Kristin Otto is a former German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. In long course, she held the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.
Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Maritza Correia, also known by her married name Maritza McClendon, is a former Olympic swimmer from Puerto Rico who swam representing the United States. When she qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, she became the first Puerto Rican of African descent to be a member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team. She was the first female African-American swimmer for the United States to win an Olympic medal. She also became the first black American swimmer to set an American and world swimming record.
Yana Oleksandrivna Klochkova is a Ukrainian swimmer, who has won five Olympic medals in her career, with four of them being gold. She is Merited Master of Sports (1998), Hero of Ukraine (2004). Klochkova was the most awarded Olympian from Ukraine until in 2024 fencer Olga Kharlan overtook her.
Ranomi Kromowidjojo is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics, and in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle at the 2012 Olympics. Kromowidjojo holds the world record in the 50 meter freestyle short course, and as part of the Dutch team she holds the world record in the 4×50 m freestyle relay. She formerly held world records in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. She has won a total of 39 medals in FINA World Championship events.
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15–17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August 2012 at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
Aksana Yauhenauna Dziamidava is a Belarusian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She won a bronze medal, as a member of the Belarusian swimming team, in the women's 4×50 m freestyle at the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France.
Yuliya Piatrouna Khitraya is a Belarusian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She won a bronze medal, as a member of the Belarusian swimming team, in the women's 4×50 m freestyle at the 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France.
Florent Manaudou is a French competitive swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in swimming. He competes for the Energy Standard Swim Club in the International Swimming League.
Yauhen Mikalaevich Tsurkin is a Belarusian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.
Simone Ashley Manuel is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, a tie with Penny Oleksiak of Canada, Manuel became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won a bronze medal as the anchor of the American 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Béryl Émilie Paulette Gastaldello is a French swimmer and French national record holder in the 50-meter backstroke who competed for Texas A&M University, and participated in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in freestyle and stroke events. Excelling in international competition, she was a five-time gold medal winner in individual and relay freestyle events at the European Championships.
Shayna Jack is an Australian swimmer. She won gold medals in Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay and Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya is a Belarusian freestyle skier.
Belarus competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was Belarus' last appearance at the Summer Olympics as Belarus along with Russia was barred from competiting at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
Anastasiya Shkurdai is a Belarusian swimmer. She won the bronze medal in the women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships held in Qatar. She won a gold medal at the 2019 European Short Course Swimming Championships held in Great Britain.
Nastassia Viktarauna Karakouskaya is a Belarusian swimmer. In 2021, she represented Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships, in Hangzhou, China.
