Kieren John Perkins is an Australian former 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.
Kristin Otto is a former German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. In long course, she held the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.
Shirley Frances Babashoff is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in multiple events. Babashoff set six world records and earned a total of nine Olympic medals in her career. She won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and she won the 1975 world championship in both the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle. During her career, she set 37 national records and for some time held all national freestyle records from the 100-meter to 800-meter event.
Giorgio Lamberti is an Italian former swimmer. In 1991 he became the first swimmer of Italy to win a world title, and gold medal, at a FINA World Aquatics Championships. He formerly held world records in the short course and long course 200 metre freestyle as well as in the short course 400 metre freestyle.
Yevgeny Viktorovich Sadovyi is a retired Russian freestyle swimmer who won three gold medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona and was subsequently chosen by Swimming World magazine as the Male World Swimmer of the Year.
Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov is a Russian former freestyle swimmer who set 12 world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metre events. Nicknamed the "Tsar of the Pool", "Monster of the Waves" and "Leningrad Express", he was the first person to swim under fifteen minutes in the 1500 m freestyle and also the first person to swim under eight minutes in the 800 m freestyle. He was named the Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and 1982 by Swimming World.
Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong is an Australian former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Armstrong is best remembered for winning a gold and silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
George Ritchie Hodgson was a Canadian competition swimmer of the early 20th century, and considered by many to be the greatest swimmer in Canadian history. Hodgson won the two longer freestyle swimming gold medals at the 1912 Olympics, the only categories in which he competed. He also competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Bradford Paul Cooper is an Australian former freestyle and backstroke swimmer of the 1970s, who won a gold medal in the 400 m freestyle at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In that race he originally finished second by the smallest margin ever to decide an Olympic swimming final, but was later awarded the gold medal after the victor, American Rick DeMont, an asthmatic, was disqualified after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax.
Karl Gunnar Larsson is a former swimmer from Sweden. He won the 400 metre individual medley event at the 1972 Summer Olympics by two one-thousandths (0.002) of a second over American Tim McKee, breaking the Olympic record. The controversy over the accuracy of such timing was the reason the international swimming rules were subsequently changed, and today swimming times are measured in hundredths of a second.
Roland Matthes was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European championships and three world championships in a row, and swam 19 world and 28 European records in various backstroke, butterfly and medley events. He was trained by Marlies Grohe.
Ragnhild Tove Hveger was a Danish swimmer, who won silver medal in the women's 400 m freestyle at the 1936 Summer Olympics. From 1936 to 1943 she set 44 world records, and at one time she held 19 world records in different distances and disciplines. In 1938 she won three gold medals at the European championships.
Caroline Stilwell Axel Burckle is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist.
Jörg Woithe is a German former swimmer. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and won a gold medal in the 100 m freestyle and a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay; he finished fourth in the 200 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.
Gabriele Wetzko is a former German swimmer. Born in Leipzig, East Germany, she competed for East Germany in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics.
Hans-Joachim Fassnacht is a retired German swimmer. He competed at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics in various freestyle and butterfly events and won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle in 1972. In 1972 he also won a 1500 m freestyle semifinal, setting an Olympic record, but withdrew from the final.
Brenden Hall, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He competed at the, 2008 Beijing Paralympics, 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics. At the end of the Paris Paralympics, he had won three gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman is a former Soviet freestyle swimmer. He set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, and won two Olympic medals.
Gisela Weiß is a retired German swimmer. She competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in the 400 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle events and won a bronze medal in the relay. Between 1959 and 1961, she won three consecutive national titles in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.
Iris Komar is a retired German swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 1970 European Aquatics Championships, setting a new world record. Between 1967 and 1971 she won four national titles in the same event.
