See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
2024 CENTRAL AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: KRISTEN ROMANO, PUERTO RICO
Kristen Romano takes her 2nd straight win in the category. Romano has been training with the pro group at Tennessee since she graduated from Ohio State in 2022, and she had a very consistent season swimming at all three major international meets for Puerto Rico.
Romano started her year at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, where she swam three individual events, the 200 IM, 200 back, and 400 IM. She made the semi-final in the 200 IM, coming in 12th with a final time of 2:13.33.
She was 11th in the 400 IM at 4:45.78, and 20th in the 200 backstroke at 2:14.46. She is the national record holder in the 400 IM at 4:45.47 from June 2023.
In May, she competed in the Atlanta Classic meet. She finished that meet with a win, and a season best time in the 200 IM of 2:13.09. She also swam the 100 fly, placing 5th with her final time of 59.63 which was a new National Record
Romano swam the 200 IM at the 2024 Paris Olympics as one of two swimmers on Puerto Rico’s roster. This was Romano’s first Olympics, and she finished 21 in the preliminaries, coming in at 2:13.32.
At the Puerto Rico International Swimming Open in October, Romano swam and won seven events. Most notably, she set a new National Record in the SCM 100 backstroke, going 59.62 in the event.
Finally, Romano competed in five events at the 2024 SC World Championships, the 200 backstroke, 100 fly, 100 IM, 200 IM, and 400 IM. Her highest finish was a 10th place in the 400 IM, where she went 4:33.56. She finished 13th in the 200 IM, generally a semi-finals swim, with a new national record time of 2:08.92. She was 23rd in the 200 back (2:07.60) and the 100 IM (1:00.76), and 24th in the 100 fly (58.93).
Honorable Mention:
- Maria Mata Cocco, Mexico: Mata Cocco competed at both World Championships this year. At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, she qualified for the semi-finals and finished 11th in the women’s 200 butterfly, going 2:11.17. She also swam the 100 fly, finishing 24th in 1:00.39, and the fly leg on Mexico’s 400 medley relay, splitting 1:00.53. At the 2024 CCAN Championships she won the 100 fly (1:00.15) and 200 fly (2:11.64). Her final meet of the year was the 2024 SC World Championships in Budapest where she swam the 100 and 200 fly. Her 100 fly was 25th at 58.96 (just behind Romano), and her 200 fly was 16th in 2:09.32.
- 2023 — Kristen Romano, Puerto Rico
- 2022 — Maria Mata Cocco, Mexico
- 2021 — Joanna Evans, Bahamas
- 2020 — Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- 2019 –Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- 2018 – Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- 2017 – Lili Ibanez, Mexico
- 2016 – Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- 2015 – Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- 2014 – Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
