Ailish Dougherty - (Author)

Neutral Power: Russian Swimmers Had Impressive International Return in 2025 For three years, Russian swimmers were largely absent from international swimming competition, exiled as a result of their country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee opened pathways for Russia...

David Popovici, Jack Alexy Chasing World Record of Enigmatic Pan Zhanle in Men’s 100 Freestyle Like many world records in men’s swimming, the mark in the 100 freestyle stood untouched for years following the polyurethane suit era. In a two-year stretch when the suits were legal, the long-standing wo...

Can Anyone Track Down Sarah Sjostrom’s World Record in Women’s 100 Free? When Sarah Sjostrom became the first woman ever under 52 seconds in the 100 freestyle, her world record seemed unlikely to last eight days, let alone eight years. On day one of the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Sjostrom...

Charlotte Crush, Collin Holgerson Take Two 100-Yard Wins Each at Junior Nationals East Three of the top teenage swimmers in the country notched signature performances in girls' competition Friday evening at USA Swimming's Junior Nationals East in Indianapolis. Rylee Erisman set a National Age Group ...

Rylee Erisman, Baylor Stanton Double at Junior Nationals East; Audrey Derivaux Scorches 1:53 200 IM The first day of individual racing at USA Swimming's Junior Nationals eastern meet saw Rylee Erisman follow up her strong relay double Wednesday with two wins in the 500 and 50 freestyle while Baylor ...

Leon Marchand Alone Atop 400 IM Rankings as Today’s Rivals Struggle to Make Inroads on All-Time List For Ryan Lochte, the best moment of his Hall-of-Fame career came on opening night of the 2012 Olympics in London. On that late July evening, Lochte declared his status - for the time being - as the w...

Rylee Erisman Blasts Relay Splits of 21.64, 1:41.86 as Junior Nationals Open in Indianapolis and Austin Over the past several months, teenage sprinter Rylee Erisman has elevated her career to become one of the top sprinters in the United States. She won eight medals, five of them gold, at the World ...

Marrit Steenbergen Underrated No Longer After Brilliant Finish to Career Year At age 25, a decade after she first represented her country internationally, Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen has finally earned her place on the short list of the best female sprinters in the world. Her efforts in the World ...

Summer McIntosh Dominant in 200 Butterfly as She Chases World Record, With Regan Smith the Clear No. 2 When she touched the wall to earn her third consecutive world title in the women’s 200 butterfly, Summer McIntosh made no secret of her displeasure. McIntosh had given chase to the oldest world rec...

U.S. Open, Day Four Finals (Men's): Hubert Kos, Jack Alexy, Leon Marchand Lower Meet Records; Luka Mijatovic Blasts NAG Hungarian star Hubert Kos concluded what has been a brilliant fall season Saturday evening in Austin, Texas, with a dominant performance in the 200 backstroke at the U.S. Open. Joi...

U.S. Open, Day Four Finals (Women's): Summer McIntosh Blasts U.S. Open Record in 200 Fly; Kate Douglass Secures Meet Record On the final night of the U.S. Open, the last major long course competition of 2025, three women competed in and dominated events in which they previously won world titles in 2...

Yamato Okadome Goes 50.48 in 100 Breaststroke as Cal Continues Dominance at Minnesota Invite This year's Cal men's might lack some of the star power of past years, but sophomore Yamato Okadome continues to make inroads as one of the best breaststrokers in college swimming. Following a pair of A-fina...

Claire Weinstein, Teagan O'Dell Open First College Invite With Wins in Minnesota The last of the major midseason college invitational meets is taking place this weekend in Minneapolis, with the University of Minnesota welcoming a group of swimming programs highlighted by the California Golden Bears....

U.S. Open, Day 1: Ilia Sibirtsev Tops Bobby Finke in 1500 Freestyle to Open Meet The last major long course competition of 2025 began Wednesday evening in Austin, Texas, with numerous top American competitors in town for the U.S. Open. A full slate of preliminaries and finals will begin Thursday aft...

U.S. Open Races to Watch (Men's): Distance Aces, Dressel in the Spotlight This week, the final major long course competition of 2025 will take place in Austin, Texas, and the men's racing will see the two best backstrokers in the world squaring off. South Africa's Pieter Coetze won this year's world...

U.S. Open Races to Watch (Women's): Gretchen Walsh, Regan Smith Hoping for Strong Finish to 2025 Most members of the U.S. women's swim team that is the most dominant and well-rounded team in the world will race one final long course meet for 2025 at this week's U.S. Open. While big names such as Kat...

Best High School Sprinter Ever? Rylee Erisman Ready for Early College Jump Before Gretchen Walsh began her legendary college career at the University of Virginia, she built a record as one of the top prep sprinters ever. Walsh made her Olympic Trials debut as a 13-year-old in 2016, and she quickly r...

Supporting Stars Break Out for Defending Champion Texas Men at Midseason The Texas Longhorns assembled a complete roster talented enough to win the NCAA team championship in men's swimming and diving in the first year under head coach Bob Bowman. The team defeated main rival California by 19 points ...

Virginia Shows Off Lineup Pursuing Six-Peat, With Claire Curzan and Anna Moesch Starring At the conclusion of the 2024-25 college swimming season, Virginia graduated two of the most accomplished collegiate swimmers ever. During her four years with the Cavaliers, Gretchen Walsh rewrote the record boo...

Erika Pelaez Blasts 200 Back as NC State Pulls Away to Complete Invitational Sweep The North Carolina State Wolfpack continued to wrack up wins at the team's invitational in Greensboro Saturday, finishing off a dominant performance across the three days of racing. The women's team won the meet with ...