Indiana Swimming Legend Lilly King Announces Her Retirement

Lilly King, who competed for Indiana as a collegian, is one of the most decorated swimmers of all-time.

Lilly King (USA) and Kate Douglass (USA) in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Paris La Défense Arena. / Grace Hollars-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and world swimming legend Lilly King announced her retirement on Saturday.

On her Instagram account, King revealed her intention to hang it up.

“Well folks, my time has come,” King wrote.

“This will be my final season competing. I’m fortunate heading into retirement being able to say I have accomplished everything I have ever wanted in this sport. I feel fulfilled,” she continued.

“[…] It has always been important to me that my last meet in the (United States) be at the pool that started it all,” King said.” I have been racing in the IU Natatorium since I was 10 years old. From state meets, to (NCAA Championships), Nationals, and anything in between, this pool has been my home. I didn’t quite make it 20 years (only 18) of racing in Indy, but this is as close as I’m gonna get! I look forward to racing in front of a home crowd one last time. See you in Indy!”

King, an Evansville, Ind. native, is an 18-time world champion and 27-time world medalist. She won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal in three appearances in the Olympics.

King won gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in the 100 breaststroke and the 4x100 medley relay. King won her final Olympic gold medal in the 2024 Paris Games in the 4x100 medley relay.

When World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships are counted in her medal total, King won 22 golds, 11 silvers and three bronze medals.

King, 28, will swim at USA Swimming’s Toyota National Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis next week, June 3-7. 

Next week’s meet is also USA Swimming’s trials for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, giving King one more opportunity to race internationally.

At Indiana, King won the NCAA’s 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke in each of the four years she competed in the event. She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation’s best collegiate female swimmer in 2019.

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