The Maldives competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, People's Republic of 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.
Lara Heinz is a retired Luxembourgian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time national record holder for both the long and short course freestyle.
Elaine Chan Yu-ning is a two-time Olympic swimmer from Hong Kong, specialized in freestyle events. At age sixteen, Chan first competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she finished forty-seventh in the women's 50 m freestyle, with a time of 27.48 seconds. Following her remarkable performance at the Olympics, Chan granted a full scholarship to the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where she trained with the college swimming team for 18 months. In 2007, Chan returned to Hong Kong to pursue her education with a bachelor's degree in economics and finance at the University of Hong Kong, while she trained with the national team in preparation for the Olympics. She qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and competed for the second time in women's 50 m freestyle. She swam in the seventh heat of the competition, with a time of 26.54 seconds, bettering her personal best from the previous Olympics, but finishing only in forty-fourth place.
Stanislau Anatolievich Neviarouski is a Belarusian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint and relay freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a multiple-time Belarusian record holder for the sprint freestyle events.
Paulius Viktoravičius is a Lithuanian swimmer, who specialized in sprint and relay freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Lithuanian swimming champion and record holder in both the freestyle and medley relay events.
Danil Haustov is an Estonian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He set an Estonian record of 1:27.06, as a relay swimmer, in the 4×50 m freestyle at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Rijeka, Croatia. Haustov is also a member of Kohtla-Järve Water Sport Club in Tallinn, and is coached and trained by Aleksandr Abel.
Rafed Ziad El-Masri is a German former swimmer of Syrian origin, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is also a four-time national champion for Germany, and a gold medalist for the men's 50 m freestyle event at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, representing his ancestral homeland Syria.
Martha Matsa is a Greek swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a member of the swimming team for HAN Thessaloniki.
Lin Man-hsu is a Taiwanese swimmer, who specialized in backstroke and individual medley events. She represented the Chinese Taipei national team in two editions of the Olympic Games.
Nieh Pin-chieh is a Taiwanese swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented the Chinese Taipei national team in two editions of the Olympic Games, competing in a sprint freestyle double.
Yang Chin-kuei is a Taiwanese swimmer, who specialized in butterfly and freestyle events. She represented the Chinese Taipei national team in two editions of the Olympic Games.
Louise Mai Jansen is a Danish former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events. She is an eighteen-time national champion and a Nordic record holder in the freestyle and medley. She is also an eighth-place finalist in the 200 m individual medley at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary with a time of 2:17.37, just eight seconds off the record set by Julie Hjorth-Hansen in 2009. Jansen is an economics graduate, majoring in mathematics at Copenhagen Business School in Copenhagen.
Serhiy Mykolaiovych Advena is a Ukrainian former swimmer who specializes in the freestyle and butterfly swimming styles. He is a two-time Olympian, and a multiple-time Ukrainian record holder in both 100 and 200 m butterfly. He also helped out the Ukrainian team to upset their American rivals and claim the medley relay title (3:38.49) at the 2005 Summer Universiade in Izmir, Turkey.
Mariya Bugakova is an Uzbekistani former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly and sprint freestyle events. She represented Uzbekistan at three editions of the Olympic Games. She is also the elder sister of backstroke swimmer and two-time Olympian Danil Bugakov. Bugakova is a law school graduate at the Tashkent State University of Economics.
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.
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 has played the role of Gunnhild on the TV series Vikings since 2018.
Marina Vladimirovna Mulyayeva is a Kazakh former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and individual medley events. She is a six-time national record holder, a multiple-time ACC titleholder, and a one-time NCAA Honorable Mention All-American swimmer. Mulyayeva is also a varsity swimmer for the Maryland Terrapins and an international business major at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
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.
Petra Klosová is a Czech swimmer who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time national champion and record holder for the freestyle and backstroke events.
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.
Mauritius 
