 |
|
| Lilly
KING |
| Sport |
Swimming |
| NOC |
United States
|
| Gender | Women |
| Born | 10 Feb 1997
in Evansville, IN, USA |
| Height | 1.76 m |
|
|
|
|
|
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
Indiana Swim Club: United States |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Physical Education - Indiana University Bloomington: United States |
General Interest |
Hobbies |
Cooking. (teamusa.org, 28 Jul 2019) |
Famous relatives |
Her father Mark was a track and cross-country runner at Indiana State University, and her mother Ginny swam for Eastern Kentucky University and Illinois State University. Her brother Alex has competed in swimming for the University of Michigan. (idsnews.com, 28 Mar 2019; swimswam.com, 13 Mar 2016; usaswimming.org, 04 Feb 2015) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
"I had so much energy when I was younger, swimming was the only thing that would calm me down." |
General Interest |
Awards and honours |
A competition pool at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, IN, United States of America, was named after her in 2021. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 02 Oct 2021; courierpress.com, 02 Oct 2021)
In 2021 she received the Sagamore of the Wabash honorary award from the state of Indiana, United States of America, in recognition of her achievements at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (14news.com, 17 Oct 2021)
She was named the 2020 US Female Swimmer of the Year by swimming website SwimSwam at the Swammy Awards. (swimswam.com, 15 Dec 2020)
In 2019 she received the Honda Sports Award for swimming and diving from the Collegiate Women Sports Awards. (collegiatewomensportsawards.com, 30 Apr 2019)
She was named Breakout Performer of the Year at the 2016 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards. (fina.org, 22 Nov 2016)
During her career at Indiana University in the United States of America, she was named Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year twice, Big Ten Swimmer of the Year three times, and Indiana University Female Athlete of the Year four times. (iuhoosiers.com, 01 Aug 2019) |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Ray Looze [club], USA |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She began swimming at age seven. |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete |
Languages |
English |
Residence |
Bloomington, IN, USA |
General Interest |
Injuries |
She was troubled by minor groin injuries in 2018. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 08 Jun 2018) |
Hero / Idol |
US swimmers Jason Lezak and Janet Evans. (latimes.com, 10 Mar 2020; digitaljournal.com, 09 Sep 2019) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"The mental side of racing is something that I have definitely taken advantage of more than a lot of my competitors do. I just like to see if I can win the race before it starts." (olympics.com, 06 Oct 2020) |
Other information |
MIND GAMES
She has employed psychological tactics in order to gain an advantage over her competitors before racing. These have included staring at her opponents and being last to step up onto her block. "That's one of my trademark things at this point. I like to be in control of the heat, and everyone else to know they're waiting for me. So that's one of my go-tos. [Also] I think staring at people is probably one of my favourite things to do. If people are scared to race me, they're not going to swim as fast. I always like to say that I like to win the race before it starts. I like to know that I'm in control of the heat, that people are scared to race me, and knowing that your competitors are feeling all those different emotions before potentially the biggest race of their life makes you feel pretty good about yourself. So definitely, at least for me, [that] makes me feel very sure of what I'm doing. I think it just gives me confidence and helps me race faster." (indystar.com, 19 Jul 2021)
GENDER EQUALITY
She has spoken of her belief that female athletes' public personas are perceived differently to those of male athletes. "I joke that I act like a guy, speaking my mind on something, calling out something I don't like, being intimidating on the [starting] blocks. It's been a challenge acting like I normally do but being criticised for that. You're seen as being cocky or arrogant, while a guy doing that is seen as being a leader. I'm the first to say I am cocky, but I can back it up. It's because of what I've done in the pool. I knew I was taking a difficult path by being myself. Swimmers are typically more on the quiet side. They don't feel the need to upset anyone. They want us to be nice and be humble, and in reality the great athletes aren't always like that all the time. We're fierce and competitive and we're angry when we do poorly. To hide that is a disservice to women in sports." (latimes.com, 10 Mar 2020; olympics.com, 06 Oct 2020, 27 Jun 2020)
MOTIVATION
In 2020 she said that her main motivation in the sport had become avoiding defeat. "It's definitely hard to stay motivated at times because I'll come to practice and I'm like, 'I did this already'. You set a world record [and] win the Olympics. Like, what's next? At this point, nothing is new for me. I've done it. Which is great. I'm very happy that I've done it. But it's hard to stay motivated. It's like, 'OK, I just have to repeat everything that I've done'. But honestly, it all comes down to the fact that I really just hate to lose. I am genuinely embarrassed when I lose. So, that's honestly what probably pushes me most." (olympics.com, 06 Oct 2020)
FURTHER EDUCATION
She has trained to become a physical education teacher. (digitaljournal.com, 09 Sep 2019) |
Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs |
She drinks coffee before her races. (14news.com, 14 Apr 2021) |
Olympic Games |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 3 |
2021 |
Tokyo, JPN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:05.54 |
| 2 |
2021 |
Tokyo, JPN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:19.92 |
| |
2021 |
Tokyo, JPN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
|
| Semifinal |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
200m Breaststroke |
2:24.59 |
| 1 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
100m Breaststroke |
1:04.93 |
| 1 |
2016 |
Rio de Janeiro, BRA |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
|
World Championships |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 4 |
2023 |
Fukuoka, JPN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:22.25 |
| 2 |
2023 |
Fukuoka, JPN |
50m Breaststroke |
29.94 |
| 4 |
2023 |
Fukuoka, JPN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:06.02 |
| 1 |
2023 |
Fukuoka, JPN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
|
| 1 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:22.41 |
| 7 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
50m Breaststroke |
30.40 |
| 4 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:06.07 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:53.78 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
|
| Heats |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
200m Breaststroke |
DSQ |
| 1 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
100m Breaststroke |
1:04.93 |
| 1 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
50m Breaststroke |
29.84 |
| 1 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:50.40 |
| 2 |
2019 |
Gwangju, KOR |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:39.10 |
| 4 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:22.11 |
| 1 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:04.13 |
| 1 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
50m Breaststroke |
29.40 |
| 1 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:38.56 |
| 1 |
2017 |
Budapest, HUN |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:51.55 |
World Championships Short Course |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 2 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
200m Breaststroke |
2:17.13 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
100m Breaststroke |
1:02.67 |
| 3 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
50m Breaststroke |
29.11 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
4 x 50m Medley Relay |
1:42.41 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Melbourne, VIC, AUS |
4 x 100m Medley Relay |
3:44.35 |
| 2 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:03.35 |
| 1 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
50m Breaststroke |
28.92 |
| 4 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:19.34 |
| 9 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
100m Individual Medley |
1:00.05 |
| 1 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
4 x 50m Medley Relay |
1:43.27 |
| 1 |
2016 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
4 x 50m Medley Relay |
1:37.22 |
World Cup |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 2 |
2022 |
Indianapolis, IN, USA |
50m Breaststroke |
29.16 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Indianapolis, IN, USA |
100m Breaststroke |
1:03.74 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Indianapolis, IN, USA |
200m Breaststroke |
2:17.56 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Toronto, ON, CAN |
100m Breaststroke |
1:03.23 |
| 1 |
2022 |
Toronto, ON, CAN |
200m Breaststroke |
2:18.43 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Toronto, ON, CAN |
50m Breaststroke |
29.20 |
| 60 |
2014 |
|
Overall |
|
| 5 |
2014 |
Singapore, SGP |
100m Breaststroke |
1:06.32 |
| 4 |
2014 |
Singapore, SGP |
200m Breaststroke |
2:23.48 |
| 4 |
2014 |
Singapore, SGP |
50m Breaststroke |
30.79 |
| 2 |
2014 |
Singapore, SGP |
4 x 50m Medley Relay |
1:46.03 |
| 3 |
2014 |
Tokyo, JPN |
50m Breaststroke |
30.13 |
| |
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