- Ai Shibata (ๆด็ฐ ไบ่กฃ, Shibata Ai, born May 14, 1982) is a Japanese swimmer. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the 800 meter freestyle race. She was the first ever female gold medalist for Japan in a freestyle event. She attended the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya. In 2008 Shibata announced her retirement.
Sylvia Ruuska
Sylvia Eliina Ruuska (born July 4, 1942) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in two events. At the age of 14, Ruuska won two medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. She captured a silver medal by swimming for the second-place U.S. team in the women's 4ร100-meter freestyle relay. Individually, she also received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the women's 400-meter freestyle.On June 27, 1958, she became the first woman to set an official world record in the 400-meter individual medley, clocking 5:46.6. Ruuska subsequently broke her own 400-meter record three times in 1958 and 1959, ultimately lowering the world mark to 5:40.2 on July 17, 1959. She also set a new world record of 2:43.2 in the 200-meter individual medley on August 16, 1958, and breaking her own record with a time of 2:40.3 on January 14, 1959. Both her 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley world records were later broken by Donna de Varona. At the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, she won a silver medal for her second-place showing in the 400-meter freestyle (5:03.4), finishing behind fellow American Chris von Saltza (4:55.9). At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Ruuska swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4ร100-meter freestyle relay. Under the international swimming rules in effect in 1960, she did not receive a medal because she did not swim in the event final. Ruuska was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1976.June Croft
June Alexandra Croft (born 17 June 1963) is an English former freestyle swimmer.- Yang Wenyi (simplified Chinese: ๆจๆๆ; traditional Chinese: ๆฅๆๆ; pinyin: Yรกng Wรฉnyรฌ; born January 11, 1972 in Shanghai) is a former freestyle and backstroke swimmer from China, whose best performance was winning the gold medal in the 50 m freestyle at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She was the first woman in history to go under the 25-seconds barrier in the 50m freestyle. After retirement, she owned "Jinyi Sports Promotion Ltd", holding sports contests and running "Yang Wenyi Swimming Club". The club is located in Minhang, Shanghai.
- Photo: user uploaded imageQian Hong (simplified Chinese: ้ฑ็บข; traditional Chinese: ้ข็ด ; pinyin: Qiรกn Hรณng; born January 30, 1971 in Baoding, Hebei) is a former butterfly swimmer from China and two-time Olympic medalist. Qian first won a bronze medal in the 100 m butterfly at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Four years later she captured gold in the same event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Jade Edmistone
Jade Edmistone (born 6 February 1982) is an Australian breaststroke swimmer, who is the former world-record holder in the 50 m breaststroke at both short and long course formats of the event. Edmistone was born in Brisbane, Queensland. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.In 2004, Edmistone emerged as an international calibre swimmer, at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships. Her three swims in the heats, semifinals and final produced a Commonwealth record, an equalling of the world record and a new world record for the 50 m breaststroke (29.90s). She followed that with a personal best time to finish second to Olympic silver medallist Brooke Hanson in the 100 m breaststroke final to qualify for her second event at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the World Championships, Edmistone won the silver medal in the 50 m breaststroke, just 0.01 s behind Hanson. She also took home silver in the 100m breaststroke, also behind Hanson. Edmistone qualified for her first long course international team in March 2005, when she won the 50 m breaststroke at the 2005 Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney. She had set national records twice on her way to the final. She won her first world title by breaking the world record in the 50 m breaststroke at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in July 2005, setting a time of 30.45 s. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games Trials in February 2006 in Melbourne, Edmistone set a new personal best in the 100 m breaststroke to become the 2nd fastest Australian of all-time, and further lowered her own world record in the 50 metres breaststroke to 30.31s. It was the first world record to be set at the new pool built for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She claimed silver in both the 50 m and 100 m breaststroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, trailing Leisel Jones in both cases. Then followed up at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships in Shanghai with Gold in the 50 m breaststroke, bronze in the 100 m breaststroke and joined Tayliah Zimmer, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Lenton in the 4x100 m medley relay to take gold and set a new world record, beating the previous record by 3 seconds. Edmistone married fellow Australian swim team member Andrew Richards on 22 April 2006 in a ceremony held at Lyrebird Ridge Organic Winery, a property owned and managed by her aunt and uncle in the beautiful Shoalhaven. Since retiring from competitive swimming, Edmistone founded 'The ONCORE Academy' which assists with the development of individuals both in and out of the water. It provides products, programs and education specialising in building and strengthening fundamental swimming techniques and developing a strong mental wellbeing outside of sports . In 2016, Edmistone published her first book, Fish Out Of Water, which delves into her personal experiences as she transitioned from a life as an elite athlete into that of a 'normal' person. The book also has contributions from twelve other former elite female swimmers . Edmistone is also a passionate motivational speaker, who speaks about her experiences as a professional athlete, the highs and lows during her career and how she navigated through the transition from being a world champion to living a โnormalโ life. Jade actively speaks about her experiences with mental health and managing the stresses of a high-performance sport .- Photo: user uploaded imagePetra Schneider (born 11 January 1963 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, now Chemnitz) is a former medley and freestyle swimmer from East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.She won an Olympic gold medal in the 400 m individual medley at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and set five world records in swimming. She was named by Swimming World magazine as World Swimmer of the Year in 1980 and 1982, but her achievements are regarded with suspicion due to the state-run systematic doping program run by East Germany. She later admitted to having been doped.In 2005, she called for her last remaining record (German national record in the 400 m individual medley) to be struck from the record books, because it was achieved with the aid of steroids.Schneider came to prominence at the 1978 World Championships in Berlin, winning bronze in the 400 m individual medley behind arch-rival Tracy Caulkins of the United States with whom she shares the same birthday. Thereafter, she never lost to Caulkins again, repeatedly lowering Caulkins' world record in the event, three times in 1980 from 4:40.83 to 4:36.29 at the Moscow Olympics, which was boycotted by the United States. Her victory in the 400 m event left silver medallist Sharron Davies of the United Kingdom 10 seconds in arrears. She improved her record to 4:36.10 at Guayaquil in 1982 and it was not bettered until 1997. She also held the world record in the 200 m individual medley, but was denied a gold medal as the event was cancelled for the 1980 games. She also collected a silver medal in the 400 m freestyle. She repeated her haul at the 1982 World Championships in Ecuador, winning the medley double and a silver in the 400 m freestyle. She also won three European Championships medals and set eight European records. She was also named by Swimming World as the European Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and 1980. However, her Olympic career was ended when the Soviet bloc, including East Germany, staged a retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. Schneider attributed her success in swimming (prior to admissions of doping) with the quote For me swimming is the most beautiful of all sports. Although I have been training for very many years and have taken part in a great number of competitions, I always find something new in this sport. And this I'm sure is greatly to the credit of my coach, Eberhard Mothes, who takes my training sessions at the sport club in Karl-Marx-Stadt and never fails to come up with something interesting or challenging in the course of the work. I am the kind of person who likes being expected to achieve as much as I possibly can.
- Susan Rolph (born 15 May 1978) is a former freestyle and medley swimmer from Great Britain.
Petra van Staveren
Petronella ("Petra") Grietje van Staveren (born 2 June 1966) is a former breaststroke swimmer from the Netherlands who won the gold medal in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She also won a bronze at the 1986 world championships and a European silver in 1983 in the 4ร100 meter medley relay. She finished five times in fourth place at European championships in 1981โ1985.- Marianne Louise Limpert (born October 10, 1972) is a female former freestyle and medley swimmer who competed in the Summer Olympics for Canada in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and won the silver medal in the 200-metre individual medley in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was also Canada's flagbearer at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In New Brunswick, Canada, there is an annual swim meet named after her.At the 1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay.At the 1995 Pan American Games, she won two silver medals in the 200-metre freestyle and in the 200-metre individual medley, and a bronze medal in the 100-metre freestyle.At the 1995 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay.At the 1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she won two silver medals in the 200-metre individual medlay and in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay.At the 1999 Pan American Games, she won two gold medals in the 4x100 and 4x200-metre freestyle relay, and a bronze medal in the 100-metre freestyle.At the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, she won two bronze medals in the 4x100 and 4x200-metre freestyle relay.
- Photo: flickr / CC0Andrea Gyarmati (born 15 April 1954) is a retired Hungarian swimmer. She competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics in eight events in total and won two individual medals in 1972; in 1972 she set a world record in the 100 m butterfly in the semifinals. She also won four medals at the 1970 European Championships. For these achievements she was named Hungarian Sportswoman of The Year in 1970โ1972. Her mother and coach รva Szรฉkely was a 1952 Olympic champion in breaststroke, and her father Dezsล Gyarmati was an Olympic champion in water polo. Gyarmati married and later divorced Mihรกly Hesz, an Olympic champion in canoe. In 1995, following her both parents, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Lyn McClements
Lynette Velma McClements (born 11 May 1951), also known by her married name Lyn McKenzie, is an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Coming from Perth, Western Australia, McClements was an asthmatic, who took up swimming to relieve her ailment. Originally concentrating on the freestyle and backstroke, she switched to butterfly in the mid-1960s. Only a year before the Olympics, McClements was almost ready to retire from competitive swimming, when her uncle Les McClements, a professional Australian rules football player convinced her otherwise.In 1968, she claimed her first Australian title in the 100-metre butterfly, earning selection for the Mexico City Olympics, where she was considered an outsider for the event. In the 4ร100-metre medley relay, she combined with Lynne Watson, Judy Playfair and Janet Steinbeck to claim silver behind the United States team. McClements had put Australia in the lead during the butterfly leg, but Steinbeck was overhauled by Susan Pedersen in the anchor freestyle leg. McClements was said to be lacking confidence prior to the 100-metre butterfly, until the men's captain Michael Wenden pulled her aside in an attempt to coax her into believing that she could win. She relegated the American pair of Ellie Daniel and Susan Shields into the minor medals and world record-holder Ada Kok to fourth, posting a time of 1 minute 5.5 seconds. She later missed the final of the 200-metre butterfly. In 1969, McClements won both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly titles at the Australian Championships. However, the following year, she was disqualified after being deemed to be using an illegal stroke. After being overlooked for selection for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, she retired. Her daughter, Jacqueline McKenzie, represented Australia at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley.- Helen Orr "Elenor" Gordon (later McKay; 10 May 1933 โ 5 July 2014) was a Scottish breaststroke swimmer who represented Great Britain at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics, and Scotland at the 1950 and 1954 British Empire Games. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 200-metre breaststroke in 1952 and three gold medals at the British Empire Games.Gordon learnt to swim at Hamilton Baths, where her father worked as a lifeguard. From 1947 until 1957 she was the Scottish champion in the 200-metre breaststroke. In 1948, aged 15, she was the youngest member of the 1948 British Olympic team. In 1950 she received the Nancy Riach memorial medal for her services to swimming. She retired from competitions after the 1956 Olympics to raise a family. Besides, the Scottish Swimming Association revoked her amateur status after she accepted a 5-pound fee for a television appearance. She resumed competing in the 1990s, as a master swimmer, winning world titles and setting world records. Towards the end of her life, she was confined to a wheelchair due to a degenerative spinal condition. Gordon was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, and into the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2010. She died on 5 July 2014 from natural causes at the age of 81.
- Tracie Lehuanani Ruiz-Conforto (born February 4, 1963) is a three-times Olympic medalist from the United States in synchronised swimming.
- Anne Elizabeth Jardin (born July 26, 1959), later known by her married name Anne Alexander, is a Canadian former competition swimmer who won two bronze medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in her hometown of Montreal.She finished third in the women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, alongside Becky Smith, Gail Amundrud and Barbara Clark, and also ended up in third place in the 4x100 medley relay, with Wendy Cook, Robin Corsiglia and Susan Sloan. She broke the world record in the 50-metre freestyle on August 19, 1978 in Etobicoke, Ontario. Jardin is currently a physical education teacher, as well as a Student Success teacher at Frank Ryan Senior Elementary School in Ottawa, Ontario.Her niece, Barbara Jardin, is a swimmer who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Hannie Termeulen
Johanna Maria "Hannie" Termeulen (18 February 1929 โ 1 March 2001) was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won three medals at the Summer Olympics. After having claimed the bronze medal in the women's 4 ร 100 m freestyle relay in London in 1948, she won two silvers (100 m freestyle and 4 ร 100 m freestyle relay) in Helsinki the same year. She also won three medals at the European championships of 1947 and 1950.- Photo: user uploaded imageDiana Iuliana Mocanu (born 19 July 1984 in Brฤila, Romania) is a former an Olympic and national record holding swimmer from Romania. She swam for Romania at the 2000 Olympics, where she won in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, both in Romanian Records. She also won in the 200 meter backstroke at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships.
- Alison Sheppard, (born 5 November 1972) is a freestyle swimmer from Scotland.
- Kyoko Iwasaki (ๅฒฉๅด ๆญๅญ, Iwasaki Kyลko, married name: Kyoko Saito (ๆ่คๆญๅญ), born July 21, 1978 in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan) is a retired swimmer from Japan. She won the gold medal in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She was age 14 years, 6 days when she got the medal.
- Ulrike Tauber (born 16 June 1958) is a retired medley and butterfly swimmer from East Germany, who won the gold medal in the women's 400 m individual medley at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. There she also captured the silver medal in the women's 200 m butterfly. In the 1970s Tauber set numerous world records in the 200 m and 200 m individual medley.
- Gail Neall (born 2 August 1955), also known by her married name Gail Yeo, is an Australian former medley swimmer who raced in the 1970s. She won a gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 1972 Summer Olympics in world record time.
Annika Mehlhorn
Annika Mehlhorn (born 5 August 1983) is a butterfly and medley swimmer from Germany. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 200 m butterfly, but failed to reach the final. She became European champion in the 200 m butterfly at the European Short Course Swimming Championships 2000 in Valencia. At the same event Mehlhorn won the silver medal at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.- Heike Friedrich (born 18 April 1970 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, Saxony) is a former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won two medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. At the age of 15, Friedrich won five gold medals in the 1985 European championships and won four more in the World Championship the next year. She had not lost in a single major international championship in any event until she was defeated by Janet Evans in the 400 m in the Seoul Olympics, taking the silver medal. Friedrich had already won the gold medal in the 200 m freestyle on the previous day.In October 1986, she was awarded a Star of People's Friendship in gold (second class) for her sporting success.
- Agnes Geraghty (November 26, 1907 โ March 1, 1974), also known by her married name Agnes McAndrews, was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1924 Summer Olympics and 1928 Summer Olympics. At the 1924 Olympics in Paris, she won a silver medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 3:34.0. Four years later at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, she was fourth in her semifinal of the 200-meter breaststroke event and did not advance.
Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen
Marie-Louise Jean Josรฉphine Linssen-Vaessen (19 March 1928 โ 15 February 1993) was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands. She competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and won one silver and two bronze medals in the 100 m and 4 ร 100 m events. She won three European medals in these events in 1947โ1950.Julie Howard
Julie Kathryn Howard (born October 23, 1976), later known by her married name Julie Johnson, is a former international butterfly and backstroke swimmer from Canada, who competed at two consecutive Summer Olympics. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she was eliminated in the qualifying heats of the 100-metre butterfly and 100-metre backstroke. Four years later at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, Howard's best finish was the fifth place with the Canadian relay team in the 4ร100-metre medley, alongside Sarah Evanetz, Guylaine Cloutier and Shannon Shakespeare. In 1995 she won the silver medal in the 4ร100-metre medley relay at the 1995 FINA Short Course World Championships, teaming up with Jessica Amey, Lisa Flood and Shannon Shakespeare. She now teaches STRIDE and AIG in W.H. Robinson elementary school, and French at Markham District High School.Yvetta Hlavรกฤovรก
Yvetta Hlavรกฤovรก (born 26 May 1975) is a Czech national team member in long-distance swimming and womenโs world record holder from swimming the English Channel in a time of 7 h, 25 mins.While she has pursued indoor swimming, she has earned much more success on the open water. The swimmer has been at the top of long-distance swimming for several years. At 6ft4.5" (194 cm) she is one of the tallest swimmers in the world. Her feet are a size 13 (US) / 46 (EU).- Photo: flickr / CC0Flรกvia Renata Delaroli Cazziolato (born December 28, 1983 in Ipatinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil) is an Olympic and National Record holding freestyle swimmer from Brazil. A resident of Sรฃo Paulo, she represented her native country at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
- Photo: user uploaded image
Emma Igelstrรถm
Emma Igelstrรถm (born 6 March 1980 in Karlshamn) is a former breaststroke swimmer and European record holder from Sweden. She competed in the 2000 Olympics She quit her career because of bulimia nervosa. Igelstrรถm competed as a celebrity dancer in Let's Dance 2014 and was the first to be eliminated. - Lenore M. Kight (September 26, 1911 โ February 9, 2000), later known by her married name Lenore Wingard, was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at two consecutive Summer Olympics. At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a silver medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle event. Four years later at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, she won a bronze medal in the 400-meter freestyle event. During her amateur career Kight set 7 world and 24 national records, and won 23 national swimming titles. In 1937 she turned professional and won the long-distance race at the Toronto Canadian Exhibition.After retiring from active competitions Kight worked as a swimming instructor. In 1981 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
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