McIntosh & Marchand Named World Aquatics Swimmers Of The Year

By Will Baxley on SwimSwam

World Aquatics announced Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand as its 2024 Swimmers of the Year upon the conclusion of the Short Course World Championships in Budapest on Sunday.

McIntosh

McIntosh becomes the first Canadian to win the honor. At 18 years of age, she is also the youngest recipient of the award since 16 year-old Katie Ledecky in 2013.

Between the Olympics and Short Course World Championships, McIntosh’s 2024 medal hardware consisted of six gold, two silver, and one bronze medal — all but one of them being won individually.

McIntosh didn’t wait until championship season to start making headlines in 2024, though. In February, the Canadian became the 2nd fastest performer of all time in the 800 freestyle and the first person to beat Katie Ledecky in the event head-to-head since 2010.

Three months later at the Canadian Olympic Trials, McIntosh broke her third long course world record, bringing the 400 IM down to 4:24.38. This is two seconds faster than the second-fastest performer ever, Katinka Hosszu, and four seconds ahead of #3 Kaylee McKeown.

The 18-year-old then left the Paris Olympics with three gold medals in the 200 IM, 400 IM, and 200 fly. She also picked up silver in the 400 free behind Ariarne Titmus in what perhaps was the most anticipated and race of the meet.

McIntosh then translated her long course success into the short course pool at the 2024 World Championships in Budapest. She picked up three golds – all in world record fashion – in the 400 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM. Perhaps the most impressive was the IM, where she swam 4:15.48 to break Mireia Belmonte’s long standing world record by three and a half seconds. McIntosh also picked up a silver and World Junior Record in the 200 back and added a bronze in the 4×100 free relay.

“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” McIntosh told World Aquatics about her year. “I had an amazing 2024 overall, in and out of the pool, so I couldn’t be more happy.”

Marchand

Leon Marchand, 22, is the first French athlete to win Swimmer of the Year and the second European man after David Popovici in 2022.

Marchand was undisputedly the golden boy of the 2024 Olympics in his home country. He ended the games as the most decorated athlete, winning four golds – all in Olympic record fashion. In the meet’s first event, the 400 IM, Marchand won by a landslide and barely missed his own world record. He then doubled up in the 200 fly and 200 breast on the same night, the first swimmer in nearly 50 years to win twice in one day individually. He then capped it off with a 200 IM victory, missing Ryan Lochte’s world record by .06.

After reaching superstar status and carrying the games’ closing torch, Marchand competed in the 2024 World Cup series. He won a trio of Triple Crowns in the men’s medley events – sweeping the three events at all three stops of the series — and he broke the SCM 200 IM world record in 1:48.88.

Not to be overlooked was his performance at the 2024 NCAA championships. The Arizona State star led the Sun Devils to their first NCAA title. Individually, he tripled up on wins in the 500 free, 400 IM, and 200 breaststroke (he’s the fastest performer ever in all three).

Full List of World Aquatics Swimmers of the Year

Read the full story on SwimSwam: McIntosh & Marchand Named World Aquatics Swimmers Of The Year