Backstroke, breaststroke, and sidestroke. The 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup saw all the professional swimming athletes doing their best. On Sunday, October 22, the final leg of the swimming summit came to an official halt. After a neck-to-neck competition, the swimming World Cup finally concluded in Budapest, Hungary. In what is said to be the ‘future headquarters of World Aquatics,’ Budapest welcomed top professional swimmers to the grand felicitation ceremony. The award? To honor the best female and male swimmers of the year 2023.

The stage was set, and the carpet was laid. The nominees for both categories featured some of the best professional swimmers. With top swimmers like Ahmed Hafnaoui, Leon Marchand, Sarah Sjöström, and Mollie O’callaghan, two of the names glowed like stars. The most anticipated award has China and Australia’s names on it. Qin Haiyang defeated Leon Marchand and others marching towards victory. But that’s not all. In the female category, Kaylee McKeown has shown her mettle to the world.

Swimming athletes of the year

It all happened in Budapest. As swimmers appeared on the blue carpet, the show looked magnificent. But two swimmers took away the major share of the spotlight. China’s Qin Haiyang won the Male Swimmer of the Year award, and Australia’s Kaylee McKeown took home the Female Swimmer of the Year award. The post shared by World Aquatics on their Instagram account is a testament to this fact.

Dressed in formals, all the swimmers exhibited professionalism with grace. The post was captioned, “A blue carpet full of ⭐⭐ in Budapest to celebrate the best female and male swimmers of the year 2023!#swimming” The Nomination Committee and the public cast their votes to choose the winners. The committee consisted of two elite-level retired athletes (Olympians, world champions), one elite-level coach, one bureau member, and one aquatics journalist. As the awards were presented, both Haiyang and McKeown exemplified elegance and expertise. But against whom did the two triumph?

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The selections and the triumph

The competition was fierce in both categories. The nominations released showed how much was at stake for every swimmer. In the Male category, the nominees were Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui representing Tunisia, León Marchand from France, and breaststroke specialist, Qin Haiyang from China. Leon Marchand won the 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley events in Fukuoka, staking his position as one of the favorites going into the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. But winning an award required more than that. Qin made history by becoming the first male swimmer to win the 50, 100, and 200 meter breaststroke titles in the World Aquatics Championships event. In a fierce battle, Haiyang emerged victorious.

Read More: Powerful Adam Peaty Receives a ‘Record’ Threat After Qin Haiyang Dominates 100M Breaststroke Heats at Swimming World Cup 2023

Under the female category, a total of three swimmers were nominated for the award. Sarah Fredrika Sjöström represented Sweden. Besides her, two Australian swimmers, Mollie Grace O’Callaghan and Kaylee Rochelle McKeown, were competing for the spot. But McKeown brought the trophy home. She shattered the world records in both the 50 and 100 backstroke events en route to capturing the women’s overall World Aquatics Swimming World Cup. The 22-year-old achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first woman and the second swimmer in history to hold the record for the 50-meter-long course pool.

Both the athletes had incredible success, winning the 50, 100, and 200-meter events in each of the three World Cup legs that were conducted this past weekend in Berlin, Athens, and Budapest. For them, the sky is the limit!

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