Penelope ("Penny") Heyns OIS is a South African former swimmer, who is best known for being the only woman in the history of the Olympic Games to have won both the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events – at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games – making her South Africa's first post-apartheid Olympic gold medallist following South Africa's re-admission to the Games in 1992. Along with Australian champion Leisel Jones, Heyns is regarded as one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers.
Ute Geweniger is a former breaststroke and medley swimmer who was a leading member of the East German swimming team in the 1980s. She won two Olympic gold medals, in the 100 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and set seven individual and two relay world records. She was named by Swimming World Magazine as World Swimmer of the Year in 1983 and as the European Swimmer of the Year in 1981 and 1983.
Silke Hörner is a German former breaststroke swimmer, a leading member of the 1980s East German swimming team. She won two Olympic gold medals, in the 200 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and set four individual world records. She was named by Swimming World Magazine as European Swimmer of the Year in 1985 and 1987, but her achievements are regarded with suspicion due to the state-run systematic doping program run by East Germany. In 1991, former East German swimming coach Michael Regner claimed that in the 1980s he had been instructed to distribute anabolic steroids to team swimmers, including Hörner.
Klena ("Klenie") Geertje Bimolt is a former breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the 4 × 100 medley relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. She did so together with her team mates Corrie Winkel, Ada Kok and Erica Terpstra. The same year, she helped the Dutch team to set the world record in the same event. Bimolt also competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 4 × 100 medley relay, but finished seventh. She won two silver medals at the 1962 European Aquatics Championships
Beverley Joy Whitfield was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1970s, who won a gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. She was coached by Terry Gathercole and Don Talbot.
Ian Lovett O'Brien is an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1960s who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time. He won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships, before retiring at the age of 21 due to financial pressures.
Catharine Ball Condon, née Catharine Northcutt Ball, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team. Ball is a former world record holder in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events, and is remembered as a teenage star who was the dominant female breaststroke swimmer of her generation.
Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relays at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Sharon Lynn Wichman, also known by her married name Sharon Jones, is an American former competition swimmer and 1968 Olympic champion in the breaststroke.
Galina Nikolayevna Prozumenshchikova was a Soviet breaststroke swimmer who also competed in medley relays. She won five Olympic medals in 1964, 1968 and 1972 and five European Championships medals in 1966 and 1970. Her first Olympic medal, the gold in 200 m breaststroke in 1964, was the first Olympic gold in swimming for the Soviet Union. From 1964 to 1966, she set five world records: four in 200 m and one in 100 m breaststroke events. Between 1963 and 1972, she won 15 national titles and set 27 national records.
Rebecca Soni is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke, and is the first woman to swim the 200-meter breaststroke in under 2 minutes 20 seconds. As a member of the U.S. national team, she held the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay from 2012 to 2017.
Moniek Nijhuis is a Dutch swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. After she had been a professional swimmer, under the guidance of Martin Truijens, for several years she took a break from professional swimming after she missed out on the Dutch team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She wanted to concentrate more on her studies and train less. She still swims at De Dolfijn swimming club in Amsterdam.
The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place between 18 and 19 October in the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool. This was the first appearance for this event in the Olympics for the women swimmers.
Rūta Meilutytė is a Lithuanian swimmer. An Olympic gold medalist, she is a world record holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke.
Svetlana Viktorovna Babanina is a retired Soviet swimmer who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1964, she won bronze medals in the 4 × 100 m medley relay and 200 m individual breaststroke, whereas in 1968 she finished in seventh and sixth place in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke, respectively. Babanina won the 200 m event at the 1965 Universiade; she competed at the European Championships in 1962 and 1966, but did not medal. Domestically she won five titles: in the 400 m individual medley, 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (1963) and 100 m and 200 m breaststroke (1964). In 1964–1965 she set two world records in the 100 m breaststroke.
Rikke Møller Pedersen is a Danish competitive swimmer specialising in breaststroke and from 2013 to 2021 world record holder in the 200 m breaststroke (2:19.11).
Lillia Camille King is an American swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, King won a silver medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay for her efforts in the prelims, the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke, and the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, where she swam the breaststroke leg. She is the current world record holder in the long course 100-meter breaststroke.
Mona McSharry is an Irish competitive swimmer. She is a two-time Olympian and won the bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2024 Summer Olympics. McSharry is also a junior world champion and a two-time junior European champion.
Annie Lazor is a retired American competitive swimmer. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won the bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke.
Katherine Cadwallader Douglass is an American competitive swimmer. A versatile swimmer who competes in many events, Douglass won her first major international medal at the 2020 Olympic Games. She won three medals at the 2022 World Championships. Douglass then won six medals, including two golds, at the 2023 World Championships. At the 2024 World Championships, she won five medals, including two golds. Douglass won four medals, including two golds, at the 2024 Olympic Games; she became the Olympic champion in the 200 m breaststroke.
