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.
The swimming competitions at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens took place from 14 to 21 August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre in Marousi. It featured 32 events, a total of 937 swimmers from 152 nations, and the program's changes instituted in the previous Games, including notably the three-phase format for all short-distance races.
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.
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 14.
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.
David Michael Rhys Davies is a Welsh former competitive swimmer who has represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games, and swam for Great Britain at Summer Olympics, world championships and European championships, winning medals in each of those major international championships. Davies specialised in long-distance freestyle and open water events. Born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Davies swam for Wales at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games and represented Great Britain at the 2004, 2008 Olympics and 2012 Olympics. As of the end of 2010, he held the British Records in the 400-, 800- and 1500-metre freestyle events.
The first world record in the men's 1500 metres freestyle in a long course swimming pool was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1908. In short course pools, the world's governing body recognizes world records since March 3, 1991.
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
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.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
Mahrez Mebarek is an Algerian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. He is a multiple-time Algerian record holder in long-distance freestyle.
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.
Łukasz Drzewiński is a Polish former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. Drzewinski won a silver medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2002 European Junior Swimming Championships in Linz, Austria with a time of 2:00.21, edging out Ukraine's Serhiy Advena by 0.04 of a second. He is a member of the swimming team for AZS Warszawa, and is coached and trained by Roberta Białeckiego.
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.
Charnvudth Saengsri is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He is a two-time silver medalist in the 1500 m freestyle at the Southeast Asian Games.
Georgios Diamantidis is a Greek former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. Diamantidis qualified for the men's 1500 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by clearing a FINA A-standard entry time of 15:09.25 from the Greece National Open in Thessaloniki. He challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including top medal favorite Larsen Jensen of the United States. He rounded out the field to last place by a 27-second margin behind Italy's Christian Minotti in 16:06.31. Diamantidis failed to advance into the final, as he placed thirty-first overall in the preliminaries.
Cho Sung-mo is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He established a South Korean record of 15:12.32 to earn a silver medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. During his swimming career, Cho has been training most of the time between the United States and Mexico, under veteran coach and long-time mentor Jack Simon.
Neil Agius is a Maltese swimmer, former Olympian and world-record holder who specialises in long-distance freestyle events. He held three Maltese records each in the 400, 800, and 1500 m freestyle until one of them was broken by Edward Caruana Dingli in 2011.
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.
Kathryn Evans is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games. Evans specialised in freestyle and individual medley events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a double British champion in the 200 m individual medley. Evans also played for Nova Centurion Swim Club in Nottingham, under head coach Bill Furniss. Evans is the cousin of late rower Acer Nethercott, who competed in the men's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
