First introduced in 2010, the World Aquatics Athlete of the Year Award honours the best male and female athletes in each aquatic discipline: swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, open water swimming, and high diving.

Swimming AOY: Leon Marchand and Summer McIntosh

Image Source: Summer McIntosh celebrates winning gold in the Women's 400m Individual Medley Final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

France's Leon Marchand and Canada's Summer McIntosh took home the top honours in swimming after delivering unforgettable performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Both athletes, now first-time Athlete of the Year winners, had already established themselves as global stars before adding Olympic gold to their résumés.

For Marchand, 2024 was a year of dominance. The 23-year-old Frenchman arrived in Paris as a five-time world champion (winning two titles in Budapest 2022 and three in Fukuoka 2023). At his home Olympics, he cemented his status as one of swimming's greats, winning four individual gold medals and a bronze in the relay.

His crowning moment came on the opening night of competition in the 400m Individual Medley, where he stormed to gold in an Olympic record time, pushing his own world record to the brink.

"The emotions are very difficult to describe. It's unbelievable for a swimmer—I think it's very rare you get to experience this," Marchand said after his victory. "I had goosebumps. I felt really proud to be myself and also to be French tonight. It was an amazing time for me. I was really living in the moment."

His Olympic heroics continued throughout the Games, leaving no doubt that he was the male swimmer of this past year. 

At just 18 years old, McIntosh continued her meteoric rise in 2024. Already a four-time individual world champion before the year began (winning two golds in Budapest 2022 and three in Fukuoka 2023), she added to her legacy in Paris with three individual Olympic golds and a silver medal.

Her success didn't stop there. At the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest, she added three more individual world titles, a silver, and a relay bronze in short-course competition.

Image Source: Canada's Summer McIntosh pulls away from Australia's Lani Pallister in the Women's 400m Freestyle Final at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest (David Balogh/Getty Images)

Her dominance led Time magazine to dub it the "Summer of Summer," a fitting tribute to the teenager who carried the Canadian flag into the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

"It's hard to sum all of this up into words," McIntosh reflected on her historic year. "Anytime I get to represent Canada, I wear the flag with pride; I really don't take that lightly. It's my job to reach my best ability and best potential for Canada."

With their unforgettable performances, Leon Marchand and Summer McIntosh have rightfully claimed the title of World Aquatics Male and Female Athlete of the Year in swimming, etching their names in history as two of the sport's brightest stars.