Leon Marchand, Summer McIntosh named World Aquatics Swimmers of the Year

Léon Marchand and Summer McIntosh were named World Aquatics Swimmers of the Year after winning the most individual gold medals at the Paris Olympics.

The awards were based on public voting on World Aquatics’ Instagram and a nomination committee.

Marchand, a 22-year-old Frenchman, took the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly and 200m and 400m individual medleys to become the fourth swimmer to earn four individual golds at one Olympics.

He took Male Swimmer of the Year over fellow individual Olympic gold medalists and nominees American Bobby Finke, Hungarian Kristóf Milák, China’s Pan Zhanle and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen.

McIntosh, an 18-year-old Canadian, captured Olympic titles in the 200m fly and 200m and 400m IMs.

The other Female Swimmer of the Year nominees were Americans Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith, Australian Kaylee McKeown and Swede Sarah Sjöström.

Ledecky won the award in 2013 and 2022. The last American man to win was Caeleb Dressel in 2017, 2019 and 2021.