2007 Swimming World Magazine Covers in Review

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 30. DURING the past year, Swimming World Magazine covered some top-flight and exciting action throughout the swimming community. One of the greatest honors the magazine can bestow, outside of its World Swimmer of the Year awards, is a spot on one of 12 covers each year.

To the right, we have created a slideshow for each cover of 2007, as detailed below:

January
Coach Dick Shoulberg, who has enjoyed tremendous success at Germantown Academy, uses swimming as a way to instill discipline, to ensure quality educational opportunities, to promote fitness and to enhance safety.

PHOTO BY ERIC HARTLINE

February
Tae Hwan Park, 17, the young freestyle phenom from South Korea, highlighted the Asian Games in December and showed the world that he figures to be a medal contender at next Month's World Championships in Melbourne, and more importantly, at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

PHOTO BY ANDY CLARK, REUTERS

March
Swimming World Magazine picks Arizona to win this year's women's NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. Leading the way for the Wildcats are (from left) Whitney Myers and Lacey Nymeyer, who are featured in a Swimming World Radio interview.

PHOTO BY JACOB CHINN

April
Auburn University came from behind to win its fifth women's NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championship in six years. It was a perfect farewell gift to Coach David Marsh, who is on his way to the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club, where he'll oversee a USOC Center of Excellence.

PHOTOS BY PETER H. BICK

May
Michael Phelps walked away with seven gold medals at the World Championships in
Melbourne, matching the feat of Mark Spitz from the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. The debate now begins: "Is Phelps the greatest swimmer ever to step onto a starting block?"

PHOTO BY DAVID GRAY, REUTERS

June
Sarasota's Corinne Showalter led an impressive showing by the Sarasota YMCA Sharks at the YMCA Championships, April 2-5, in Fort Lauderdale. She won three individual gold medals and helped her team's 800 free relay to victory, while setting two YMCA records, including one that had lasted 28 years.

July
Katie Hoff, Natalie Coughlin and Kate Ziegler (from left) have been dubbed "The Leading Ladies of American Swimming." Not only did they combine for six individual medals at the recent World Championships, but their performances also were some of the most dominant of all-time.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPEEDO USA

August
Austin Staab has come a long way in five years—from taking part in a summer learn-to-swim program when he was 13 to tying the national high school record in the 100 yard fly at Westerville Central in Ohio. Staab was named Swimming World Magazine's Male High School Swimmer of the Year.

PHOTO BY GARY GARDINER

September
Taking an unusual route—without any individual scorers—New Trier accumulated 110 points to capture Swimming World Magazine's Boys' National High School Championships. The Trevians, on the strength of two top-ranked relays and a fourth-ranked relay, won by six points over Mission Viejo.

PHOTO BY ROBERT THORNTON

October
Forty-year-old Dara Torres is the oldest U.S. swimmer ever to win a national title. With an American record in the 50 meter free, she has made it clear that the perceived limitations of age do not have to be accepted. Her example could alter the landscape of the sport, enticing athletes contemplating retirement to forge ahead.

PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK

November
Stanford graduate Ben Wildman-Tobriner has his eyes set on a trip to the Beijing Olympics. But he also has as much going for him out of the pool. Eventually, medical school figures to be part of his life, and he's also in the process of applying for a Rhodes Scholarship, the most prestigious post-graduate scholarship in the world.

PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK

December
Laure Manaudou and Michael Phelps were named Swimming World Magazine's 2007 World Swimmers of the Year. Manaudou was the first swimmer from France to win the award, while the USA's Phelps was a unanimous selection in winning his fourth title in the last five years.

PHOTOS BY DAVID GRAY, REUTERS

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