Dressel repeated as athlete of the year after earning gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle, 100 free and 100 butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ledecky earned two gold and two silver medals in Tokyo to become the most decorated female individual gold medalist in Olympic history.
Other winners were Bobby Finke for male race of the year; Dressel, Zach Apple, Michael Andrew and Ryan Murphy for relay performance of the year; Annie Lazor for the perseverance award; and Gregg Troy as coach of the year.