Hunter Armstrong

Joseph Hunter Armstrong (born January 24, 2001) is an American competitive swimmer.

He is the world record holder in the long course 50 meter backstroke.

At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he won a silver medal in the 50 meter backstroke, a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke, gold medals in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay and 4×100 meter mixed medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay.

In the prelims of the 100 meter freestyle, he swam a 49.31 and ranked 19th overall.

Armstrong graduated from Dover High School in Dover, Ohio in 2019, where he competed as part of the Canton City Schools swim program.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay, swimming backstroke in the preliminaries, and placed ninth in the 100 meter backstroke.

Armstrong placed second in the 100 meter backstroke at the 2020 US Olympic Trials in swimming, qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in the event.

In advance of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Armstrong received the honor of being the US Olympic swim team member to reveal the captains of the swim team for the Olympic Games, he did so with a magic trick.

Armstrong finished ninth in the semifinals of the 100 meter backstroke on day three of competition.

Over 100 people gathered at Dover High School in Ohio as part of a watch party and watched his semifinal performance.

Members of the First Moravian Church in Dover also gathered to support him virtually.

On day seven, he swam the backstroke leg of the medley relay in the prelims of the 4x100 meter medley relay, advancing the relay to final alongside fellow relay teammates Andrew Wilson, Tom Shields, and Blake Pieroni.

On the final day of competition, the finals relay finished first and all of the relay members from the prelims and the final including Armstrong won a gold medal in the event.

For the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in December, Armstrong entered to compete in the 100 meter backstroke.

On December 14, it was announced that Armstrong had withdrawn from the 100 meter backstroke for the Championships.

On the first day of competition at the Tim Welsh Classic in January 2022, Armstrong helped earn three first-place finishes for Ohio State University, one in the 100 yard backstroke with a 47.05, one in the 4×200 yard freestyle relay, and one in the 4×50 freestyle relay.

On the first day of the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships in February 2022, Armstrong swam a 20.45 for the backstroke portion of the 4×50 yard medley relay to help achieve a first-place finish in a new Big Ten Conference record time of 1:22.13.

The second day of competition, he ranked first in the prelims heats of the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 19.02 seconds and qualified for the final later in the day.

In the evening final, he won the conference title with a time of 18.93 seconds, finishing over two-tenths of a second ahead of the second-place finisher.

Later in the same finals session, Armstrong swam a 44.36 for the backstroke portion of the 4×100 yard medley relay to contribute to a second-place finish in 3:01.44.

His time of 44.36 seconds set a new Big Ten Conference record and pool record in the 100 yard backstroke and made him the tenth-fastest performer in the event.

Armstrong followed up his 44.36 with a 44.90 in the prelims heats of the 100 yard backstroke the following morning, ranking first heading into the final.

For the final he placed second, swimming a time of 44.78 seconds.

Later in the session, he led-off the 4×50 yard freestyle with an 18.93 to help achieve a first-place finish in a new Championships record and pool record time of 1:15.28.

For the prelims heats of the 100 yard freestyle on the fourth and final day of competition, he swam a time of 41.54 seconds to advance to the final ranked first.

He won the Big Ten Conference title for the event in the final, where he was the only swimmer to finish the race in less than 42 seconds, swimming a time of 41.78 seconds.

In his last event of the Championships, he lowered his 100-yard freestyle time to a 41.60 for the lead-off leg of the 4×100 yard freestyle relay, helping set new pool and Championships records in a first-place time of 2:47.16.

At the 2022 NCAA Championships in March in Atlanta, Armstrong started off competition on day one by helping place twelfth in the 4×50 yard medley relay with a split of 21.19 seconds for the backstroke leg of the relay that contributed to the final time of 1:22.98.

In his second event of the evening, he split a 1:32.18 for the second leg of the 4×200 yard freestyle relay to help place thirteenth in 6:14.54.

The evening of day two, he helped achieve a seventh-place finish in the 4×50 yard freestyle relay, splitting a 19.01 for the lead-off leg of the relay.

He ranked eighth and qualified for the final of the 100 yard backstroke in the prelims heats of the event the following morning, finishing in a time of 44.72 seconds.

In the final, he placed fifth, finishing 0.38 seconds after the first-place finisher with a time of 44.42 seconds.

For the backstroke leg of the 4×100 yard medley relay later in the same session, he swam a 44.74, contributing to a tenth-place finish in 3:03.23.

In his final individual event, the 100 yard freestyle on the fourth day, he ranked sixteenth in the prelims heats with a 41.92 and qualified for the b-final.

He placed eighth in the b-final, sixteenth overall, with a 42.70.

For his final relay event, 4×100 yard freestyle relay, he helped achieve a twelfth-place finish, swimming the lead-off leg of the relay in 41.99 seconds.

Armstrong swam a personal best time of 48.55 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle on day one of the 2022 US International Team Trials in Greensboro, North Carolina in the preliminary heats, qualifying for the final with an overall sixth-rank.

He lowered his personal best time an additional three-tenths of a second in the final to tie Drew Kibler for fourth-place with a 48.25.

Two days later, he set new Americas, American, and US Open records in the 50 meter backstroke with a time of 24.01 seconds in the prelims heats and advanced to the evening final ranking first.

In the final, he set a new world record in the event with a time of 23.71 seconds, breaking the former record of 23.80 seconds set by Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia in 2021 and qualifying for the 2022 World Aquatics Championships team.