1500 free (14:39.65, .17 seconds off the American record at the time) two years ago in Tokyo, Finke keeps finding ways to get faster while also inspiring others on their own record-breaking endeavors.
Honorable Mentions
- Ryan Murphy – At 28 years old, Murphy topped the podium in the 100 back with a winning time of 52.22, slightly off his American record from the Rio 2016 Olympics (51.85) and his silver-medal performance from the 2022 World Championships (51.97). He went faster on two relay legs — a 52.02 leadoff on the mixed 400 medley and a 52.04 for the men’s 400 medley that took bronze and gold, respectively — while also securing a silver medal in the 200 back (1:54.83).
- Jack Alexy – The 20-year-old Cal sprinter helped the Bears repeat as NCAA champions in March before having a huge breakout with five medals at the 2023 World Championships. He earned individual silvers in the 50 free (21.57) and 100 free (47.31), the latter of which made him the second-fastest American ever behind Caeleb Dressel (46.96). Coming into this year, Alexy’s best times in the 50 free and 100 free were 22.13 and 48.69, respectively. He also split 47.56 on the American men’s bronze medal-winning 400 free relay, led off in 47.68 on the mixed free relay that won silver, and finished things off with a sizzling 47.00 anchor leg on the men’s 400 medley relay at the conclusion of the meet, giving the U.S. its first relay gold of the meet (the women won the medley relay in the next heat).
- Hunter Armstrong – The 22-year-old won a world title in the 50 back over Justin Ress, flipping the results from the year prior. Armstrong’s winning time of 24.05 was just off his personal-best 23.71 from last April, which stood as the world record until Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov broke it this summer (23.55). Armstrong also beat Murphy in the 100 back (52.33) at U.S. Nationals before taking bronze behind his Cal training partner at Worlds.
Says everything about the crisis, and lack of stars, in American male swimming at the moment – which will also be the case in Paris, too late to rectify the problems.
I have heard this exact comments following 2015 World Championship.
They are gonna be just fine come Paris.
Must be the first time this award has gone to a swimmer without a gold medal? But quality of the swims was so high that it feels like the obvious choice anyway.
The quality of Bobby’s swims demolished the quality of Murphy/Alexy swims.
Justice at last. Swimswam>USA swimming.
Totally deserved over Murphy. These men’s distance fields are a bloodbath nowadays, unlike men’s backstroke fields
You might want to edit/correct the “… set a pair of American records in the 800 free (7:38.67) and 1500 free (14:42.81)” line, where his new 1500 LCM American record from Fukuoka is 14:31.59.
Well deserved. Looking forward to the distance battles next year
The most exciting men’s events right now!
i was never really a fan of distance races until this year. There is nothing like watching a race develop and the various strategies employed. Not to mention the 800/1500 fields are absolutely loaded with top 20 times/performers in history
All men’s 400-800-1500 finals on Fukuoka was insanely exciting from start to finish.
It says a lot when 1500 race is more exciting than 50 races.
You obviously haven’t been watching swimming for long. They’ve nearly always been exciting.