Ask Marylanders about swimming and a single name comes to mind.
Michael Phelps.
And why not. The “Baltimore Bullet”, raised near Towson in Baltimore County, rewrote the Olympic record books earlier this century with an astounding 23 Olympic gold medals, 13 of them earned in individual events. During his career, Phelps set 39 world swimming records, 29 in individual events.
His reign made the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, his home training base, a Baltimore landmark well before Maryland online sports betting was legal and regulated.
Ledecky Has Record-Shattering Legacy Too
However, Phelps has company from the Free State.
Katie Ledecky, who was raised in Bethesda, has collected a fistful of medals, several of them gold, both in the Olympics and at the World Championships. Ledecky has won gold at the past three Olympics in the 800-meter freestyle, an event in which she has reset the world record several times.
And Rockville’s Jack Conger has his own gold medal collection from the Olympics and worlds.
And so, with the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships being held July 14-30 in Fukuoka, Japan, BetMaryland.com looked at which states produce the most swimming medalists at the World Championships.
BetMaryland, your home for the best sports betting app Maryland options, used Wikipedia.com’s results of both men’s and women’s events for all 19 previous times the World Championships were held since 1973 (they are not held annually). We found the 181 unique U.S.-born swimmers who have won gold, silver or bronze medals at the event. We used their biographies to find the states that have produced the best swimmers from the United States.
States With Most Medals at World Championships
Where MD Ranks Among Swimming States
As it turns out, despite the prowess of Phelps and other Marylanders in the pool, Maryland could only tie for No. 7 on the list.
During the period reviewed, Maryland has had seven swimmers who were medalists, and that made up 3.9% of the U.S. medalists in the World Aquatics Championships.
The leading state, not surprisingly because of its sheer population size, is California. America’s most populous state has 46 medalists, or 25.4% that the U.S. team has produced.
Again, because sheer numbers are a big factor, No. 2 is New York with 15 medalists, or 8.3% of American medal winners. The rest of the top five: No. 3 Illinois, 13 medalists (7.2%); No. 4 Florida, 9 (5.0%) and No. 5 Ohio and Pennsylvania, 8 each (4.4%).
Maryland tied for seventh along with New Jersey and Washington at 7 medalists each (3.9%). BetMaryland has more sports coverage in addition to the best Maryland sports betting promos available.
