Natalie du Toit OIG MBE is a South African swimmer. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; the other being table tennis player Natalia Partyka. Du Toit became the third amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics, where she placed 16th in the 10K, "Marathon", swim.
Angela Maurer is a German long-distance swimmer.
Larisa Dmitriyevna Ilchenko is a Russian long-distance swimmer. She has won eight world titles and a gold at the 2008 Olympics.
Cassandra Lily Patten is a British freestyle swimmer and coach who won the bronze in the 10 km open-water event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Keri-anne Payne, also known by her married name Keri-anne Carry, is a South African-born British swimmer, specialising in marathon open water swimming, and long-distance freestyle swimming in the pool. She is a two-time 10-kilometre open water world champion, and an Olympic silver medallist.
The men's marathon 10 kilometre event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 August at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing, China.
Chloe Elizabeth Sutton Mackey is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle and long-distance events. Sutton represented the United States at two consecutive Olympic Games. Sutton has won a total of five medals in major international competition, three gold, one silver, and one bronze spanning the Open Water Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, and Pan American Games. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team, and competed in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
For the swimming competitions at the 2008 Olympics the following qualification systems were in place.
Melissa Anne Gorman is an Australian long-distance swimmer who specialises in long-distance freestyle and open-water events.
The women's marathon swimming over a distance of 10 kilometres at the 2012 Olympic Games in London took place on 9 August in the Serpentine at Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom.
Nataliya Anatoliïvna Samorodina is a Ukrainian former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events and open water marathon. She represented Ukraine in two editions of the Olympic Games and also swam for Ukraïna Zaporizhzhia.
Ana Marcela Jesus Soares da Cunha is a Brazilian swimmer who specializes in the open water swimming marathon. She is considered one of the best open water swimmers in history, having obtained 14 medals in FINA World Aquatics Championships. She has also received FINA’s Female World Open Water Swimmer Of The Year award six times. Her countless achievements are comparable only to those of Larisa Ilchenko, another multi-medalist in World Championships.
Antonella Bogarín is an Argentine swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon events. She represented her nation Argentina at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing twenty-fourth in the inaugural open water marathon.
Chad Ho is a South African open water swimmer, who specialises in 10km and 5km marathon swimming. Educated at Westville Boys' High School, he is considered one of the fastest professional open water swimmers in the world, having won the overall series title at the 2010 FINA World Cup and attended the Olympic Game's twice - 2008 and 2016. He is also currently a seven-time titleholder of the Midmar Mile.
Aurélie Muller is a French swimmer, who specializes in long-distance freestyle events and open water marathon. She won the 10-kilometer competition at the 2015 world championship in Kazan, Russia and at the 2017 world championship in Budapest, Hungary.
Yevgeny Yuryevich Drattsev is a Russian swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. He is considered one of the fastest professional open water swimmers in the world, finishing near the top of FINA World Cup races for the 10 km marathon. He also won two medals for the 5 and 10 km open water marathon at the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
Teja Zupan is a Slovenian swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. Zupan qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after placing tenth in the 10 km Marathon Swimming Olympic test event at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Zupan swam in the first-ever women's 10 km open water marathon, against a field of 24 other competitors, including South African amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit, British duo Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, and sixteen-year-old American Chloe Sutton. Zupan finished the race in twelfth place, with a total time of 1:59:43.7, sixteen seconds behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.
Daniela Guerra Inácio is a Russian-born Portuguese swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. She represented her nation Portugal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing seventeenth in the inaugural 10 km race.
Imelda Martínez Gómez is a Mexican swimmer, who specialized in open water marathon. Martinez qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after placing seventh in the 10 km Marathon Swimming Olympic test event at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Martinez swam in the first-ever women's 10 km open water marathon, against a field of 24 other competitors, including South African amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit, British duo Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, and sixteen-year-old American Chloe Sutton. Martinez finished the race in twentieth place, with a time of 2:01:07.9, one minute and forty seconds (1:40) behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.
The women's marathon swimming over a distance of 10 kilometres at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place on 15 August at Fort Copacabana.
