Janet Beth Evans is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics.
Deborah Elizabeth Meyer, also known by her married name Deborah Weber, is an American former competition swimmer, a three-time Olympic champion, and a former world record-holder in four events. Meyer won the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle swimming races in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. While she was still a 16-year-old student at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California, she became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in one Olympics, winning the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle swimming races. Katie Ledecky is the only other female swimmer to have done the same, in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Laure Manaudou is a retired French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the daughter of a French father and a Dutch mother, and she is the older sister of Florent Manaudou who is also an Olympic gold medalist swimmer.
Dana Whitney Vollmer is a former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record in the event. Eight years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vollmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and also won golds in the 4×100-meter medley relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She won three medals including a gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Shirley Frances Babashoff is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in multiple events. Babashoff set six world records and earned a total of nine Olympic medals in her career. She won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and she won the 1975 world championship in both the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle. During her career, she set 37 national records and for some time held all national freestyle records from the 100-meter to 800-meter event.
Kathryn Elise Hoff is a former American competitive swimmer, she is an Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoff was known for her success in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics, in which she was awarded a silver medal and two bronze medals.
Kate Marie Ziegler is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle and long-distance events. Ziegler has won a total of fifteen medals in major international competition, including eight golds, five silvers, and two bronzes spanning the World Aquatics and the Pan Pacific Championships. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and competed in the 800-meter freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Tracey Lee Wickham is an Australian former middle distance swimmer. Wickham was the World Champion for the 400 m and 800 m freestyle in 1978, and won gold in both events at the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games. She is a former world record holder for the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle. Despite her success in the pool, Wickham has battled hardship and personal tragedy throughout her life.
Michelle Jan Ford is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. She was the only non-Soviet bloc female swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the 1980 games. She also set two world records in her career, and was the first Australian woman to win individual Olympic medals in two distinct specialised strokes.
Mariana Nery Brochado is a Brazilian freestyle swimmer. She won the bronze medal in the women's 200-metre freestyle at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A member of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo swimming team, she also represented her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
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.
Rebecca Adlington is an English former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle, breaking the 19-year-old world record of Janet Evans in the 800-metre final. Adlington was Britain's first Olympic swimming champion since 1988, and the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908. After winning her first World Championship gold over 800 metres in 2011, along with silver in the 400 metres at the same meet, she won bronze medals in both the women's 400-metre and 800-metre freestyle events in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Adlington is one of the few people to have won Olympic Games, World Championships, continental championships and Commonwealth Games gold medals, although she did not win a set in any one event.
Angela Denise Coughlan, O.Ont. was a Canadian competition swimmer. At the peak of her competitive swimming career from 1968 to 1971, she was the best Canadian female freestyle specialist, going undefeated in freestyle events at Canadian meets during that time, as well as breaking a world record and 13 Canadian national long course records. As a member of the Canadian national swim team, she anchored the 4x100-metre freestyle and 4x100-metre medley relay teams, and earned both individual and team relay medals at the 1967 Pan American Games, the 1968 Olympics, the 1970 Commonwealth Games and the 1971 Pan American Games. Named Canadian Female Athlete of the Year in 1970, she retired from competitive swimming in 1972 at the age of 19. Part of her post-competitive career was spent as a swim coach and mentor to younger swimmers. She was inducted into the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
Sharon van Rouwendaal is a Dutch swimmer and the Olympic gold medalist in the 10 km open water marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Djan Garrido Madruga is a former international freestyle swimmer and former South American record-holder from Brazil. His younger brother Roger Madruga, was also a professional swimmer.
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. She has won a world record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics and 26 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 the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Cierra Runge is an American competition swimmer.
Penelope Oleksiak is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Her country's most decorated Olympian, Oleksiak rose to fame during the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she became the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer Games, and the country's youngest Olympic champion with her gold medal win in the 100 m freestyle. She was the first athlete born in the 2000s to claim an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Her success led to her being awarded the 2016 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete, the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's top female athlete for 2016, and a member of the Canadian Press team of the year. Five years later she won three additional medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, breaking the national record for Olympic medals.
Ariarne Elizabeth Titmus, is an Australian swimmer. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle, having won both events at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the world record holder in the long course 400-metre freestyle event. In 2019 and 2020, she competed representing the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League.
Summer McIntosh is a Canadian competitive swimmer. A four-time World Aquatics champion and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, she is the current world record holder in the women's 400 metre individual medley.
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