Top Women’s Performances of 2025: Summer McIntosh Tops List With Her First Record of the Year
With the final days of 2025 approaching, it’s time to look back on the year of swimming and determine the top performances in the pool. The list will emphasize long course and championship-winning performances, and each swimmer is only eligible to appear on the list one time. Leading the way on this list are the three swimmers who established individual long course world records in 2025, Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American swimmers Katie Ledecky and Gretchen Walsh.
1. Summer McIntosh (Canada), 400 Freestyle at Canadian Trials (3:54.18 WR)
Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
McIntosh, 19, was the clear choice to top the list after she extended her lead on the rest of the world as best female swimmer this year. Her peak performances came at the Canadian Trials in June, when she blasted world records in the 400 free and both individual medley events while coming up just short in the 800 free and 200 butterfly. The nod here is for McIntosh’s performance in the 400 free as she reclaimed the world record from the now-retired Ariarne Titmus.
On the first day of her selection meet, McIntosh covered the first 200 meters in 1:56.42, under world-record pace but not the quickest opening half of her career. She held just enough back to move more than a second under pace by the 250-meter mark, and even though Titmus was known for her closing speed, McIntosh did not give an inch. She touched in 3:54.18 to annihilate the Australian’s two-year-old time of 3:55.38. McIntosh had previously owned the world record at 3:56.08, a time achieved in March 2023, but this latest mark was almost two seconds quicker.
This effort earns the top spot over McIntosh’s time of 2:05.70 in the 200 IM, which made her the first woman ever under 2:06, and the 4:23.65 400 IM that beat her previous mark of 4:24.38. As for the 200 fly, McIntosh swam a time of 2:01.99 on the way to the world title, becoming the second woman ever under 2:02. If she takes down Liu Zige’s suit-aided world record of 2:01.81 next year, that swim would be a lock for the No. 1 spot.
2. Katie Ledecky (USA), 800 Freestyle at TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale (8:04.12 WR)
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Ledecky could have gone the last decade of her career without setting a long course world record, and it would not have detracted from her credentials as the greatest swimmer in history. Following her fourth Olympic Games, which included a fourth consecutive gold in the 800 free, Ledecky has not reached world-record territory in the 50-meter course since 2018. Her 800-meter mark dated back to the Rio Olympics.
But the 28-year-old put together a magical performance at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Series in early May. During the first two days of that competition, Ledecky swam the second-quickest times of her career in the 1500 and 400, in both cases her quickest mark in at least seven years. That opened the door for a special performance in the 800 on the final day. Ledecky was slightly under world-record pace at various points of the race, but it came down to the wire. She was three hundredths ahead entering the last length before accelerating with a 28.46 split, delighting the crowd with a final time of 8:04.12 in arguably the finest performance of her entire career.
Ledecky would then put together her usual stellar set of performances during championship season. She captured four medals at the World Championships, with gold medals in the 800 and 1500 free, silver in the 800 free relay and bronze in the 400 free. In the 800, Ledecky held off sensational performances from McIntosh and Lani Pallister on the way to her record-setting seventh world title in the event. Ledecky’s winning time of 8:05.62 was her quickest ever in a championship race outside of the 2016 Olympics. Finally, Ledecky concluded the year with another record, posting the first-ever sub-15:00 swim in the 1650-yard free.
3. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 100 Butterfly at TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale (54.60 WR)
Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
During the preceding six months, Walsh had rewritten the short course meters world-record book while winning seven gold medals at the Short Course World Championships. In her final collegiate season for the University of Virginia, Walsh continued her dominant form, matching or achieving the fastest times ever in yards in all three of her best events. Then, she kicked off her 2025 long course season in grand fashion in Fort Lauderdale.
Walsh became the second woman ever under 25 in the 50 fly at that meet, lowering her own American record in the process, and on the final day, she took down the world record in the 100 fly twice. Walsh previously went 55.18 at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, and she surpassed that time in prelims at 55.09. At night, Walsh eclipsed that time by almost a half-second; out in 25.32 and back in 29.32, Walsh finished with an otherworldly mark of 54.60.
In the ensuing months, Walsh went on to qualify for the World Championships in four events. She struggled somewhat in Singapore while battling with the effects of severe gastrointestinal illness that affected most American swimmers at the meet, but Walsh still scored gold medals in both sprint butterfly events. In the 100-meter race, she clocked 54.73 to just miss her world record. Later in the year, Walsh threatened numerous short course world records during the World Cup circuit, and she ended up downing her own standard in the 50 fly.
4. Kaylee McKeown (Australia), 100 Backstroke at World Championships (57.16)
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
In the biggest moments, McKeown always comes through. Dating back to the Tokyo Olympics more than four years ago, McKeown is undefeated in international backstroke finals of the 100 and 200-meter back, despite the constant presence of American rival Regan Smith. McKeown overtook Smith to win the world title in the 100 back in 2023 and then again in the Olympic final a year later, despite Smith taking back the world record from McKeown in between. McKeown did it again at the 2025 Worlds in Singapore.
In this year’s showdown, Smith was two tenths ahead of McKeown at the halfway point, and she held on to achieve a mark of 57.35, only for McKeown to be a little bit better. Home in an incredible 29.24, McKeown finished in 57.16, an Australian and championship record just three hundredths off Smith’s world record.
McKeown could also have earned spots on this list for three different efforts in the 200-meter event. In the global final, Smith had the lead the whole way before McKeown came from behind with a 30.83 final length. She finished in 2:03.33, just 0.19 short of her own world record. Then, McKeown broke the short course world record twice during the World Cup circuit, at both the Westmont, Ill., and Toronto stops. On both occasions, she had to edge out Smith, who was also under the previous marks on both occasions. McKeown swam as fast as 1:57.33.
5. Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh & Torri Huske (USA), 400 Medley Relay at World Championships
Photo Courtesy: Emily Cameron
It was far from a perfect World Championships for the United States, with illness forcing numerous swimmers out of several events and hampering performance in others. But the standout core of the women’s team showed off its supreme talent in the last race of the meet. In largely a repeat of the 2024 Olympic final, the U.S. women destroyed the field in the 400 medley relay in world-record time.
On the opening leg, Smith beat McKeown by 0.12. Douglass, taking over the spot long held by Lilly King, went 1:04.27 on breaststroke before Walsh split 54.98 on the butterfly leg. The only American who did not have the quickest time in her respective stroke was Huske, but she could afford to give back a few tenths to Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan after entering with a three-and-a-half-second lead. The Americans’ final time was 3:49.34, three tenths better than they swam in Paris and 3.33 seconds ahead of silver medalist Australia.
Honorable Mention
These five performances from the spring and summer held up as this year’s best, but plenty of swimmers made their statement seeking spots on this list during the fall short course meters season. The main contenders with a trio of world-record-setting freestyle swims at the final stop of the World Cup in Toronto. O’Callaghan, who won world titles in the 200 free plus a pair of freestyle relays, became the first woman ever under 1:50 in the 200 free at the Westmont stop before going 1:49.36 in Toronto. Douglass, the world champion in the 200 breast, also had world records in the same event at two different World Cup stops. She eventually went as quick as 49.93 in Toronto to become the first woman ever under 50.
But the swim that came closest to making the list was the 800 free short course world record from Lani Pallister. The Australian had a breakout campaign, which included bronze in the 1500 free and a spirited silver-medal swim in the 800 free at Worlds. Pallister was in contention for the list just for pushing Ledecky to the limit in the aforementioned 16-lap race. But in Toronto, she produced a jaw-dropping swim by breaking Ledecky’s world record by three-and-a-half seconds in 7:54.00, beating her own best time by eight seconds in the process.
