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—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. 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.
Aaron Wells Peirsol is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist. Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke event. In February 2011, Peirsol announced his retirement, saying, "I ended up doing everything I set out to do."
Tracy Anne Stockwell, OAM,, née Tracy Anne Caulkins, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
Neil Scott Walker is an American former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in multiple events.
John Phillips Naber is an American former competitive swimmer, five-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in multiple events.
Mark Anthony Kerry is an Australian former backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics as the backstroker for the Quietly Confident Quartet. During his career, he won twelve Australian Championships.
Ryan Steven Lochte is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps. Lochte's seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men's swimming, tied for second among all Olympic swimmers. He currently holds the world records in the 200-meter individual medley. As part of the American teams, he also holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle (mixed) relay.
Jeffrey Norman Rouse is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event for the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal. The event took place on 24 July. There were 33 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation having up to 3 swimmers. The event was won by John Naber of the United States in world-record time; he was the first person to swim the event in under 2 minutes (1:59.19). It was Naber's fifth medal of the Games: completing a double in the backstroke events as well as golds in the medley relay and the 4×200 free relay, along with a silver in the 200 free. It was the second American victory and second American medal sweep in the men's 200 metre backstroke, after 1968; of the 12 medals from 1968 through 1976, 10 were won by Americans and the other two by Roland Matthes. Peter Rocca (silver) and Dan Harrigan (bronze) were the other two Americans, along with Naber, to reach the podium in 1976. The rules changed in 1984 to limit nations to two swimmers each, preventing further sweeps.
Richard John Carey is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Carey specialized in the backstroke. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won three gold medals. He broke nine world records, five individually, and also was a double world champion. He was named as the Swimmer of the Year in 1983 by Swimming World magazine.
Jon C. Olsen is an American former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Olsen was a successful relay swimmer for the U.S. national team in the late 1980s and 1990s. He has won a total of 27 medals in major international competition, 20 gold, 5 silver, and 2 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan Pacific, and the Pan American championships.
Martín López-Zubero Purcell, also known as Martin Zubero, is a former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.
Bruce MacFarlane Furniss is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in four events. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, he won the 200-meter freestyle and was a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, both in world record time.
Douglas Albert Russell is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three different events.
Nicholas Brewer Thoman is an American competition swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and is an Olympic gold medalist. He has won two world championships as a member of winning United States medley relay teams at the FINA World Aquatics Championships. From 2009 to 2015 he held the world record in the 100-meter backstroke. Thoman has won a total of ten medals in major international competition, four gold, three silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, Pan American Games, and the Summer Universiade. He was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and won gold and silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Camille Wright Thompson is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic medalist.
David Edward Plummer is a retired American competition swimmer who specialized in backstroke events. He won bronze and gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Ryan Fitzgerald MurphyOLY is an American competitive swimmer specializing in backstroke. He is a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the men's 100-meter backstroke.
Luke Greenbank is an English professional swimmer who specialises in backstroke. A medalist in the 200 metre backstroke at the Olympic Games and the World and European championships, he also swam the first leg in the 2019 World and 2020 European Championship gold medal-winning Great Britain medley relay teams. He won a silver medal as lead-off for Great Britain in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay for men at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Evgeny Mikhailovich Rylov is a Russian competitive swimmer and Olympic champion specializing in backstroke events. He won three gold medals at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, and a bronze medal at his senior international debut at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. He also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, both were in the 200 metre backstroke event. In 2018, at the 2018 World Short Course Championships, he won gold medals in the 200 metre backstroke and 50 metre backstroke. At the 2019 World Championships, he won a gold medal in the 200 metre backstroke, silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke, and silver medal in the 50 metre backstroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke and 200 metre backstroke at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
