World Record holder Lilly King has announced on Instagram that 2025 will be her final season competing. King had previously announced that the 2024 Paris Olympics would be her final Olympics, but that she would not step away directly after last summer’s Paris Games. At the Fort Lauderdale Pro Series stop, King also said that the addition of the 50 breast at the Olympics has not changed her plans.
“Well folks, my time has come.
This will be my final season competing. I’m fortunate heading into retirement being able to say I have accomplished everything I have ever wanted in this sport. I feel fulfilled.
That being said, it has always been important to me that my last meet in the US be at the pool that started it all. I have been racing in the IU Natatorium since I was 10 years old. From state meets, to NCAAs, Nationals, and anything in between, this pool has been my home. I didn’t quite make it 20 years (only 18) of racing in Indy, but this is as close as I’m gonna get! I look forward to racing in front of a home crowd one last time.
See you in Indy!”
Originally from Evansville, Indiana, King will swim her final meet on home soil in her home state. She is entered in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes for 2025 US Summer Nationals, where she is the top seed in the 100 breast as well as the #2 seed in the 50 breast. She did not enter the 200 breast, an event she won silver in at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and finished 8th in the event in Paris. US Nationals are scheduled to begin this week, running from June 3-June 7 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
King is the World Record holder in the LCM 100 breaststroke as she swam a 1:04.13 at the 2017 World Championships in Hungary. She also is a member of two relay World Records as the team of Regan Smith, King, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske swam to a World Record in the women’s 4×100 medley relay in Paris.
This past December, Smith, King, Walsh, and Kate Douglass swam to the World Record in the SCM women’s 4×100 medley relay at SC Worlds. At SC Worlds, King stated that she has been swimming less practices than ever before.
King represented the US at a total of three Olympics. In 2016, she won gold in the 100 breast setting a new Olympic Record in the process. She also won gold in the US women’s 4×100 medley relay. In Tokyo at the 2020 Games, she won silver in the 200 breast, silver in the women’s 4×100 medley relay, and bronze in the 100 breast. This past summer in Paris, she finished 4th in the 100 breast just 0.01 off of bronze. She also swam to the World Record setting relay in the women’s 4×100 medley relay that won gold.
Congrats to Lilly on 1) a great career and 2) actually straightforwardly retiring. The latter is very rare nowadays
Bye, cannot stand her
Who cares about your negativity.
She has had a great career! I wish her the best.
Thank you Lilly, enjoy retirement later this year!
Good!
She got a lot of pearl-clutching and hate here for merely carrying herself with the swag and brashness of an athlete at the top of their sport. Folks couldn’t deal with a female swimmer with her mouth. Lilly was good for swimming and she backed it up. Lilly is *that girl*!
What’s crazy is that she was never really brash or rude or constantly trash talking her competitors – she clearly just had the drive and confidence required to win and stay on top, and obviously didn’t like that her main rival was a confirmed doper
I’m sure some criticism came her way for being female and brash, but what guys in the sport were that way and didn’t get criticized? It was a different world then, but didn’t Mel get some criticism for being arrogant? Amy got criticized for calling out cheaters and being brash (didn’t she spit water into competitor’s lanes before races). I don’t remember Phelps, Piersol, Grevers, etc being that way. And Phelps dominated so many that would have been that no one took them seriously. They got eye rolls instead. I think we look at Lochte differently 15-20 years ago if Phelps wasn’t so dominant because Lochte was more brash. I do think Lilly was good for swimming. She was a… Read more »
You’re also forgetting the a true pioneer of that Gary Hall Jr.
Mel got tons of criticism for it.
That’s my recollection, and that was a totally different time.
Most comments have been positive.
Would be absolutely magical if the women’s medley relay ends up breaking the world record again to conclude the meet and King’s career. With King having a lessened schedule without the 200, there’s a chance her leg is going to be much faster and they’ll dip under it. Manifesting!
The women’s 4 x 100 meter medley relay can definitely improve upon the freestyle split. Reference the 2019 World Aquatics Championships for further details.
Smith, King, Gretchen, Huske..all have room to reduce the split time..so it is possible..57.2, 1.04.8, 54.5, 52.0 WR
Huske or Douglass. Love Torri but Douglass with her 51.79 from 2023 worlds does have the fastest US flying split ever. Either one of them or even Simone if the Bowman effect on a career resurgence is in full force could potentially be in sub 52 form. Sure the 50 fee is on the final day as well so it’s likely a couple swimmers on the relay will have the easy double, but the WR is likely on watch.
Splits from Paris (for those who don’t remember or don’t want to open another tab to look)
Regan – 57.28
Lilly – 1:04.90
Gretchen – 55.03
Torri – 52.42
Regan tends to swim faster on the relays… Read more »
is the 400 medley relay last? the adrenaline might push lilly to a pretty fast time being the last race of her career
Perhaps most underrated is the fact that her 100 breast SCY still stands from 2017. Forgot about that