See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
If you had guessed at the end of last year that a Tunisian distance swimmer with the first name of Ahmed would be named the 2024 African Male Swimmer of the Year, then you’d be correct. But I bet not many would have picked it to be Ahmed Jaouadi.
After claiming a historic win in the 400 free in Tokyo and double golds (and a silver) at the 2023 Fukuoka Worlds, Tunisia Ahmed Hafnaoui was on top of the world and seemed poised to not only repeat as African Swimmer of the Year but also defend his Olympic title (and add more). However, a rough start to his NCAA career, Visa issues, and a poor performance at the 2024 Worlds led the Tunisian to shut down his season, and still yet, the Award is being handed out to a Tunisian distance swimmer.
Like Hafnaoui and Ous Mellouli before him, Ahmed Jaouadi burst onto the scene at the Olympics. Jaouadi started the year off at the Doha World Championships, finishing 25th in the 400 free (3:49.85). The Tunisian, who now trains with SC Thionville, a French-based club, first made some noise at the French Olympic Qualifying meet. In the 800 free, Jaouadi dropped six seconds to record a new personal best of 7:45.31, not only winning by over three seconds but beating David Aubry (who was 3rd), the 2019 Worlds Bronze medalist in the event.
In the 1500, Jaouadi won by a similar margin over Aubry, who had just four months earlier won bronze in Doha. His winning time of 14:48.69 was over 20 seconds faster than his March result and qualified him for the Olympics as the 11th seed. The Tunisian also entered the 400 free (18th seed) and the 800 free (10th seed).
On the first day of the Olympics, Jaouadi, just missed making the final of the 400 free, finishing 9th overall in a time of 3:46.19, just .39 back of 8th place. But remember, he was just 25th in Doha, and with the longer distances still to come, Jaouadi had better opportunities to make the final and he didn’t wait long.
After already having swum a new personal best at the French Trials, Jaouadi dropped another three seconds to record a new mark of 7:42.07 in the prelims of the 800 free, a result that moved him up from the 10th seed to the 2nd seed and qualified him for his first Olympic final. While a little slower in the finals, 7:42.83, and missing out on the podium by just one spot, the result marked his second swim under the 7:45 mark and cemented that his first swim was not a fluke.
The 1500 was similar to the 800, as the Tunisian swam a new personal best in the prelims (14:44.20) and was the third-fastest qualifier into the finals. Like in the 800, he ultimately slipped out of the medal hunt, finishing 6th, but unlike the 800, he dropped even more time, recording a new PB of 14:43.35. By the end of the Olympics, Jaouadi had earned himself not only two Olympic final appearances but also vaulted his way up the all-time rankings, with his results in the 800 and 1500 ranking amongst the top 20 performers of all time.
Not content to rest on those laurels, Jaouadi continued racing through the fall, and at the French SC Championships, he swept the 400/800/1500 frees in new personal bests, recording times of 3:38.74, 7:33.84 and 14:24.68 with the 800 result being of particular noteworthiness as it sat just .15 off the Hafnaoui African record.
With these results in hand, Jaouadi entered SC Worlds as a strong contender for the medals in the distance frees, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
The second seed in the 1500, Jaouadi grabbed the race by the horns and led after the 200-meter mark. As a timed final and with many of the best swimmers entered with long course meters times, Jaoaudi found himself alone in the middle of the pool, but in a virtual competition with the German and World Record holder Florian Wellbrock, who swam in the morning. The pair’s split were just .24 apart with 100 left, but Jaouadi surged home and took the win in 14:16.40, not only a massive new PB by eight seconds but also his first-ever major international medal. The win made Jaouadi the third Tunisian in the past 15 years to have won a gold medal in 1500 (Mellouli won in 2009 (LC) and 2010 (SC) and Hafnaoui in 2023 (LC)), and his time ranks him as the 6th fastest performer of all time.
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While Jaouadi couldn’t replicate the gold medal in the 800, he still walked away with the bronze as he again dropped a new personal best of 7:31.93, surpassing the African record (which he was so close to October) by over a second and ranking him as the 13th fastest performer ever.
Now training under Phillippe Lucas, who has coached the likes of Laure Manaudou and Sharon van Rouwendaal and having been joined by Hafnaoui in France (albeit after accepting a voluntary provisional suspension for anti-doping rules violations), Jaouadi’s future looks bright. However, with countries limited to just two swimmers per event and with the rise of Rami Rahmouni, who, at 15, this past October swam 7:41 in the 800 scm, competition will be fierce. That said, in 2024, Ahmed Jaouadi reigned supreme, and coming off of his first Worlds title, 2025 looks to be an even better year.
Honorable Mentions:
- Pieter Coetze, South Africa – If it wasn’t for Short Course Worlds, this Award would easily go to Pieter Coetze (and some may argue that it still should). The South African started the year with a bang at the 2024 Worlds. In Doha, Coetze claimed his first World medal with a 3rd place showing in the 200 back. Recording a time of 1:55.99, Coetze, who was in 8th at the 150 turn, dropped a hammer of a last 50, splitting 28.67 to surge home and not only earn a spot on the podium but also scare the supersuited African record of 1:55.75. In Paris, Coetze made the finals in both the 100 and 200 back, placing 5th in the 100 (52.58) and 7th in the 200 (1:55.60), both of which now stand as new continental and national records. Coetze, didn’t keep his accomplishments contained to long course, as the South African cleaned up the backstroke events in the World Cup Stops. He swept the 100 and 200 backstroke at all three stops, setting new continental records in the 50 and 100, but opted not to partake in Worlds. Had he competed in Budapest, his 200-back time of 1:49.12 from Shanghai would have been fast enough to earn the bronze medal.
- Youseff Ramadan, Egypt—This past February, Ramadan won his fourth straight 100-yard fly (44.06) at the ACC Championships, adding a runner-up finish in the 50 free (18.84) and a fourth-place finish in the 100 (41.68). A member of the Virginia Tech Hokies, Ramadan placed 4th in the 100 fly (43.95) at NCAAs, a little off his personal best of 43.15. He also finished 9th in both the 50 free (18.74) and 100 free (41.27) as well as leading off the 200 and 400 Free and Medley Relays, with each relay placing in the top 10. While Ramadan did not compete at either the 2024 Long Course Worlds or at the Olympics, he is just off an impressive performance at the 2024 SC Worlds. In Budapest, the 5th year placed 14th in the 100 free (46.41) after having set a new Egyptian record in the prelims (46.24) and just missed the final of the 100 fly by .02 with a time of 49.31.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
- 2023 Swammy — Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia
- 2022 Swammy – Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2021 Swammy – Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia
- 2020 Swammy – Mohamed Samy, Egypt
- 2019 Swammy – Zane Waddell, South Africa
- 2018 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2017 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2016 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2015 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2014 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
- 2013 Swammy — Chad le Clos, South Africa
