Who Will Be Swimming World’s 2018 World Swimmers of the Year?

Every year since 1964, Swimming World has acknowledged the top athletes in our sport by voting for the World Swimmers of the Year. The awards expanded to include the Americas and European Regions in 1980, Pacific Rim in 1995, and Africa in 2004. A panel of 15 members, both national and international, participated in the 2017 voting process. In anticipation of the release of the December issue we at Swimming World would like to take a look back at previous winners.

(Editor’s note: In 2013 Swimming World stripped the East German athletes, who were systematically doped in the 1970s and ’80s, from their World and European Swimmer of the Year titles).

Get Swimming World Magazine and Swimming World Biweekly FREE When You Become A Member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame

Want More? Subscribe With This Special 2-Year Offer!

New! 1-Year Digital Only Subscription for just $29.95 Order Now!

2017 Winners: Sarah Sjostrom & Caeleb Dressel

Photo courtesy: SIPA USA

For the first time since 2012, Swimming World’s Female World Swimmer of the Year was not Katie Ledecky. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom dethroned Lady Ledecky. The 23-year-old collected the same individual medal haul as Ledecky at the 2017 World Championships—three golds and one silver—but Sjostrom upped Ledecky by uncorking two world records in the 50 and 100 free. And she set four short course meters world records days later.

Sjostrom unleashed something remarkable to lead off Sweden’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay at Worlds: her blistering 51.71 split broke Australian Cate Campbell’s world record by 35-hundredths.

On Day 2 in Budapest, Sjostrom came close to another world record—her own—in the 100 fly, touching in 55.53 seconds, a mere 5-hundredths off of her record time from Rio. Sjostrom became the first woman to win four world titles in a single individual eventwith the victory. She now owns the 11 fastest times in history in the 100 fly!

This was Sjostrom’s first World Swimmer of the Year title and third European Swimmer of the Year title. Six world records in one year—that’s one successful 2017 campaign!

caeleb-dressel-swimmer-of-the-meet-2017-fina-world-champs

Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

He was on the verge of making history, but Caeleb Dressel insisted that he had no desire to be compared with Michael Phelps, a man whose athletic accomplishments had long since transcended the sport.

Dressel twice declared his admiration for Phelps, with whom hehad crossed paths at the Rio Olympics—the fifth Games for Phelps and the first for Dressel. But the 20-year-old Floridian also utteredthese words: “I just want to keep doing my own thing.”

His “own thing” had, to that point, produced six World Championship gold medals at FINA’s global showcase meet in Budapest. One day later, he would win a record-tying seventh. The only other man to win that many was, of course, Phelps.

And, for those efforts, Dressel was named the winner of an award that Phelps won eight times: Male World Swimmer of the Year.

Year	Women	Men
2023	Kaylee McKeown, AUS	Leon Marchand, FRA
2022	Ariarne Titmus, AUS	David Popovici, ROU
2021	Emma McKeon, AUS	Caeleb Dressel, USA
2020	Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic	Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019	Regan Smith, USA	Caeleb Dressel, USA
2018	Katie Ledecky, USA	Adam Peaty, GBR
2017	Sarah Sjostrom, SWE	Caeleb Dressel, USA
2016	Katie Ledecky, USA	Michael Phelps, USA
2015	Katie Ledecky, USA	Adam Peaty, GBR
2014	Katie Ledecky, USA	Kosuke Hagino, JPN
2013	Katie Ledecky, USA	Sun Yang, CHN
2012	Missy Franklin, USA	Michael Phelps, USA
2011	Rebecca Soni, USA	Ryan Lochte, USA
2010	Rebecca Soni, USA	Ryan Lochte, USA
2009	Federica Pellegrini, ITA	Michael Phelps, USA
2008	Stephanie Rice, AUS	Michael Phelps, USA
2007	Laure Manaudou, FRA	Michael Phelps, USA
2006	Leisel Jones, AUS	Michael Phelps, USA
2005	Leisel Jones, AUS	Grant Hackett, AUS
2004	Yana Klochkova, UKR	Michael Phelps, USA
2003	Hannah Stockbauer, GER	Michael Phelps, USA
2002	Natalie Coughlin, USA	Ian Thorpe, AUS
2001	Inge De Bruijn, NED	Ian Thorpe, AUS
2000	Inge De Bruijn, NED	Pieter van den Hoogenband, NED
1999	Penny Heyns, RSA	Ian Thorpe, AUS
1998	Jenny Thompson, USA	Ian Thorpe, AUS
1997	Claudia Poll, CRC	Michael Klim, Aus
1996	Penny Heyns, RSA	Denis Pankratov, RUS
1995	Kristina Egerszegi, HUN	Denis Pankratov, RUS
1994	Samantha Riley, AUS	Kieren Perkins, AUS
1993	Franziska Van Almsick, GER	Karoly Guttler, HUN
1992	Kristina Egerszegi, HUN	Egveni Sadovyi, URS
1991	Kristina Egerszegi, HUN	Tamas Darnyi, HUN
1990	Janet Evans, USA	Mike Barrowman, USA
1989	Janet Evans, USA	Mike Barrowman, USA
1988	Janet Evans, USA, ~~Kristin Otto, GDR~~ *	Matt Biondi, USA
1987	Janet Evans, USA	Tamas Darnyi, HUN
1986	Mary T. Meagher, USA, ~~Kristin Otto, GDR~~ *	Matt Biondi, USA
1985	Mary T. Meagher, USA	Michael Gross, FRG
1984	Tiffany Cohen, USA, ~~Kristin Otto, GDR~~ *	Alex Baumann, CAN
1983	Tiffany Cohen, USA, ~~Ute Geweniger, GDR~~ *	Rick Carey, USA
1982	Tracy Caulkins, USA, Petra Schneider, GDR *	Vladimir Salnikov, URS
1981	Mary T. Meagher, USA	Alex Baumann, CAN
1980	Tracy Caulkins, USA, ~~Petra Schneider, GDR~~ *	Rowdy Gaines, USA
1979	Cynthia Woodhead, USA	Vladimir Salnikov, URS
1978	Tracy Caulkins, USA	Jesse Vassallo, USA
1977	Wendy Boglioli, USA, ~~Ulrike Tauber, GDR~~ *	Brian Goodell, USA
1976	Shirley Babashoff, USA, ~~Kornelia Ender, GDR~~ *	John Naber, USA
1975	Shirley Babashoff, USA, ~~Kornelia Ender, GDR~~ *	Tim Shaw, USA
1974	Shirley Babashoff, USA, ~~Ulrike Tauber, GDR~~ *	Tim Shaw, USA
1973	Novella Calligaris, ITA, ~~Kornelia Ender, GDR~~ *	Rick DeMont, USA
1972	Shane Gould, AUS	Mark Spitz, USA
1971	Shane Gould, AUS	Mark Spitz, USA
1970	Alice Jones, USA	Gary Hall, USA
1969	Debbie Meyer, USA	Gary Hall, USA
1968	Debbie Meyer, USA	Charles Hickcox, USA
1967	Debbie Meyer, USA	Mark Spitz, USA
1966	Claudia Kolb, USA	Mike Burton, USA
1965	Martha Randall, USA	Dick Roth, USA
1964	N/A	Don Schollander, USA

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

1 Comment

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

norman

5 years ago

Morozov, Vladimir, RUS
Sjostrom, Sarah, SWE