Ultra Swim Swimmer of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based swimmer who has proven themselves over the past month. As with any item of recognition, Swimmer of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one athlete whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a swimmer who was visibly outperforming other swimmers over the month, or one whose accomplishments slipped through the cracks among other high-profile swims. If your favorite athlete wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.
One of the more surprising qualifiers for the American World Championship team, at least in terms of individual events, Patrick Sammon had a breakthrough performance at U.S. Nationals in early June to earn him Swimmer of the Month honors.
Entering the meet with a personal best time of 48.18 in the 100 free, Sammon was among the swimmers in the hunt to land a relay berth for the men’s 4×100 free relay at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, but given the stacked nature of the event, no one was predicting him to land a top-two finish and earn an individual berth in the 100 free at Worlds.
However, that’s exactly what the 21-year-old did, as, on the opening day of competition, Sammon kicked things off with a bang by lowering his personal best time to 47.87 in the prelims, qualifying him 4th for the evening final.
He stepped up again at night, splitting 22.78/24.69 on the way to clocking 47.47 to finish 2nd behind Jack Alexy (47.17), posting the second-fastest back-half split in the field to boot.
That gave Sammon the first World Championship berth of his career and marked a best time of more than seven-tenths relative to where he was coming into the meet.
The final had seven men break 48 seconds, including Sammon’s teammate at Sun Devil Aquatics, Jonny Kulow, placing 5th in a best time of 47.82 to earn a relay berth at Worlds.
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Sammon also moved to #6 all-time in the event among Americans, notably overtaking Michael Phelps in the process.
All-Time U.S. Performers, Men’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)
- Caeleb Dressel, 46.96 – 2019
- Jack Alexy, 46.99 – 2025
- Chris Guiliano, 47.25 – 2024
- Dave Walters, 47.33 – 2009
- Ryan Held, 47.39 – 2019
- Patrick Sammon, 47.47 – 2025
- Michael Phelps, 47.51 – 2008
- Nathan Adrian, 47.52 – 2012
- Destin Lasco, 47.58 – 2025
- Hunter Armstrong, 47.59 – 2024
Although the 100 free was the swim that jumped off the page from Sammon, he also had a pair of standout swims later in the meet.
The recent Arizona State grad set a new personal best of 1:46.54 in the 200 free, winning the ‘C’ final, and he also placed 6th overall in the 50 free after setting back-to-back bests in the prelims (22.14) and final (22.11). Coming into the meet, his best times stood at 22.37 in the 50 free and 1:46.72 in the 200 free, both set at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
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Fantastic swims!! Congratulations Paddy!!
I think there should be another swimmer on the list at around 47.40. I am trying to remember his name. He didn’t do much internationally or collegiately (at least in comparison to this time in the 100m free)
Fantastic, Patrick.