Greatest Women in Swimming
The finest female swimming players and champions in history.
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Women's Swimming Legends
Browse 15 of the greatest female swimming athletes of all time.
American
Katie Ledecky
Swimmer
The most dominant female swimmer in history — world records by margins never seen in the sport.…
Australian
Dawn Fraser
Swimmer
Three consecutive Olympic 100m freestyle golds — the only swimmer to achieve this in the same event.…
American
Janet Evans
Distance Freestyle Swimmer
The greatest female distance swimmer before Katie Ledecky — four Olympic gold medals and a 400m world record t…
Swedish
Sarah Sjöström
Freestyle/Butterfly Sprinter
World record holder in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly — the greatest female sprint swimmer in h…
Australian
Ariarne Titmus
Freestyle Swimmer
The Terminator — Ariarne Titmus dethroned Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle at Tokyo 2020 in one of the grea…
American
Tracy Caulkins
Swimmer (Individual Medley)
The greatest all-round swimmer in US history — 48 national titles, three Olympic gold medals at the 1984 Los A…
Australian
Leisel Jones
Swimmer (Breaststroke)
Australia's greatest breaststroke swimmer and one of the most decorated Olympians in Australian history — nine…
American
Natalie Coughlin
Swimmer (Backstroke/Freestyle)
The first American woman to win six medals at a single Olympics — Natalie Coughlin's 12 Olympic medals across …
Italian
Federica Pellegrini
Swimmer (Freestyle)
The most celebrated swimmer in Italian history and the only woman to break the 200m freestyle world record twi…
Canadian
Penny Oleksiak
Swimmer (Freestyle/Butterfly)
Canada's most decorated Olympian — at just 16, she became the first Canadian to win four medals at a single Su…
American
Debbie Meyer
Swimmer (Freestyle)
The first swimmer in Olympic history to win three individual gold medals at a single Games — Debbie Meyer's th…
German
Kornelia Ender
Swimmer (Freestyle/Butterfly)
The most dominant swimmer of the 1976 Montreal Olympics — four gold medals in a single Games, Ender's performa…
American
Simone Manuel
Swimmer (Freestyle)
The first African American woman to win an individual Olympic swimming gold medal — Manuel's 100m freestyle go…
Canadian
Kylie Masse
Swimmer (Backstroke)
Canada's most successful backstroke swimmer — World Champion in the 100m backstroke and world record holder, M…
Australian
Cate Campbell
Swimmer (Freestyle)
Australia's most decorated relay swimmer and a world record holder in the 100m freestyle — Campbell's world re…