Krisztina Egerszegi is a Hungarian former world record holding swimmer and one of the greatest Hungarian Olympic champions of the modern era. She is a three-time Olympian and five-time Olympic champion; and one of four individuals to have ever won the same swimming event at three consecutive Summer Olympics. She is the first female swimmer to win five individual Olympic gold medals.
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."
Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and world record holder, she is the most decorated Olympian from Africa. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and was elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide in early 2018.
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.
Emanuele Merisi is an Italian former professional swimmer, specialized in backstroke, who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Roland Matthes was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European championships and three world championships in a row, and swam 19 world and 28 European records in various backstroke, butterfly and medley events. He was trained by Marlies Grohe.
Liam John Tancock is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He specialised in backstroke and individual medley events. He is a three-time world champion and a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and held the world record in the 50-metre backstroke for almost a decade.
Matthew Grevers is a former American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, fourteen gold, twelve silver, and seven bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, and the Universiade. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grevers won gold medals as a member of the U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays, and a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Four years later, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
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.
Robert "Bobby" Hurley is an Australian swimmer and former World Record holder in the short-course 50 metres Backstroke and 2012 World Champion in the same event. In 2009 he won a bronze medal as a team member on the 4 × 200 m Freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Rome. He has five FINA World Championship medals to his name, two gold, one silver and two bronze.
Christopher James Walker-Hebborn is an English swimmer who competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal at the latter.
Camille Lacourt is a retired French competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist. He won the 50 metre backstroke at three consecutive world championships. He competed at the 2012 Olympics in the 100 metre backstroke and finished fourth. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, he finished fifth in the same event.
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.
Jérémy Stravius is a French swimmer, swimming freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly.
Radosław Kawęcki is a Polish competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke events. Kawęcki won the silver medal in the 200 m backstroke at the 2013 and 2015 World Aquatics Championships, and was twice the 200 m backstroke short course world champion. He won four gold medals at the FINA World Swimming Championships in the 200 m backstroke. He is an 8-time European champion in the backstroke events. Kawęcki finished fourth at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the 200-meter backstroke. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League.
Sean Russo is an Australian swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Danas Rapšys is a Lithuanian swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian, a multiple-time Lithuanian record holder in the men's backstroke, freestyle and butterfly, and a double swimming champion at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei, Taiwan. Rapšys is also a member of Panevežys Žemyna Club, and is coached and trained by Ina Paipelienė.
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. He won a gold medal as lead-off for England in the heats of the 4 x 100 metre medley relay for men at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Timothy Hodge is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He has represented Australia at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Paralympics, where he won two gold, three silver and one bronze medals.
Javier Carlos Acevedo is a Canadian competitive swimmer. He competes primarily in the backstroke events. Acevedo won two bronze medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships as part of both the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay and the 4×100 m mixed medley relay. He has also won a gold medal at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in the 4×100 m mixed freestyle relay and a silver in the 50 m backstroke. Acevado was a former Junior world record holder in the 100 m backstroke event.
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