Ryan Murphy and Lilly King Join Exclusive List of Swimmers To Three-Peat At U.S. Trials

2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS

Not only did Ryan Murphy and Lilly King earn their spots on the United States’ Olympic roster on Monday night, they also wrote their names into Olympic Trials history. With his win in the 100 backstroke and hers in the 100 breaststroke minutes later, Murphy and King joined the list of swimmers who have won the same event at U.S. Olympic Trials on three separate occasions.

When asked post-race about his consistency, Murphy responded “I think the biggest thing in a sport like swimming, where we kind of have few opportunities to race at this level, [is that] you have to pull motivation from a lot of different parts of your life…some days it’s pulling motivation from just raw competitiveness and some days it’s pulling motivation from focusing on technique. Some days, it’s really just being disciplined with your routine.”

Both Murphy and King are the first in their gender to accomplish the feat; Eleanor Holm pulled it off in the women’s 100 backstroke (1928, 1932, 1936) and Brendan Hansen did the same in the men’s 100 breaststroke (2004, 2008, 2012).

In addition, King joins Hansen and Amanda Beard as the only Americans who have made three Olympic teams in breaststroke.

Swimmers Who Have Three-Peated at U.S. Trials 

  • Eleanor Holm,  100 backstroke (1928, 1932, 1936)
  • Mary T. Meagher,  200 butterfly (1980, 1984, 1988)
  • Janet Evans,  400 freestyle (1988, 1992, 1996)
  • Gary Hall Jr., 50 freestyle (1996, 2000, 2004)
  • Brendan Hansen, 100 breaststroke (2004, 2008, 2012)
  • Michael Phelps, 200 freestyle (2004, 2008, 2012)
  • Michael Phelps, 100 butterfly (2008, 2012, 2016)
  • Katie Ledecky, 800 freestyle (2012, 2016, 2021)
  • Katie Ledecky, 400 freestyle (2016, 2021, 2024)
  • Katie Ledecky, 200 freestyle (2016, 2021, 2024)
  • Ryan Murphy, 100 backstroke (2016, 2021, 2024)
  • Lilly King, 100 breaststroke (2016, 2021, 2024)

The only other active swimmer on this list is Katie Ledecky. She already owned a spot on the list courtesy of her 800 freestyle wins from 2012-2016, but she’s added two more events to the list through three days in Indianapolis: the 400 and 200 freestyle. That gives her the most entries on the list, passing Michael Phelps, who has two events on the list (for three-time only entries).

Swimmers Who Have Four-Peated at U.S. Trials

Speaking of Phelps, later in the meet Ledecky has the opportunity to join him in even more rarified air: swimmers who have won four titles in a single event at U.S. Olympic Trials. Phelps completed the feat in both the 200 butterfly and 200 IM, winning both events from 2004 – 2008 and is the only swimmer to accomplish that.

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Mrs. Tarquin Biscuitbarrel
3 months ago

This is so cool. Thanks for listing the other swimmers who’ve three-peated—it’s the kind of detail I can only find at SwimSwam!

swimfan
3 months ago

A few things to edit:

This should be included in the three-peat list and

and winning both events from “2004 – 2008”

should read 2004 – 2016!

swimfan
Reply to  swimfan
3 months ago

but thank you for compiling this list! kudos to SwimSwam authors for keeping up w/ neat stats 🙂

Andrew
3 months ago

Murphy gotta be the luckiest swimmer ever. Just when he’s on the verge of being washed his 2 biggest competitors are banned for a circumstance completely out of their control. Ceccon then pulls a Luca Urlando and randomly goes 51.6 (never breaks 52 again). Post-2019 Xu is a mixed medley relay merchant and consistently sells in the individual and relay. And then there’s a crop of young guys who can’t seem to put it together in a final when it matters but have immense talent (Masiuk, French guys, Christou, etc)

Kyle Socks Wells
Reply to  Andrew
3 months ago

Consistency>>>

Notanyswimmer
Reply to  Andrew
3 months ago

Ceccon will win gold in Paris.

iLikePsych
3 months ago

They also both won Olympic golds their first time and then bronze the second time in their events

About Sophie Kaufman

Sophie Kaufman

Sophie grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, which means yes, she does root for the Bruins, but try not to hold that against her. At 9, she joined her local club team because her best friend convinced her it would be fun. Shoulder surgery ended her competitive swimming days long ago, …

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