See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
Comeback swimmer of the year: Paige Madden, United States
Paige Madden is coming off of an excellent year of swimming. In July, she competed in three events at the Olympic Games, winning her first individual Olympic medal, a bronze in the 800m freestyle. She held onto that momentum, and in December, she was part of the United States’ World Record breaking 4×200 freestyle relay at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.
Her path to get there was far from easy, however, which is what earned her our comeback swimmer of the year award.
In 2021, Madden had an exceptional year of swimming. She won four NCAA Championship titles as a senior for UVA in the 200 free, 500 free, 1650 free and as a member of their 4×200 freestyle relay. She went on to qualify for her first Olympic team in the 400 freestyle and as a member of the 4×200 freestyle relay.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games, Madden dropped in her prelims swim, going 4:03.98 to qualify 7th for the final. In finals, she added a bit, but she ended up placing 6th in the event. Later in the meet, she earned her first Olympic medal as the 2nd swimmer on the United States’ silver medal 4×200 freestyle relay.
Through the rest of the year, she competed in the ISL for the Tokyo Frog Kings, and she finished the year at the 2021 SC World Championships, where she earned a bronze medal in the 200 free and a 5th place in the 400 free. She also earned a silver medal on the 4×200 free relay.
In April of 2022, Madden began having issues with her physical and mental health. She ended up pulling out of the 400 freestyle at the International Team Trials because of struggles with Hashimoto’s disease. She revealed that she had been struggling with it for years, but this was the first time it was affecting her swimming and her ability to train.
Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to gradually destroy the thyroid. The National Institute of Health describes the thyroid as playing “ a major role in the metabolism, growth and development of the human body.” They also discussed how the thyroid plays a crucial role in regulating many bodily functions, and when the body needs more energy it is responsible for producing more hormones.
She was also struggling a lot with her mental health making the transition from student-athlete to athlete, and she ultimately decided to take the rest of the summer off. During this time, she moved to England to train at Loughborough and start a master’s program. Madden’s mental health improved, but she was still struggling to get back into her pre-Olympic shape. At the 2023 U.S. Nationals she finished 4th in the 400 free and 16th in the 200 free, good finishes, but a far cry from the World and Olympic Medalist of 2021.
At this point, Madden decided to move to Arizona to train with Bob Bowman and his pro group at ASU.
Finally, she started seeing improvements. At the Speedo Grand Challenge in May of this year, Madden went her first best time since 2021, swimming 4:03.02 in the 400 freestyle. A month later at the Olympic Trials, she went even faster, finishing in 4:02.08 to qualify for her 2nd Olympic Games. She also finished 2nd in the 800 freestyle, going 8:20.71 for 2nd. In the 200 freestyle, Madden finished 3rd, earning her 3rd swim at the Games as a member of the 4×200 freestyle relay.
At the Olympics, she finished 3rd in the 800 freestyle in 8:13.00, winning her first individual Olympic medal. She also won a silver on the 4×200 freestyle relay for Team USA, and she finished 6th in the 400 free.
Her next meet was the 2024 SC World championships where she earned two 4th place finishes, in the 400 and 800 freestyles, and a World Record on the 4×200 freestyle relay.
In November, Madden won the USA Swimming Golden Goggle for Perseverance, and in her acceptance said, “I can truly walk away from the last year saying that I fell in love with the sport, and it didn’t matter if I won a medal or made the team or not, I loved every single day and just loved the daily grind.”
Honorable Mention:
- Kristof Milak, Hungary: Milak is the current World Record holder in the 200 butterfly, and he came back this year, after his mental health struggles were the subject of a lot of speculation and discussion over the last year. In 2023, Milak pulled out of the World Championships, saying in his official statement that he had “hit rock bottom” and he needed a break. Throughout the rest of 2023 and early 2024, there was a lot of concern over his preparation for the Olympic Games, and even his own federation and home media was saying he was not ready due to lack of training. He swam well at the Hungarian Championships, but there were still reports he wasn’t going to be prepared. At the 2024 Olympic in Paris, Milak came back strong, winning a gold medal in the 100 fly and a silver in the 200 fly.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
- 2023: Cam McEvoy, Australia
- 2022: Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania
Makes my day!