Rising Stars of Swimming in 2025: 5 Ladies Who Broke Via This Summer season
The yr after a Summer season Olympics brings probabilities for youthful and fewer achieved swimmers to step into the limelight at championship-level occasions, notably as veterans step again from the game to think about their future. The largest competitions held in 2025, most notably the World Aquatics Championships, allowed swimmers to construct momentum for the brand new quad.
Arguably probably the most resounding breakthrough got here from Anna Elendt, a 23-year-old from Germany who trains on the College of Texas. Elendt had achieved worldwide success earlier than, claiming silver within the 100 breaststroke on the 2022 World Championships, however she had been utterly shut out in her foremost occasion the final two years. Elendt was nineteenth on the 2023 World Championships and twentieth on the Paris Olympics.
Elendt posted sturdy instances within the leadup to this yr’s Singapore Worlds, getting again into 1:05-territory, and the unpredictability of the 100 breast was on her aspect, with nobody having repeated as champion at a serious meet since 2019. She superior by prelims this time, however the tight semifinal subject almost tripped her up, with Elendt’s time of 1:06.13 barely making the ultimate subject in seventh place.
However one evening later within the ultimate, Elendt put collectively the proper race, going out behind solely Tang Qianting of China after which coming again sturdy, holding off fast-finishing American Kate Douglass to take gold. The time of 1:05.19 moved her right into a tie for twelfth all-time within the occasion.
Along with Elendt, listed here are 4 different girls who boosted their standing with their efforts this yr:
Alex Perkins, Gretchen Walsh & Roos Vanotterdijk (left to proper) on the rostrum for the 50 butterfly — Photograph Courtesy: Emily Cameron
Roos Vanotterdijk, Belgium & Alex Perkins, Australia
Whereas Gretchen Walsh dominated the ladies’s dash butterfly occasions as anticipated at Worlds, Vanotterdijk and Perkins joined her on the rostrum in each the 50 and 100-meter distances. The 20-year-old Vanotterdijk was the European champion within the 100 fly a yr in the past, however she was unable to advance out of the Olympic semifinals within the 100 fly whereas by no means breaking 57 earlier than this yr. That modified in a serious means in Singapore when she tied Walsh atop the 100 fly semis after which went 55.84 for silver the following evening, changing into the eighth-fastest girl ever.
Perkins, 25, stepped into an necessary position for Australia vacated by the retirement of Emma McKeon after by no means beforehand profitable a person medal at a serious meet. Perkins, too, jumped from semifinalist within the 100 fly in Paris to bronze in Singapore, and later within the week, she tied the Commonwealth report to win silver within the 50-meter distance. Her fly leg was key in conserving Australia away from the sphere for silver within the girls’s medley relay.
Mio Narita, Japan
Narita, 18, has been considered as a rising star within the medley occasions for a number of years, going again to her double-gold-medal efficiency on the 2022 World Junior Championships. Narita had spent the earlier two summers attempting to make her impression on the senior stage, ending eighth within the 400 IM on the 2023 world meet and sixth within the Olympic ultimate. In Singapore, Narita snared a spot on the rostrum for the primary time, tying Australia’s Jenna Forrester for runnerup honors within the 400 IM.
Following a fifth-place end within the 200 IM in the beginning of the meet, Narita was behind the sphere for almost all of the 400 ultimate, swimming in seventh place by the midway level. She accelerated on breaststroke into the third spot earlier than partaking in a battle with Forrester down the stretch. Whereas Summer season McIntosh was the plain star of the race along with her 7.48-second victory, Narita dropped two seconds from her lifetime greatest to safe her spot among the many medley contenders shifting ahead.
Tess Howley, USA
The ultimate entrant on this record didn’t compete on the World Championships, having positioned third within the 200 fly at U.S. Nationals. That was thought-about a robust consequence for Howley on the time, however she jumped up the rankings additional along with her win on the World College Video games. Howley smashed her greatest time by greater than a second within the 200 fly semis with a mark of two:05.20, placing her right into a tie for 14th all-time and third-best American behind Regan Smith and Mary Descenza.
The subsequent evening, Howley received gold in 2:05.69, securing her place on the American group at subsequent yr’s Pan Pacific Championships. That point would find yourself virtually a half-second faster than Aussie Elizabeth Dekkers swam on the way in which to bronze within the Worlds ultimate, and Howley completed the summer season season at No. 3 within the world standings.
