World Champs Profile: Lilly King Looking to Cap Stellar Career in Style
Leading into the start of the World Championships later this month, Swimming World will publish a handful of short profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our next entry in this series features American Lilly King, a three-time Olympian who has announced she will retire after Worlds.
Lilly King
United States
Events: 50 Breaststroke/100 Breaststroke
The Road to Singapore
A stalwart for Team USA for the past decade, King has accomplished all the sport has to offer – Olympic titles, world championships, world records. So, when the World Champs conclude in early August, the 28-year-old will call time on her career and shift into the next chapter of her life.
Ahead of retirement, though, King hopes she can add a few more medals to her collection. King will race the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke in Singapore, having eschewed the 200 breast to place her focus entirely on the shorter events. She is currently ranked third in the world in the 50 breast (29.88) and is ranked eighth in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.02).
Top Career Achievement
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, King dominated the 100 breaststroke on her way to the gold medal. King had the top time in all three rounds, including an Olympic record of 1:04.93 in the final. En route to gold, King beat Russian rival Yuliya Efimova, who King spoke out against due to her previous doping violations.
Previous World Champs Hardware
Since making her World Championships debut in 2017, King has reached the podium on 13 occasions, highlighted by 11 gold medals. Five of her titles have come in individual events, including two each in the 50 breaststroke (2017/2019) and 100 breaststroke (2017/2019). She was the world champion in the 200 breaststroke in 2022.
Stat Fact
King has been the world-record holder in the 100 breaststroke since July 25, 2017, when she clocked a performance of 1:04.13 at the World Championships in Budapest. That record is currently the fourth-oldest in women’s swimming.
World Champs Profiles
