Dara Grace Torres is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Games, and at age 41, the oldest swimmer to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she competed in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and won silver medals in all three events.
The Maldives competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country's participation at the Beijing Olympics marked its seventh appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The delegation included four athletes, two in athletics, and two in swimming who participated in four distinct events. Its four athletes did not advance past the first round in each of their events. Aminath Rouya Hussain carried the Maldivian flag during the parade of nations of the opening ceremony with sprinter Ali Shareef being the flagbearer for the closing ceremony. The country failed to win an Olympic medal at these Games and has yet to win their first medal.
Puerto Rico competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The American territory with a population of four million people qualified 22 athletes in eight different sports. The appearance of the Puerto Rican delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked the commonwealth's sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics, and its twenty-second appearance at any Olympic Games, since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Of its competitors participating in events that involve progression by heats, six athletes advanced at least one round in their events, and two advanced at least two rounds, with Asunción Ocasio almost medaling bronze in taekwondo. However, there were no Puerto Rican medalists at the Beijing Olympics. McWilliams Arroyo, a boxer, bore Puerto Rico's flag at the ceremonies.
Niger sent five athletes, their second largest contingent ever, equalling the most sports in which they have participated. to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It was Niger's 10th Olympics; their only medalist has been Issaka Dabore, in boxing, at the 1972 games.
Daynara Lopes Ferreira de Paula is a Brazilian butterfly swimmer.
Jördis Steinegger is an Austrian swimmer who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events. She is a two-time Olympian, a nine-time long and short course Austrian record holder, and a member of the Linz Amateur Swimming Club in Linz, under her personal coach Marco Wolf.
Christine Mailliet is a Luxembourgian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is a multiple-time Luxembourgish record holder in both long and short course freestyle and butterfly.
Natasha Moodie is a Jamaican competitive swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She was a three-time national record holder and NCAA All-American champion, and a member of the Jamaican team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. While studying kinesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Moodie trained and swam for the Michigan Wolverines team under head coach Jim Richardson. She is a member of the award-winning Team Rogers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Micha (Kathrine) Østergaard is a Danish former swimmer, who specialized in 100 & 200 m butterfly.
Oksana Serikova is a Ukrainian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She helped out her Ukrainian team to break a national record time of 4:05.56 in the women's medley relay at the 2006 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She is also an eighth-place finalist in the 50 m freestyle at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in the same location as four years before.
Irina Shlemova is an Uzbekistani former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian and a member of Oltin Suv Swimming Club, under the tutelage of her personal coach Daniya Galandinova.
Elisabeth Nikiema is a Burkinabé swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She has competed for her country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, also known as Ragga Ragnars is an Icelandic actress and former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. She is a multiple-time Icelandic record holder in both long and short course freestyle. After retiring from swimming, Ragnheiður studied acting and played the role of Gunnhild on the TV series Vikings from 2018 to 2020.
Eva Lehtonen is a Finnish competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. Lehtonen holds five Finnish records in the same stroke, including a 1500 m freestyle record that dated back to 1983, before she set a mark of 17:18.16 at the 2007 USA Junior National Meet in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Melissa Jane Corfe is a South African swimmer, who specialised in freestyle and backstroke events. She is a multiple-time South African champion and record holder for her respective events. Corfe represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a total of five medals, including three golds in the women's freestyle, at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria. She also set two national records, as a member of the South African swimming team, in the freestyle and medley relays, at the 2008 FINA World Short Course Championships in Manchester, England.
Anastasiya Sergeyevna Aksenova is a Russian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented her nation Russia in a sprint freestyle swimming double at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has also claimed multiple Russian championship titles and national records in both the individual and relay freestyle events. Aksenova was also a member of Suduroyar Svimjifelag in Vagur, Faroe Islands, under the tutelage of head coach Jon Bjarnason.
Sandra Kazíková is a Czech former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She posted a long-course national record time of 25.99 seconds, by winning the 50 m freestyle at the 2008 Czech Winter Championships in Pardubice. Kazikova is also a member of the swimming team for Slavia VŠ Plzeň, and is coached and trained by Ivana Felgrova.
Jana Klusáčková is a Czech former swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time Czech champion and record holder for the freestyle events. Klusackova also won a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 2005 Summer Universiade in Izmir, Turkey, in an outstanding time of 56.40 seconds.
Chang Hee-jin is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a three-time All-American swimmer in the same stroke. Chang is also a former varsity swimmer for the Texas Longhorns, and a graduate of political science at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Prior to her time with the Longhorns, she attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where she was a 4-year varsity athlete and a formerly held various NEPSAC swimming records.
João Carlos da Silva Paquete Aguiar is an Angolan swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He represented Angola, as a 17-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and held numerous Angolan titles and meet records in the 50 m freestyle, while playing for August 1 Swimming Club in Luanda.
Angola 
