Check out all of our 2015 Swammy Awards here.
2015 Oceania Male Swimmer of the Year Mitch Larkin
Australian Mitch Larkin had a breakthrough season in 2014 winning three individual medals at the Commonwealth Games including gold in the 200 backstroke. Larkin returned to the water in 2015, making another gigantic step in his swimming career winning the 100 and 200 backstroke at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan.
Mitchell Larkin (AUS) led off the Dolphins’ 4x100m medley relay that qualified 3rd for the final. 2015 FINA World Championships (courtesy of Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com)
Larkin beat out two former world champions in the 100 backstroke, American Matt Grevers and Camille Lacourt of France and in the 200 got the best of Olympic champion Tyler Clary.
Larkin went on to win the 100 and 200 backstroke events at the World Cup stops in Tokyo, Doha and Dubai as well as picking up a win in the 50 backstroke in Doha. In Dubai he set Commonwealth records in both the 100 (52.11) and 200 backstroke (1:53.17).
He finished third in the overall World Cup points standings despite have only attended three of the eight competitions in the series.
Larkin finished off the year with an incredible showing at the Australian Short Course Championships where he won the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke. Larkin was historically great at multiple national and international levels in that competition, breaking the Australian record in the 50 (22.91), the Commonwealth record in the 100 (49.03) and the world record in the 200 (1:45.63).
Honourable Mentions:
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Cameron McEvoy, AUS, reacts to his field-leading 47.94 in semi-finals of men’s 100m free. Day 4 of 2015 World Championships (courtesy of Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com)
Cameron McEvoy – McEvoy had a strong performance at the World Championships finishing second in the 100 freestyle to Ning Zetao of China. He finished off the year extremely well winning the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle at the Australian Short Course Championships. McEvoy set a new Australian mark in the short course 50 freestyle posting a 20.75 and broke Ian Thorpe‘s 15 year old Australian record of 1:41.10 in the 200 freestyle posting a time of 1:40.80 which ties Canadian Brent Hayden‘s Commonwealth mark.
- Mack Horton – The young Australian distance man was on fire at the Australian Nationals, setting a pair of world-leading marks and putting his name in the hunt for medals at the World Champiosnhips. Horton’s promising season took a big hit, though, when he turned up sick at Worlds. Despite dealing with a parasitic bug, Horton still earned a bronze medal in the 800 freestyle in Kazan.
