Lilly King

Lilly King (born February 10, 1997)[4] is an American swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. She currently represents the Cali Condors, a team that is part of the International Swimming League. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won the gold medal in the 100 meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the women's 4 × 100 m medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. She is the current world record holder in 100-metre and 50-metre breaststroke (long course).

Lilly King
King in 2018
Personal information
Nickname(s)King
National teamUnited States
Born (1997-02-10) February 10, 1997[1]
Evansville, Indiana[1]
Height5 ft 8.5 in (174 cm)[2]
Weight154 lb (70 kg)[2]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
ClubCali Condors[3]
Indiana Swim Club
College teamIndiana University

Early life

King was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, the daughter of Mark and Ginny King. Mark ran track and cross-country at Indiana State University and Ginny swam for Eastern Kentucky University and Illinois State University. King's younger brother Alex is a walk-on swimmer at the University of Michigan.[5] King attended FJ Reitz High School, where the school's swim team shared Lloyd Pool with five other teams.[5] The lanes at Lloyd Pool were often crowded with swimmers below King's ability, so in order to help compensate, King added several morning practices a week with the local masters team and joined a competitive swim team called the Newburgh Sea Creatures.[5]

Career

College

King attended Indiana University Bloomington, where she competed for the Indiana Hoosiers swimming and diving team.[4]

At the NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships during her freshman year, she was crowned the NCAA Champion in the 100 yard breaststroke (56.85) and 200 yard breaststroke (2:03.59). The performance established King as one of the best short course yards breaststroke swimmers in history, setting the American, NCAA, NCAA Meet, U.S. Open, Indiana school, Big Ten, and Georgia Tech Pool records in winning the NCAA titles.[4][6] That same freshman year she was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, earned four All-America honors, First-Team All-Big Ten, and Big Ten Freshman of the Year.[4] King continued her elite success by claiming the 100 yard breaststroke and 200 yard breaststroke titles throughout her collegiate career and was only the 2nd woman to ever to sweep the two events for all four years. As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female swimmer.[7][8]

2016 Summer Olympics
See also: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics

At the 2016 US Olympic trials in Omaha, King won both the 100 meter breaststroke and the 200 meter breaststroke, qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In the 100-meter breaststroke heats, King finished 1st with a time of 1:05.78 and qualified for the semifinals. There she again finished first with a time of 1:05.70. The next fastest swimmer was Yuliya Yefimova from Russia, the reigning world champion who had previously served a 16-month doping suspension for failing a 2013 drug test. Yefimova also failed a drug test in 2016, but with no research on how long the drug stayed in a person's system, she was not banned or given a suspension.[9] As King looked on from the ready room, where swimmers gather before they race, Yefimova won her semifinal and wagged her index finger. After posting the fastest time in the 100 m breaststroke semifinals, King expressed distaste. In a post-race interview with NBC, King said, "You wave your finger No. 1 and you’ve been caught drug cheating? I’m not a fan." [10] King went on to win the Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, setting an Olympic record of 1:04.93 in the process.[11]

In the 200-meter breaststroke heats, King finished 15th with a time of 2:25.89 and qualified for the semifinals. She finished 7th in her semifinal with a time of 2:24.59. She did not qualify for the final.[12]

USA Today said King and Yefimova's rivalry "was heightened by the backstory, the international rivalry, and the high stakes of a final event. It was the Olympics at its very, very best."[13] Sporting News noted the two "joined the list of the hottest U.S.-Soviet/Russian head-to-heads in sports history."[14] As a result of her approach to the 2016 Summer Olympics and her rivalry with Yefimova, King developed a reputation as being "friendly but fiery, with no filter and no apologies."[5] Some journalists criticized her treatment of Yefimova.[15][16]

2017 World Championships
King at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.

At the 2017 US Nationals, the qualification meet for the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, King swept the breaststroke events. She won the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.66, the 100-meter breaststroke with 1:04.95, and the 200-meter breaststroke with 2:21.83.

In her first event, King won the 100-meter breaststroke with a world record time of 1:04.13.[17] King's American teammate Katie Meili finished second and Yulia Efimova touched third. The race was highly anticipated because Efimova had nearly broken the former world record and mockingly wagged her finger during the semifinal.[18]

2019 World Championships

At the 2018 US Nationals, the qualification meet for the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, King again swept the breaststroke events. She dominated the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.82 and the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:05.36. King also placed 5th in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:25.31).

In her first event, King won the 100-meter breaststroke in a time of 1:04.93. She also won the 50 breaststroke easily with a 29.84. Lastly, King was a part of the world record-breaking 400 meter medley relay with Regan Smith, Kelsi Dahlia, and Simone Manuel in a time of 3:50.40.

International Swimming League

In 2019 she was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League representing the Cali Condors, who finished third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada in December. King was the only swimmer in the league to go undefeated in multiple matches winning all 16 events she participated in throughout the season.[19]

Honors

On September 11, 2018, the city of Evansville approved the new Deaconess Aquatic Center, which is to replace Lloyd Pool, within which the facility's competition pool is to be named in honor of King, who personally pushed for the project.[20]

Personal best times
Event Time Location Date Notes
50 m breaststroke (long course) 29.40 Budapest July 30, 2017 WR
100 m breaststroke (long course) 1:04.13 Budapest July 25, 2017 WR
200 m breaststroke (long course) 2:21.83 Indianapolis June 28, 2017
50 yd breaststroke (short course) 25.98 Austin, TX March 22, 2019
100 yd breaststroke (short course) 55.73 Austin, TX March 22, 2019 WR
200 yd breaststroke (short course) 2:02.60 Columbus, Ohio March 17, 2018 WR

World records
Type Distance Event Time Meet Location Date Age Ref
WR 100 m (long course) Breaststroke 1:04.13 2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary July 25, 2017 20 [21]
WR 50 m (long course) Breaststroke 29.40 2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary July 30, 2017 20 [22]
WR 400 m (long course) Medley Relay 3:50.40 2019 World Aquatics Championships Gwangju, South Korea July 28, 2019 22

See also

References
  1. "National Team Bios – Lilly King". USA Swimming. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  2. "Lilly King Bios, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  3. Keith, Braden (December 9, 2019). "cali-condors-unveil-roster-for-2019-international-swimming-league-finale". SwimSwam.
  4. "Lilly King Bio". iuhoosiers.com. Indiana Hoosiers. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  5. Forde, Pat (August 8, 2016). "Lilly King's improbable journey to the finger-wagging frontline of swimming's Cold War". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  6. Neidigh, Lauren (March 18, 2016). "Lilly King smashes 57 second barrier to set 100 breast American record". Swimswam. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  7. "Lilly King Named 2019 Honda Sports Award Winner For Swimming & Diving". SwimSwam. April 30, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. "Lilly King of Indiana Named Honda Sport Award Winner for Swimming & Diving". CWSA. April 30, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  9. Rogers, Martin (August 8, 2016). "U.S. swimmer Lilly King calls out Russian drug cheat with strong words, finger wag". USA Today. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  10. Crouse, Karen (August 8, 2016). "American Lilly King Makes Statement With Olympic Record in 100-Meter Breaststroke". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  11. Woods, David (August 8, 2016). "Lilly King sets Olympic record in winning 100 breaststroke, Russian nemesis". IndyStar.com. Indianapolis Star.
  12. "Lilly King, Molly Hannis do not advance to 200m breaststroke final". nbcolympics.com. August 11, 2016.
  13. Wilder, Charlotte (August 9, 2016). "Lilly King's feisty rivalry with Yulia Efimova is the Olympics at its very best". USA Today. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  14. "U.S. vs. Russia: Lilly King-Yulia Efimova adds to history of heated rivalries". Sporting News. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  15. "In vilifying Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, Americans are splashing murky waters". The Washington Post. August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  16. "Efimova is a poor poster child for Russian scandal". Associated Press. August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  17. "Lilly King Surges to 1:04.1 to Take Down 100 Breast World Record". SwimSwam. July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  18. "King Gets The Last Laugh Over Efimova... For Now". SwimSwam. July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  19. Keith, Braden (December 25, 2019). "lilly-king-awarded-15000-bonus-for-undefeated-2019-isl-season". SwimSwam.
  20. https://swimswam.com/city-of-evansville-approves-new-aquatic-center-with-pool-named-for-lilly-king/
  21. "17th FINA World Championships Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". omegatiming.com. July 25, 2017. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  22. "17th FINA World Championships Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". omegatiming.com. July 30, 2017. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
Records
Preceded by

Rūta Meilutytė		 Women's 50-meter breaststroke
world record-holder (long course)
July 30, 2017 – present		 Succeeded by

Incumbent
Preceded by

Rūta Meilutytė		 Women's 100-meter breaststroke
world record-holder (long course)
July 25, 2017 – present		 Succeeded by

Incumbent
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