Olympic Swimmer And World Record Holder Lily King Announces Retirement
Throughout her career, King has been a dominant force in breaststroke, earning Olympic medals, world titles and setting global records. With the announcement of her retirement, let's look back at the highlights of her journey in the pool, from NCAA records to Olympic gold medals.
Before attending Indiana University to begin her college swimming career, King captured her first junior national title in the 100-yard breaststroke at the U.S. Winter Junior Nationals at age sixteen, setting a new National Age Group record. At the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the meet record.
King's relay team also took victory and set a new meet record in the 4×100-meter medley relay at the championship. Just before joining the Indiana Hoosiers, King finished as runner-up in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2015 World University Games.
King didn't have to go far from home to attend Indiana University. She grew up in Indiana, was born in Evansville and attended Francis Joseph Reitz High School. As a freshman at the 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Championships, King broke the NCAA, American and U.S. Open records in the prelims of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.15. She then shattered her own mark in the final, winning the event in 56.85.
King wasn't done there. She also broke records in the 200-yard breaststroke, which she won by a wide margin with a time of 2:03.59, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of the field.
King continued her dominance the following year at the 2017 NCAA Championships. She set a new meet record and defended her title in the 100-yard breaststroke (56.71). In the 200-yard breaststroke, she captured the title again, setting new NCAA, meet, American and U.S. Open records with a time of 2:03.18.
In 2018, King lowered her personal bests once again, breaking the American records in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 56.25 and 2:02.60, respectively. With that 200 performance, she became the first woman ever to swim under 2:03 in the event.
At the 2019 NCAA Championships, King set new NCAA, U.S. Open and American records in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.88—a mark that still stands as the NCAA record today. She also won the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.90).
From 2016 to 2021, King remained undefeated in the 100 breaststroke across yards and meters—a streak that established her dominance in the event.
King made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, where she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking the Olympic record with a time of 1:04.93. She also helped lead the U.S. team to victory in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, King secured two silver medals—one in the 200-meter breaststroke and the other in the 4×100-meter medley relay—along with a bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke.
At the 2024 Paris Games, King helped the U.S. team win gold again in the 4×100-meter medley relay. She placed fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke and eighth in the 200-meter breaststroke.
In total, King has competed in three Olympic Games and earned six Olympic medals, including three gold medals. She has also won 27 World Championship medals, 18 of which are gold. King still holds the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke (long course), set at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with a time of 1:04.13.
She is also a current world record holder in two relays, including the 4×100 medley in both long course meters and short course meters, set in 2024 at the Paris Games and the Short Course World Championships.
King recently competed at the 2025 National Championships, where she won first place in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.88 seconds and finished second in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:06.02). The meet was her final competition in the United States. King is set to race both events at the World Championships in Singapore this summer, which will likely be her last competition before retirement.
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