The 14th FINA World Championships were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronized swimming. At this championships, synchronized swimmer Natalia Ishchenko, of Russia, was the most decorated competitor winning all six gold medals of her events, at solo, duet and team routines. These championships served as qualifying stages for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Oussama "Ous" Mellouli is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the University of Southern California, where he studied as a computer science undergraduate and swam collegiately.
Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. 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.
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".
Ryan Andrew Cochrane is a retired Canadian competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle distance events. Cochrane is an Olympic silver and bronze medallist as well as a triple gold medallist from the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. He is also a four-time Commonwealth Games champion in the 400-metre and 1,500-metre having won both medals in 2010 and 2014. He holds six world championship medals from the 800-metre and 1500-metre, this also makes Cochrane Canada's all-time leading medallist for a swimmer at the World Aquatics Championships. Cochrane also won gold medals in the 400 and 1,500 m freestyle at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as a bronze in the 4 x 200 m freestyle at the 2015 Games. From the year 2008 - 2015, Cochrane was named the Canadian male swimmer of the year - winning the award 8 times in a row.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. There were 40 competitors from 31 nations.
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.
Gregorio Paltrinieri is an Italian competitive swimmer. He is the Olympic and world long course and short course champion and three-times European long course champion in the 1500 m freestyle event at the 2012, 2014 and 2016 European Aquatics Championships, and two-times European long course champion in the 800 m freestyle event. Paltrinieri is a former 1500 m freestyle world record holder. He also holds the long course European records in the 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events with times of 7:39.27 and 14:33.10.
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. Having won 7 Olympic gold medals and 15 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer, she is considered one of the greatest Olympians and the greatest female swimmer of all time. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, 1500-, and 1650-yard freestyle events.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 29 July. The heats took place 28 July, while the final was held on 29 July.
The swimming events of the 15th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 28 – August 4, 2013, in Barcelona, Spain. The competition was held in a long course pool inside the Palau Sant Jordi. It featured 40 LCM events, split evenly between males and females. Swimming was one of the five aquatic disciplines at the championships.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event in swimming at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships took place on 3–4 August at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.
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 200 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 7–8 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. There were 47 competitors from 36 nations.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The men's 200 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships was held on 4 August with the heats and the semifinals on the 3 August.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. There were 39 competitors from 30 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It will be the event's twenty-seventh consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904.
Lani Pallister is a competitive Australian swimmer. She is a world record holder in two life saving events for the youth age group. She also holds Australian records in the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle. At the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships she won a total of six medals, three of which were gold medals and three of which were silver medals. She also won three gold medals and three silver medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Sven Schwarz is a German competitive swimmer. He is the world junior record holder in the short course 800 metre freestyle. He won one silver medal and two bronze medals at the 2019 European Junior Championships. In 2021, he won two bronze medals at the 2021 European Short Course Championships.
