Charlie Swanson

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Charlie Swanson (Charles August Swanson) is an American swimmer from Richmond, Virginia, born February 20, 1998. He specializes in breaststroke and medley events and swam for NOVA Aquatics in Richmond, then for the University of Michigan. He earned a degree in economics in 2020 and was coached by Geoff Brown in club swimming and Mike Bottom in college.

Swanson starred in Virginia as a high school athlete at St. Christopher’s School, winning events in the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle and earning state and national honors. He competed for the U.S. Junior National Team from 2015–2017 and won medals at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in 2016 (silver in the 400 medley, bronze in the 200 medley).

At Michigan (2016–2020), he became a five-time Big Ten Champion and earned All American honors in several events. He helped Michigan win the Big Ten team title in 2020 and finished his college career with a degree in economics.

Olympic journeys marked his trajectory. He competed in the 2016 and 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, reaching finals in some events but not making an Olympic team then. He returned to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team after finishing second in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Indianapolis trials with a personal-best 59.16 seconds.

In Paris 2024, Swanson contributed to the United States’ success: he swam the breast leg in the preliminaries of the 4x100 meter mixed medley relay, helping the team qualify for the final, where the U.S. won gold with a world-record time. He also earned a silver medal as part of the 4x100 meter medley relay team. Earlier in international play, he won gold in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, as part of his long list of medal-winning efforts.