Already an All-Time Backstroke Great, Ryan Murphy Returning With Eyes on Home Olympics
A decade ago, Ryan Murphy became the sixth man to sweep Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 200 backstroke, joining the likes of East German Roland Matthes plus fellow Americans John Naber, Rick Carey, Lenny Krayzelburg and Aaron Peirsol. Murphy would maintain an elite level of performance throughout his 20s, resulting in 44 total international medals between the Olympics, World Championships in long course and short course and the Pan Pacific Championships.
In 2023, Murphy upset world-record holder Thomas Ceccon for the world title in the 100 back, giving him wins in both his main events at every major championship meet. Paris brought his fifth individual Olympic medal in backstroke, tying Matthes and Peirsol for most all-time among male swimmers in those events. An unexpected disappointment in the 200 back semifinals denied Murphy a chance at a sixth podium finish, but he rebounded to provide a key leadoff leg on a gold-medal-winning, world-record-setting squad in the mixed 400 medley relay.
Following his third Olympics at age 29, Murphy stepped back from the sport for the first time. He spent the next year focusing on life outside the pool, a stretch which included the birth of his daughter Eevi. Murphy skipped the main competitions held in the summer of 2025, including U.S. Nationals and the World Championships, but he left open the possibility of returning to competition in the future.
That future begins this weekend as Murphy races at USA Swimming Pro Series in Sacramento, Calif., with entries in the 100 back and 50 back for his first meet in 22 months. Murphy, set to turn 31 in July, holds the top entry time in the 100-meter race with the 52.08 he clocked in the aforementioned mixed relay Olympic final.
And after 2025, the American men would love to see any swimmer pushing the 52-second barrier.
Ryan Murphy (right) with Xu Jiayu and Thomas Ceccon on the Olympic podium after winning 100 backstroke bronze in Paris — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
From the other side of the world, Murphy followed along last summer as the U.S. men came up with historically poor results in the backstroke events at the Singapore World Championships. Some struggles were expected with Murphy’s absence, and the results at the American qualifying meet did not exactly assuage concerns. That was particularly true in the 100-meter race, where no swimmer broke 53.
With many members of the team struggling with effects of a gastrointestinal illness, only two men swam fast enough for top-16 finishes. Keaton Jones, Murphy’s Cal teammate, ended up 12th in the 200 back, an event in which he had been fifth in Paris, while Quintin McCarthy picked up a fifth-place result in the 50-meter race. A desperate group turned to Tommy Janton for the leadoff leg of the men’s 400 medley relay. Janton clocked 53.37, hardly a poor performance by his standards, but still 1.57 seconds off the lead and just sixth-best in the field. It took a near-miraculous finish for Jack Alexy for the American men to squeeze out a bronze medal.
That spot, of course, had belonged to Murphy at every major international competition since 2015. The Americans had not been perfect during that span, most notably with the team’s loss to China in the Paris Olympic final, but Murphy had been a dependable force in that opening spot. During his career, Murphy gave way to a long list of breaststrokers — Kevin Cordes, Cody Miller, Andrew Wilson and Michael Andrew among them before Nic Fink emerged in recent years — and his consistency compensated for occasional American struggles in the second spot.
Could Murphy return to this level of performance in this latter stage of his career? We will get a sense of his progress in Sacramento and throughout the summer, likely culminating at U.S. Nationals to be held in Irvine, Calif., July 28 through August 1. The same venue will host this year’s Pan Pacs two weeks later, but that team was selected based on last year’s results. Will Modglin and Daniel Diehl, both a decade younger than Murphy, earned the 100 back spots by virtue of their medal-winning performances at the World University Games.
Murphy will instead focus on chasing the fastest performances possible, with aims of qualifying for the 2027 World Championships and 2028 Olympic Games. After three previous Olympic runs, the next one would mark a unique opportunity for two reasons: the 50-meter race is now on the Olympic docket, and this one will take place in Los Angeles.
That opportunity to race in front of 38,000 fans on home soil inside SoFi Stadium surely drew Murphy back into the fold. Already established as one of history’s all-time great backstrokers, he will try to finish with one last special surge.
