Swimming

Swimmers and achievements in pool and open-water competition.

People in Swimming

38 profiles

Athlete

Michael Phelps

Winning 28 Olympic swimming medals, including eight golds at Beijing 2008.

Athlete

Duke Kahanamoku

Winning Olympic swimming gold and spreading surfing internationally.

Athlete

Mark Spitz

Winning seven swimming golds at the 1972 Olympics.

Athlete

Ian Thorpe

Winning five Olympic swimming gold medals.

Athlete

Johnny Weissmuller

Winning Olympic swimming gold before becoming cinema’s Tarzan.

Athlete

Dawn Fraser

Winning the Olympic 100m freestyle at three consecutive Games.

Athlete

Ryan Lochte

Winning twelve Olympic swimming medals.

Athlete

Adam Peaty

Redefining speed in the 100m breaststroke.

Athlete

Kosuke Kitajima

Winning both Olympic breaststroke distances at consecutive Games.

Athlete

Katie Ledecky

Dominating women’s distance freestyle swimming.

Athlete

Shane Gould

Winning five individual swimming medals at the 1972 Olympics.

Athlete

Kristin Otto

Winning six swimming gold medals at the 1988 Olympics.

Athlete

Simone Manuel

Becoming the first Black American woman to win individual Olympic swimming gold.

Athlete

Katinka Hosszú

Winning three Olympic gold medals and dominating individual medley swimming.

Athlete

Kirsty Coventry

Winning seven Olympic swimming medals for Zimbabwe.

Athlete

Pieter van den Hoogenband

Winning the 100- and 200-metre freestyle Olympic titles in Sydney and defending the 100-metre title in Athens.

Athlete

Penny Heyns

Winning both women’s Olympic breaststroke events in 1996.

Athlete

Alexander Popov

Winning the Olympic 50 m and 100 m freestyle double twice.

Athlete

Inge de Bruijn

Winning four Olympic swimming titles in sprint freestyle and butterfly.

Athlete

Grant Hackett

The swimmer who won consecutive Olympic 1500-metre freestyle titles and dominated distance swimming.

Athlete

Sarah Sjöström

Winning Olympic sprint titles in both butterfly and freestyle.

Athlete

Dara Torres

Winning twelve Olympic swimming medals across five Games, including three silvers at forty-one.

Athlete

Janet Evans

Winning four Olympic swimming gold medals with a distinctive windmill freestyle stroke.

Athlete

Ariarne Titmus

Winning consecutive Olympic 400m freestyle titles.

Athlete

Federica Pellegrini

Becoming Italy’s first female Olympic swimming champion.

Athlete

Matt Biondi

Winning eleven Olympic swimming medals, including eight golds.

Athlete

Joan Harrison

Becoming South Africa’s first Olympic swimming champion.

Athlete

Vladimir Salnikov

Becoming the first swimmer under fifteen minutes for 1,500 metres.

Coach

John deBarbadillo

Developing YMCA swimming in York, Pennsylvania.

Coach

Mike Peppe

Leading Ohio State to eleven NCAA swimming and diving titles.

Athlete

Buster Crabbe

Winning Olympic swimming gold before playing Flash Gordon.

Coach

Gail Emery

Coaching the Walnut Creek Aquanuts and US Olympic synchronised swimmers.

Coach

Ron Johnson

Coaching Arizona State and Olympic swimming teams.

Athlete

Gustavo Borges

Winning four Olympic swimming medals for Brazil.

Athlete

Tom Stock

Setting backstroke world records while swimming for Indiana.

Coach

James Counsilman

Coaching Indiana to six consecutive NCAA swimming titles.

Coach

Deryk Snelling

Coaching Canadian swimmers across seven Olympic Games.

Athlete

Jim Montgomery

Swimming the first sub-50-second men’s 100-metre freestyle