Julia Hassler (born 27 February 1993) is an Olympic and national-record holding swimmer from Liechtenstein. [1] She swam for and was Liechtenstein closing-ceremony flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics. She has also swam for Liechtenstein at several other international competitions including the: World Championships (2011), Games of the Small States of Europe (2009, 2011, 2013), European Championships (2014), Short Course Worlds (2010, 2012) and Youth Olympics (2010). [2]
As of March 2015, [3] she holds Liechtenstein Records, both long course (50m) and short course (25m), in the: 200, 400 and 800 frees; 50, 100 and 200 flies; and 400 IM. She also holds the national record in the long course 1500 free.
At the 2012 Olympics, she was one of three athletes to compete for Liechtenstein. She swam the 400 and 800 freestyles, setting national records in both (4:12.99 and 8:35.18)., [3] [4] finishing 27th in the 400 [5] and 17th in the 800. [6]
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she competed in the 800 m freestyle event. She placed 21st in the heats with a time of 8:38.19 and did not qualify for the final. [7] She was the flagbearer for Liechtenstein during the Parade of Nations. [8]
Federica Pellegrini is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she holds the women's 200 meters freestyle world record, and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the 4-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15.
Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winning 29 medals. She has also won over 50 world championship medals.
Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley. Formerly, she held the world record in the short course 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. She was the first Spanish woman to win a gold medal in swimming at an Olympic Games and is widely considered to be the greatest Spanish swimmer of all time.
Paul Biedermann is a German retired competitive swimmer, a 200 and 400 metre freestyle long course world champion. He holds the long course and short course world records in the 200 meters freestyle, and the long course world record in the 400 meters freestyle.
Lauren Marie Boyle is a former competitive swimmer from New Zealand. She has competed at three Commonwealth Games and three Olympic Games.
Ellie Victoria Cole, is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships. Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, Cole underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five medals, including three golds. She subsequently represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. In claiming her seventeenth Paralympic medal in Tokyo, Cole became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals from four Paralympic Games.
Lynette Lim Shu En is an Olympic freestyle swimmer from Singapore. She swam for Singapore at the 2012 and 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2009 and 2007 World Championships, and the 2007 South East Asian Games.
Brenden Hall, is an Australian Paralympic amputee swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where he won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. He competed at 2020 Summer Paralympics, his fourth games.
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics, 14 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, and 22 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest Olympians and the greatest female swimmer of all time.
Kosuke Hagino is a Japanese former competitive swimmer who specialized in the individual medley and 200 m freestyle. He is a four-time Olympic medalist, most notably winning gold in the 400 m individual medley at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Lara Grangeon is a French swimmer from the territory of New Caledonia who competes in the individual medley and butterfly events. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she finished 18th overall in the heats in the 400 metre individual medley and failed to reach the final.
Michelle Coleman is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialized in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She is the current Swedish national record holder in the 100 meter backstroke, and the 200 meter backstroke. She finished 7th in the 200 meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and led off the Swedish silver medal winning 4 × 100 m medley relay team at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan.
Maddison Gae Elliott, is an Australian swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she became the youngest Australian Paralympic medallist by winning bronze medals in the women's 400 m and 100 m freestyle S8 events. She then became the youngest Australian gold medallist when she was a member of the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34 points team. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won three gold and two silver medals.
Adzo Rebecca Kpossi is a Togolese swimmer who specialises in butterfly and freestyle. Kpossi competed in both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. At both of her Olympics, she competed in the 50 metre freestyle. She has also competed in two World Championships, a World Short Course Championship and an African Games.
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Lakeisha Dawn Patterson, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won Australia's first gold medal of the Games in a world record time swim in the Women's 400m freestyle S8. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S9.
Liechtenstein competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1936, Liechtensteinian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, except for two occasions. Liechtenstein did not register any athletes at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and eventually joined the United States-led boycott when Moscow hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics. The 2016 delegation included two swimmers, Christoph Meier and Julia Hassler, and tennis player Stephanie Vogt. Two of the athletes debuted in the 2012 Summer Olympics, with long-distance freestyle swimmer Julia Hassler leading the squad as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Liechtenstein has yet to win a Summer Olympic medal.
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