Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. She was world record holder in four events. Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals and 20 European championships gold medals. In the Olympics, she won a bronze medal in London 2012 in the 50 m freestyle, as well as three relay medals: bronze in Athens 2004, gold in Beijing 2008, and silver in London 2012.
Marianne Yvonne Heemskerk is a former butterfly swimmer from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the 100 m butterfly at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. She was also part of the 4 × 100 m medley relay team that finished fourth. She also participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics but did not reach the finals. Heemskerk broke the world record in the women's 200m butterfly on 12 June 1960 in Leipzig, East Germany.
Ute Geweniger is a former breaststroke and medley swimmer who was a leading member of the East German swimming team in the 1980s. She won two Olympic gold medals, in the 100 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and set seven individual and two relay world records. She was named by Swimming World Magazine as World Swimmer of the Year in 1983 and as the European Swimmer of the Year in 1981 and 1983.
Klena ("Klenie") Geertje Bimolt is a former breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands, who won the silver medal in the 4 × 100 medley relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. She did so together with her team mates Corrie Winkel, Ada Kok and Erica Terpstra. The same year, she helped the Dutch team to set the world record in the same event. Bimolt also competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 4 × 100 medley relay, but finished seventh. She won two silver medals at the 1962 European Aquatics Championships
Lauren van Oosten is a Canadian competition swimmer and a breaststroke specialist.
Wijda Mazereeuw is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. Individually she competed in the 200 m and 400 m medley event at the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke at the 1976 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in the heats on all occasions; in 1976 she also placed fifth with the Dutch 4 × 100 m medley relay team. At the 1975 World Aquatics Championships in Cali, Colombia, she won silver medals in the 100 m (1:14.29) and 200 m (2:37.50) breaststroke; she was also part of the Dutch 4 × 100 m medley relay team that won the bronze medal with a time of 4:21.45.
Ranomi Kromowidjojo is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics, and in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle at the 2012 Olympics. Kromowidjojo holds the world record in the 50 meter freestyle short course, and as part of the Dutch team she holds the world record in the 4×50 m freestyle relay. She formerly held world records in the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m freestyle relays. She has won a total of 39 medals in FINA World Championship events.
Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk is a former Dutch competitive swimmer who mainly specializes in freestyle, but also has a strong backstroke and medley.
Emily Jane Seebohm, OAM is an Australian swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021; and won three Olympic gold medals, five world championship gold medals and seven Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Julia Elizabeth Smit is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. She has won a total of nine medals in major international competition, six golds, two silvers, and one bronze spanning the Olympics and Pan American Games.
Moniek Nijhuis is a Dutch swimmer who specializes in breaststroke. After she had been a professional swimmer, under the guidance of Martin Truijens, for several years she took a break from professional swimming after she missed out on the Dutch team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She wanted to concentrate more on her studies and train less. She still swims at De Dolfijn swimming club in Amsterdam.
Adelaïde Henriette "Ada" den Haan was a Dutch breaststroke swimmer. She dominated the 200m breaststroke event in the 1950s, setting four world records in 1956–1957, one under the old rules and three under the new rules that disallowed long underwater swimming. However, she could not participate in the 1956 Summer Olympics that were boycotted by the Netherlands in protest of the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution by the Soviet Union. She won two European gold medals in 1958, but by 1959 her world record was broken and her dominance faded away. At the 1960 Summer Olympics she was part of the Dutch medley team that broke the Olympic record in the preliminaries; however, they finished fourth in the final. She was also fourth in the individual 200 m breastroke event. She married Martien Swinkels, the coach of the Dutch swimming star Marcel Wouda.
Maria Martina "Ria" van Velsen is a retired Dutch backstroke swimmer who participated in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics. In 1960, she was sevenths individually in the 100m backstroke event. She was also part of the Dutch medley team that broke the 4 × 100 m medley Olympic record in the preliminaries; however, they finished fourth in the final. She also won two medals at the 1962 European Aquatics Championships, and set four world records: three in 100m backstroke and one in the 4 × 100 m medley relay (1964).
Elizabeth Mary Coster is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialises in backstroke and butterfly events. She helped the New Zealand team to pull off a fourth-place effort and broke a New Zealand record of 4:06.30 in the medley relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Rebecca Collins is a retired American swimmer. On July 20, 1958, she set a new world record in the individual 200 m medley. One year later, on July 19, 1959, she broke the world record of Tineke Lagerberg in the 200 m butterfly. She lost that record to Marianne Heemskerk in 1960, but took it back in 1961. She was also part of the US relay team that set a new world record in the 4×100 m medley at the 1959 Pan American Games. She won another gold medal at those games, in the 100 m butterfly. Between 1959 and 1961 she won seven national titles in individual butterfly and medley events.
Arina Pavlovna Openysheva is a Russian competitive swimmer. She won eight medals at the 2015 European Games. Seven medals were gold making her the most decorated athlete of the Games.
Marrit Steenbergen is a Dutch competitive swimmer. She won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle events at the 2022 European Championships held in Rome, Italy.
Alexandra Walsh is an American competitive swimmer. She is known for her versatility in all four strokes that has allowed her to have success in medley events. Growing up, Walsh was a phenom who started setting national age group records at 12 in 2014. She led her high school team to multiple state and national championships. At the 2019 Pan American Games, she won three gold medals.
Katherine Cadwallader Douglass is an American competitive swimmer. A versatile swimmer who competes in many events, Douglass won her first major international medal at the 2020 Olympic Games and won three medals at the 2022 World Championships. Douglass then won six medals, including two golds, at the 2023 World Championships. At the 2024 World Championships, she won five medals, including two golds. Douglass won four medals, including two golds, at the 2024 Olympic Games; she became the Olympic champion in the 200 m breaststroke.
