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—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. 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.
Kirsten Cameron is a former New Zealand distance freestyle and open water swimmer and a world record holder in Masters swimming in the 30-34, 35-39 and 40-44 age groups. She was the 2009 national inaugural champion for women's 10 km open-water swim. Kirsten started competitive swimming in 2004.
Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley. Formerly, she held the world record in the short course 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. 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 gold medal in men's swimming. 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 "very arguably the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time".
Chloe Elizabeth Sutton Mackey is an American former 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.
Poliana Okimoto is a Brazilian long-distance swimmer.
Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all swimming competitions, with distances beginning with 50 meters and reaching 1,500 meters, also known as the mile. The term 'freestyle stroke' is sometimes used as a synonym for 'front crawl', as front crawl is the fastest surface swimming stroke. It is now the most common stroke used in freestyle competitions.
Eva Fabian is an American-Israeli open water swimmer. She was the 2010 world champion in the 5-kilometer swim, and won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in the women's 10k.
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. She has won eight Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. With 13 medals, she is also the most decorated female American Olympian in history. She has won a world record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. Ledecky's 7 individual gold medals at the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
The swimming competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were due to take place from 25 July to 6 August 2020 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were postponed to 2021. However, their official name remained 2020 Summer Olympics with swimming events set for 24 July–1 August 2021 and marathon swimming set for 4–5 August 2021.
Amanda Pascoe is an Australian freestyle swimmer.
Mackenzie James Horton is an Australian retired freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships gold medallist, and 4-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he took the gold in the 400m freestyle, and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to win an Olympic swimming gold in the Games' history.
Brandonn Pierry Cruz de Almeida is a Brazilian swimmer.
Rikako Ikee is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the national record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly, and the junior world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly long-course events, and the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, and 100-meter individual medley in short course.
Li Bingjie is a Chinese swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 400 metre freestyle. She is also the Asian record holder in the long course 400 metre freestyle as well as the short course 1500 metre freestyle. She is the 2021 World Short Course champion in the 400 metre freestyle and 800 metre freestyle. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 400 metre freestyle.
Ariarne Elizabeth Titmus is an Australian swimmer. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle, having won both events at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the latter event at the 2024 Summer Olympics and the world record holder in the long course 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre freestyle events. In 2019 and 2020, she competed representing the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League.
Guilherme Pereira da Costa is a Brazilian swimmer. He is the 400m freestyle bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships. At the Pan American Games, he was champion of the 400, 800 and 1500 metre freestyle. He is also currently the South American record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 metre freestyle.
Viviane Eichelberger Jungblut is a Brazilian swimmer.
Kate Farley Sanderson is a Canadian swimmer. She competed in the women's 5 km and women's 10 km events at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea. In the 5 km event she finished in 24th place and in the 10 km event she finished in 35th place. In 2019, she also competed in the women's marathon 10 kilometres at the Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru and she finished in 6th place.
Lani Pallister is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a world record holder in two sports, with a world record in swimming, the short course 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and world records in life saving for the youth age group in the 100-metre rescue medley and 200-metre super lifesaver. She holds the Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian records in the short course 1500-metre freestyle and the Australian record in the short course 800-metre freestyle. She is the first female World Short Course champion in the 1500-metre freestyle, winning the inaugural event for women at the 2022 edition. Over the course of the 2022 World Short Course Championships, she won the gold medal in each of the four events she contested.
