Ian James Thorpe, is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along with fellow swimmer Emma McKeon. With three gold and two silver medals, Thorpe was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in his hometown of Sydney.
Kieren John Perkins, OAM is a former Australian freestyle swimmer. He specialised in the 1500-metre freestyle and won successive Olympic gold medals in this event in the 1990s. He won his first at the 1992 Olympics which he won in world record time and then at the 1996 Olympics when he defended his title. In total he won four Olympic medals.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The event took place on 15 and 16 August. There were 59 competitors from 53 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers.
Ryk Neethling OIS is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Olympic swimming champion.
Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he has won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.
Malin Therese Alshammar is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She is coached by former Swedish swimmer Johan Wallberg. She is the first female swimmer and the third overall to participate in six Olympic Games.
Daniel Steven Kowalski is an Australian former middle- and long-distance swimmer specialising in freestyle events. He competed in the Olympic Games in 200-, 400- and 1,500-metre individual freestyle events and in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he was the first man in 92 years to earn medals in all of the 200-, 400- and 1500-metre freestyle events. Kowalski, alongside Livinia Nixon, hosted the short-lived TV show Plucka's Place in 1997. Kowalski is perhaps best known for having been a perpetual runner-up to fellow Australians Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett, who were, respectively, the world's best 1500-metre freestyle competitors during the earlier and later parts of Kowalski's career. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Daniel's coaches included Denis Cotterell and Bill Nelson.
Glen Clifford Housman is an Australian former distance freestyle swimmer of the 1980s and 1990s, who won the silver medal in the 1500-metre freestyle, swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics. His career was overshadowed by fellow Australian Kieren Perkins, and was also marred by illness.
Craig Julian Stevens is an Australian former freestyle swimmer specialising in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
Stephen Roy Holland, OAM is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In a brief and spectacular career, he broke 12 world records and was known as the Super Fish after his coach Laurie Lawrence likened his two-beat kick to the tail of a fish. He was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 51 competitors from 44 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers.
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Sun Yang is a Chinese Olympic and world-record-holding competitive swimmer. In 2012, Sun became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic swimming gold medal. Sun is the first male swimmer in history to earn Olympic and World Championship gold medals at every freestyle distance from 200 to 1500 metres. A three-time Olympic gold medalist and eleven-time world champion, he is the most decorated Chinese swimmer in history. In 2017, NBC Sports described him as "arguably the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time".
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.
Michelle Engelsman is an Australian former competition swimmer who specialised in sprint freestyle events. She was a silver medalist in the 50-metre freestyle at the 2003 Summer Universiade, and also, a sixth-place finalist in the same event at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Giancarlo Zolezzi Seoane is a Chilean former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Chilean swimming champion and record holder in the 200, 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle.
Diego Mularoni is a Sammarinese former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympian, and a current Sammarinese record holder in the 100, 200, 400, and 1500 m freestyle since 2001. He has won a total of 13 medals at the Games of the Small States of Europe.
Mackenzie James Horton is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships medallist, and Commonwealth Games medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he finished first in the 400m freestyle, winning his first gold medal and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to do so in the Games' history.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
