Hunter Armstrong Broadcasts Skilled Swimming Retirement, Focusing 100% on Enhanced Games

Olympic gold medalist Hunter Armstrong introduced in the present day that he’s retiring from skilled swimming. He will probably be focusing solely on the Enhanced Games transferring ahead

In his publish, Armstrong thanked the New York Athletic Club, USA Swimming and World Aquatics, stating, “There are few things harder than saying goodbye to something that has been your entire life.”

Armstrong was a member of the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Olympic Teams, ending ninth within the 100 backstroke in 2020 and successful a gold medal as a prelims swimmer of the boys’s 4×100 medley relay.

In April of 2022, Armstrong broke the world document within the males’s 50 backstroke, touching in 23.71. Just over a yr later, Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov swam 23.55 to interrupt Armstrong’s document.

At the 2024 Olympics, he completed eleventh within the 100 again and received a gold medal on the boys’s 4×100 freestyle relay and a silver medal as a member of the boys’s 4×100 medley relay.

In May of this yr, Armstrong was one of some “clean” athletes to race on the Enhanced Games. He made the choice to remain clear and keep within the WADA and USADA testing swimming pools. He mentioned on the time, “I WILL be continuing my path to win gold on home soil in LA.”

At the inaugural Enhanced Games, Armstrong received the 50 backstroke and completed 2nd within the 100 free to earn a complete of $375,000 in prize cash.

He informed SwimSwam later that he had been drug examined 11 instances within the months since becoming a member of the Enhanced Games. In June, he appeared on the SwimSwam podcast, the place he spoke about his future:

“If I really just wanted money and didn’t care for the Olympics or Team USA or anything like that, I would have just retired… The whole reason that I did the Enhanced Games clean was so that I could continue. I willingly put myself at a disadvantage and took on a ton of extra pressures just to stay in the Olympics.”

Armstrong raced on the U.S. Nationals in July, swimming the 50 fly, the place he completed thirtieth in 24.10, and the 50 free, the place he took tenth in 22.18.

He mentioned in his Instagram publish in the present day, “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to accomplish everything that I hoped to in this chapter of my career, and because of that, I know it’s time to turn the page.”

He went on to say, “This isn’t goodbye to swimming. I’ll continue racing, but my focus is shifting as I begin a new chapter.”

Armstrong confirmed to SwimSwam that he will probably be focusing 100% on the Enhanced Games transferring forwards.