Former Cal Star Ryan Murphy Makes History at World Swim Championships

He becomes first to sweep the 50, 100 and 200 backstrokes races at the meet.

Ryan Murphy, the 27-year-old Cal grad and four-time Olympic gold medalist, made more history in the swimming pool last weekend at Melbourne, Australia.

Competing at the 16th FINA World Short-Course Championships, Murphy became the first swimmer — male or female — to sweep the 50, 100 and 200-meter backstroke events at this meet.

Murphy was voted male swimmer of the meet.

The competition featured more than 560 athletes from 160 countries in six continents, and the six-day competition was capped by what the FINA.org website described as “one of the most exciting moments in history.”

In a foursome also involving fellow former Cal swimmer Trenton Julian, Murphy and the Americans set a world record in the 4x100 medley relay while tying for gold with Australia.

Murphy opened the race with a 48.96-second 100 backstroke leg that spotted the Americans to a half-second lead. Julian swam the butterfly leg in the third slot, setting up Kieran Smith’s anchor freestyle sprint.

Smith and Australia’s Kyle Chalmers hit the wall with identical times of 3:18.98 and the two long-time rival countries in the sport shared the gold medal.

“My goal coming in was to add as many medals to Team USA as possible. We did that tonight – and we added a World Record, too,” said Murphy, who also earned a silver medal in the 4x50 medley relay. “Swimming is a sport where you get so few opportunities to race, and I really want to take advantage of every opportunity.”

He already had won the 50 and 100 back races earlier in the meet and added the 200 back title on Sunday.

Murphy's big weekend comes on the heels of winning the 200 backstroke last summer at the world long-course championships in Budapest, Hungary.

He already has said he plans to continue training and competing through the 2024 Paris Olympics. "It's hard to do this year after year at such a high level, and expect yourself to do everything just about perfect," he told the Florida Times Union last summer.

Murphy emerged as an elite swimmer at Cal, sweeping the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events all four seasons at the NCAA championships through 2017. He became just the fourth college swimmer to sweep the 100 and 200 races in the same stroke for four years, joining John Naber (backstroke), Pablo Morales (butterfly), and Brendan Hansen (breaststroke).

On the Olympic stage, Murphy won the 100 and 200 back and added a gold medal in the 4x100 medley relay at the 2016 Games. His backstroke leg in the relay set a world record.

At the 2020 Games held in 2021 at Tokyo, Murphy was part of a world-record 4x100 medley relay victory, captured silver in the 200 back and bronze in the 100 back.

Cover photo of Ryan Murphy by Grace Hollars, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo