The Youngest Olympic Champions In Swimming History

This will be a part of a series featuring analyzing Olympic medalists in swimming by age, thanks to the data compiled by SwimmingStats guru Daniel Takata (@Swimming Stats).

The age at which athletes peak is a highly-debated topic and one that certainly varies from sport to sport.

In swimming, athletes tend to reach their prime younger than in other sports, but still, we don’t usually see swimmers peak until their early 20s (sometimes late teens for women). The average age of an Olympic swimming gold medalist (including relays) is 21.46 years old.

However, there are rare cases where swimmers have reached the pinnacle of the sport well before that.

The youngest Olympic champion in history? Japan’s Kyoko Iwasaki, who won the women’s 200 breaststroke at 14 years, six days old at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

There have been a total of seven swimmers to win an Olympic gold medal before their 15th birthday, though just three of them came in individual events.

Hungarian legend Krisztina Egerszegi was just 34 days older than Iwasaki was when she won gold in 1988 in the women’s 200 backstroke, while another Japanese swimmer, Kuzuo Kitamura, topped the men’s 1500 freestyle podium in 1932  while he was still 14.

20 YOUNGEST OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS

Data Notes:

• It’s a well-known fact within the swimming community, but it becomes abundantly clear that women peak earlier than men based on the above list alone, as Kitamura is the lone male swimmer to rank among the 20 youngest Olympic champions.
• The data also tells us that it was far more frequent for swimmers in their mid-teens to be competitive at the highest level, specifically on relays, in the 1960-1980s timeframe relative to the current era. The fact that so many 14/15-year-old swimmers were on gold-medal winning relays also speaks to the increase in depth countries have nowadays.
• However, there are also supremely talented athletes that break through no matter what, as we can see with Ruta Meilutyte and Katie Ledecky winning Olympic gold in 2012 at 15. The 1996 Games in Atlanta also saw Americans Amanda Beard and Beth Botsford win gold at an incredibly young age. Although Beard’s gold medal came in the medley relay, she also won a pair of silvers in Atlanta at 14, while Botsford added a second gold in the medley relay a few days after her 100 back win.
• A number of swimmers in the top 20 won multiple gold medals at the Olympics in which they earned a spot on the list: Sue Pedersen (2), Botsford (2), Andrea Pollack (2), Rica Reinisch (3), Petra Thümer (2) and Katrin Meissner (2).

Since swimmers need to rely on their teammates in order to win relay medals, here’s a look at the 20 youngest Olympic champions in individual events to give us an idea of who managed to achieve this remarkable feat on their own.

20 YOUNGEST INDIVIDUAL OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS

Data Notes:

• A second male swimmer joins the top 20 rankings when things are specified towards individual events, as Yasuji Miyazaki won the men’s 100 free at the 1932 Olympics—the same Games his Japanese teammate Kitamura won gold. The Japanese men won five of the six events at those Games, with Miyazaki also winning gold in the 800 free relay.
• Among the new names cracking the top 20, Shane Gould and Melissa Belote both won three gold at the 1972 Olympics, with Gould having swept the 200, 400 and 800 free in world record fashion. Sharon Stouder won a pair of relay titles in addition to her individual gold in 1964, Diana Mocanu swept both female backstroke events in Sydney, and Debbie Meyer won the women’s 200, 400 and 800 free events in Mexico City.
• Penny Oleksiak joins Meilutyte and Ledecky in terms of Olympic champions to make the list over the last two decades, having tied for the women’s 100 free title in Rio.

To get into things even further, let’s look at the top 20 per gender, both overall and individually.

20 YOUNGEST OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS – FEMALE

20 YOUNGEST INDIVIDUAL OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS – FEMALE

Data Note

• There are a total of 27 individual gold medal victories among the 20 swimmers on the list above, taking into account the swimmers who won multiple titles at their respective Games. Eleven different events were won at least once over those 27 swims, with the 100 back and 800 free tied for appearing the most times at five. Those two events are followed by the 400 free (4), 200 breast (3), 200 back (3), and the 200 free (2).

20 YOUNGEST OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS – MALE

20 YOUNGEST INDIVIDUAL OLYMPIC SWIMMING GOLD MEDALISTS – MALE

Data Notes

• Austrian Otto Scheff won gold in the men’s 400 free at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens at 16 years, 136 days old, which would rank him third youngest male swimmers. At the time, the Games were considered the “Second International Olympic Games in Athens” by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, the IOC does not officially recognize the medals won there, so we’ve omitted it from the list.
• The male swimmers on the list that won multiple gold medalists at their respective Olympics were:  Murray Rose (3), Ian Thorpe (3), Brian Goodell (2), Roland Matthes (2) and Alfréd Hajós (2).
• There are a total of 23 individual gold medal victories among the 20 swimmers on the list above, taking into account the swimmers who won multiple titles at their respective Games. Nine different events were won at least once over those 23 swims, with the 1500 free prevailing as the most common event for a young male swimmer to win with five. The 1500 was followed by the 100 free (4), 400 free (4), 100 back (3), 200 back (2) and 200 breast (2).
• The only two male swimmers to crack the top 20 individually over the last nine Olympics are Thorpe in 2000 and Kyle Chalmers in 2016.