To see all of the 2014 Swammy Award winners, presented by TYR, click here.
When deciding on who would make our top five the diversity of the sport became clear. I had to do a double take when I realized there were no Australian, Americans or Chinese athletes that made this list.
When it comes down to it our top five really gave me no choice.
5) Daiya Seto (Japan)
Daiya Seto had an extremely strong year. At the Pan Pacific Championships he collected a gold in the 200 butterfly and added a bronze in the 200 IM. At the Asian Games he won the 200 butterfly and finished third in the 400 IM.
Daiya Seto, men’s 400 IM final, 2013 FINA World Championships (Photo Credit: Victor Puig)
Seto finished in the top five in the world rankings in three events:
- 200 butterfly – 1:54.08 – 1st
- 200 IM – 1:57.32 – 4th
- 400 IM – 4:10.21 – 5th
At the World Short Course Championships Seto won the 400 IM, finished second in the 200 butterfly and collected a bronze in the 200 IM. He set new Asian records with his finishing times in both the 400 IM (3:56.33) and the 200 butterfly (1:48.92).
Seto also finished eighth in the World Cup standings.
He had three top five placing in the world rankings:
- 400 IM – 3:56.33 – 1st
- 200 butterfly – 1:48.92 – 2nd
- 200 IM – 1:51.79 – 4th
4) Adam Peaty (Great Britain)
Adam Peaty had an astonishing year, not simply because of his results, but because of the improvements he made to achieve what he did.
Peaty started the summer off by winning gold in the 100 breaststroke and a silver in the 50 breaststroke while picking another gold in the 4 x 100 medley relay at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The English 4 x 100 medley relay also set a new games record in the event.
Peaty then collected four gold at the European Championships in Berlin which included the 50 and 100 breaststroke and the 4 x 100 medley and mixed medley relays.
At the championships he set the only men’s long course world record of 2014, setting a new mark in the 50 breaststroke in the semi-finals of the event. The British 4 x 100 mixed medley relay team also set a new world record.
Peaty finished the year winning silver in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke, setting new British records in both events, at the World Short Course Championships in Doha.
He finished first in the long course world rankings in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke:
- 50 breaststroke – 26.62
- 100 breaststroke – 58.68
He also finished second in the same events in the short course pool:
- 50 breaststroke – 25.75
- 100 breaststroke – 56.35
His end of the season times are incredible considering his best times coming into the year were:
- 50 breaststroke – SCM – 26.93 LCM – 27.58
- 100 breaststroke – SCM – 58.54 LCM – 59.92
3) Florent Manaudou (France)
Florent Manaudou had a tremendous year, experiencing great success at both the European Championships in Berlin and the World Short Course Championships in Doha.
Manaudou walked away from the European Championships with four gold, three individual and one relay. He took gold in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, tied Belarusian Yauhen Tsurkin for the win in the 50 butterfly and was part of the French team that won the 4 x 100 freestyle relay.
He set a championship record in the 50 freestyle while the French relay did the same in the 4 x 100 freestyle.
Florent Manaudou, Men’s 50 freestyle semi final, 2013 FINA World Championships (Photo Credit: Victor Puig)
He finished the long course season ranked first in the 50 freestyle as well as fourth in the 100 freestyle and 50 butterfly.
Manaudou was even more impressive at the World Short Course Championships in Doha where he collected three gold, two silver and one bronze.
He won the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.26 breaking Roland Schoeman‘s 2009 world record of 20.30. He also won the 50 backstroke in a time of 22.22 breaking Peter Marshall‘s 2009 record of 22.61.
Manaudou earned his third gold in the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay.
He also collected a silver in both the 100 freestyle and 4 x 50 medley relay and won a bronze in the 4 x 100 medley relay.
In the short course world records Manaudou finished:
- 50 freestyle – 20.26 – 1st
- 50 butterfly – 22.22 – 1st
- 100 freestyle – 45.81 – 3rd
Kosuke Hagino (Japan)
Kosuke Hagino, 200 IM prelm, 2013 FINA Worlds (Photo Credit Victor Puig, victorpuig.com
VS
Chad le Clos (South Africa)
Chad le Clos (photo credit: Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)
This was a hard decision to make, so let’s look at it blow by blow.
Long Course Meters:
At the Pan Pacific Championships Hagino won the 200 and 400 IM and collected silver in the 200 and 400 freestyle. He also won a silver as part of the Japanese 4 x 200 freestyle relay team.
He then went on to the Asian Games where he won gold in the 200 freestyle as well as the 200 and 400 IM. He also collected another gold as part of the 4 x 200 freestyle relay and picked up a silver in the 200 freestyle.
Hagino finished top five in the world rankings in six events:
- 200 IM – 1:55.33 – 1st
- 400 IM – 4:07.75 – 1st
- 200 freestyle – 1:45.23 – 2nd
- 200 backstroke – 1:54.23 – 2nd
- 100 backstroke – 52.78 – 4th
- 400 freestyle – 3:43.90 – 5th
le Clos swam well at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow winning the 100 and 200 butterfly. He also set a new games record in the 100. He took bronze in both the 50 butterfly and 200 IM while in the relays he won silver in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle and bronze in the 4 x 100 medley.
le Clos finished top five in the world rankings in two events:
- 100 butterfly – 51.29 – 2nd
- 200 butterfly – 1:54.56 – 2nd
Winner: Hagino
Short Course Meters:
Hagino took gold at the World Short Course Championships in the 200 IM setting a new Asian record. He also won the silver in the 400 IM finishing second to his Japanese teammate Daiya Seto.
Hagino finished top five in the world rankings in four events:
- 200 IM – 1:50.47 – 1st
- 400 IM – 4:01.17 – 3rd
- 100 IM – 51.30 – 4th
- 100 butterfly – 49.83 – 5th
le Clos once again was the king of the World Cup Series finishing first for the second year in a row and for the third time out of the last four years.
At the World Short Course Championships he came away with wins in the 50, 100 and 200 butterfly as well as the 200 freestyle.
le Clos finished top five in the world rankings in five events. Ranked number one in four of the five:
- 200 freestyle – 1:41.45 – 1st
- 50 butterfly – 21.95 – 1st
- 100 butterfly – 48.44 – 1st
- 200 butterfly – 1:48.61 – 1st
- 200 IM – 1:51.56 – 3rd
Winner: le Clos
Tie Breaker:
You may be wondering why I did not mention that le Clos set a new world record in the 100 butterfly in Doha, don’t worry I didn’t forget, but I had to have a tie breaker. That is what separated our Swimmer of the Year award winner from the runner-up.
Chad le Clos set a new world record in the 100 butterfly winning the World Short Course Championships in a time of 48.44.
Overall Winner and 2014 Honouree:
This is probably the most thoughtful and considered article that I have read on this site for the whole year. It focuses on the two best male swimmers of the year, and does not waste space on the GOAT’s (MP, RL) who dominated the past. Brilliant, at last! The King and The Emperor deserve their day in the sun. It is a very close call, and I’m happy to go with the Authors choice. On the SCM v LCM point, I also favour LCM, but you can’t ignore winning 27 races out of 27 starts. Hagino got hammered by Seto in the 400IM SCM (hardly dominant) and did not even race Chad in the 200 free, so Hagino may well… Read more »
The award should always go to the person who demonstrates that they were the best at swimming the stroke(s). Long Course deserves the edge in terms of respect. It’s less dependent on turns and “underwaters”/(dolphin kicking). It’s more about swimming the stroke(s). If all competitions happened in pools that were the same length as the event, that would be an even better test. (I’m imagining what a one-length pool for the 1500m would look like!) If somebody “tore it up” in a 25 yard pool, does that make them the best in the world? Le Clos had a great year and had access to 50 meter pools. Hagino deserves the award.
This pretty much comes down to what matters more – long or short course. Most swimming fans would agree the former is more important and if we’re going by that, Hagino is clearly the better swimmer. Chad no doubt tore up the short course scene, but he was relatively disappointing in long course. I say relatively because most swimmers would be more than happy with Chad’s long course season but I expect more from a super star like Chad (like a world leading time or world record).
Without a doubt Chad le Clos deserves this award. He has worked so hard this year (2014) and has achieved so much from the Commonwealth Games to the FINA World Cup series to the World Shortcourse Champs. In the Commonwealth Games he equalled Ian Thorpes’ medal record of 7 medals. At the World Cup he becames the 1st person to win the overall series 3 times and he won 27 gold medals out of 27 races. He also won 4 individual gold medals at the FINA World Shortcourse Champs in Doha and set a new 100m SCR and became the 1st person to win all 3 fly events (50m,100m & 200m) and was named Best Male Swimmer of the Year.… Read more »
“…probably been Chad’s best year since the Olympics where he beat Phelps?” In other words, 2014 was better than 2013 for Le Clos? True, but doesn’t really bolster the argument. Had Le Clos even bothered to show up to Pan Pacs, I might give him the edge, but as it stands, Hagino gets my vote.
This kid Christin is 16 year old SA girl (Twitter follower) that has a crush on Chad. Not a credible source to be commenting on Chads 2014 performance.
Hey buddy, I’m 17 and Chad is my Hero not my crush !!! Did Hagino accomplished what Chad has? No. I don’t think so. Do you know anything about swimming? Obviously not !!! Who are you on twitter anyway ?!? And how do you know you follow the right person ?!? The proof is in the article why he won. And anyway Chad is the winner not Hagino !!! So see ya !!!
Without a doubt Chad le Clos definately deserves this award as he has achieved what others have never been able to do so and he also became the 1st person to win all the butterfly events (50m, 100m & 200m) at a single championship (World Shortcourse Champs 2014, Doha). This is probably Chad’s best year since the Olympics. And he was also named best swimmer of 2014. The article says it all !!!
Choice almost as bad as FINA going for Hosszu instead of Ledecky.
Not a crazy year for men.
I would have picked Hagino.
Will he win his first individual LCM gold medal on the world stage next summer?
I think his best chance is by far the 200 IM. But he will have to beat Mr Lochte. His freestyle should make the difference at the end of the race.
Has to make smart schedule choices during the week of competition.
Forget 400 free, 100 back and 200 back.
200 free/4X200 free/200 IM/400 IM are enough!
Honestly, until the the last couple months of the year Le Clos wasn’t even in my top 5. Up until the SC season I considered his year to be relatively disappointing.