533 articles
Kim Linehan
Kim Linehan (Kimberley Ann Linehan, born 1962) is an American distance freestyle swimmer who held 400m and 1500m world records, won 1982 world 800m gold, was kept from the 1980 Olympics by the US boycott, and placed fourth in the 1984 400m freestyle.
Kim Peyton
Kim Peyton (Kimberley Marie Peyton-McDonald, 1957–1986), American freestyle swimmer from Hood River, Oregon; 1976 Olympic gold medalist and world-record lead-off leg in the 4x100 m freestyle relay at Montréal.
Kirk Palmer
Kirk Palmer, Australian freestyle swimmer (born 1986, Central Coast NSW), 4x200 m relay specialist; Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze, 2008 Manchester short-course world champion, 2007 short-course world record 6:52.66.
Klaus Steinbach
Klaus Steinbach, born 1953, West German freestyle swimmer, 1972 Olympic silver and 1976 bronze in relays, 1975 world champion, first under 50 s for 100 m freestyle short course, later NOK president 2002-2006 and orthopedic surgeon.
Klete Keller
Klete Keller, also Klete Derik Keller, American freestyle swimmer born 1982 in Las Vegas; two Olympic relay golds (2004, 2008) among five medals, later convicted for the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot and pardoned by Trump in 2025.
Kristin Otto
Kristin Otto is a German former swimmer who won six gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, a record for a woman at a single Games.
Kurt von Eckenbrecher
Kurt von Eckenbrecher (born 5 February 1917 in Neuruppin) was a German freestyle swimmer and SS sports officer who after the war edited Germany's first diving magazine, Delphin.
Kyle Stolk
Kyle Stolk (born 1996, Edenvale, South Africa) is a Dutch freestyle and medley swimmer; 2014 Youth Olympic silver medalist 200 m free, 2016 Olympian, world record holder mixed 4x50 m free relay (2017), retired 2021.
Lacey Nymeyer
Lacey Nymeyer (Lacey Pearl Nymeyer-John), American swimmer born 1985 in Tucson, Arizona; 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the 4x100 m freestyle relay, 2007 world-record 4x200 m freestyle relay, and 2009 NCAA Woman of the Year at the University of Arizona.
Lani Pallister
Lani Pallister, Australian distance freestyle swimmer born 2002 in Kogarah, NSW; Paris 2024 4x200m relay Olympic champion, short course 800m world record holder (7:54.00), and first swimmer to beat Katie Ledecky over 800m internationally.
Lara Davenport
Lara Shiree Davenport (born 1983, Sydney) is an Australian swimmer and OAM recipient who won gold in the 4x200 m freestyle relay as a heats swimmer at Beijing 2008, in world record time.
Laszlo Szabados
Laszlo Szabados, a Hungarian freestyle swimmer from Subotica, specialized in relays. He won a European title in 1931 and an Olympic bronze in 1932.
Laure Manaudou
Laure Manaudou, French swimmer (born 1986, Villeurbanne), 2004 Athens Olympic champion in the 400 m freestyle, first Frenchwoman to win Olympic swimming gold; also world record holder and three-time world champion.
Lauren Boyle
Lauren Boyle (Lauren Marie Boyle), New Zealand distance freestyle swimmer, born 1987 in Auckland; three-time Olympian, 2012 short-course 800 m world champion, five long-course World Championship medals, and 2014 Commonwealth 400 m freestyle gold; retired 2017.
Le Jingyi
Le Jingyi (乐靖宜, born 1975, Shanghai), Chinese freestyle swimmer; 1996 Olympic 100 m freestyle champion with three other Olympic silvers, and 1994 world champion and world record holder in the 50 and 100 m freestyle.
Leah Neale
Leah Neale, born 1995 in Ipswich, Queensland, is an Australian freestyle swimmer and 4x200 m relay specialist: Olympic silver Rio 2016, bronze Tokyo 2020, 2018 Commonwealth gold, short-course world record 7:30.87.
Leah Smith
Leah Grace Smith (born 1995), American distance freestyle swimmer from Pittsburgh; 2016 Olympic gold (4x200 relay) and bronze (400 free), four-time NCAA champion for Virginia, 29 World Aquatics medals.
Lenore Kight-Wingard
Lenore Kight-Wingard (1911-2000), American freestyle swimmer for the Carnegie Library Athletic Club; Olympic silver 1932 and bronze 1936 in the 400 m freestyle, seven world records, 23 AAU titles, ISHOF 1981.
Leonardo Deplano
Leonardo Deplano (born 1999, Florence) is an Italian sprint freestyle swimmer, Olympic bronze medallist in the 4x100 m freestyle relay at Paris 2024, holder of three short-course relay world records, and a four-time world short-course champion.
Lev Balandin
Lev Nikolayevich Balandin (Лев Николаевич Баландин), 1934-1980, Soviet freestyle swimmer; two-time Olympian (1952, 1956), 1954 European silver medalist, and 4x100 m medley relay world record holder.
Li Bingjie
Li Bingjie (李冰洁, born 2002) is a Chinese competitive swimmer from Baoding, Hebei, specializing in freestyle events across distances ranging from 200 m to 1,500 m.
Li Zhesi
Li Zhesi (李哲思), Chinese swimmer from Shenyang, 2009 world champion and former 4x100 medley relay world record holder (3:52.19), 2010 Asian Games 50m freestyle champion, banned two years for EPO in 2013.
Linda Gustavson
Linda Gustavson (Linda Lee Gustavson, later McGuire), American swimmer born 1949 in Santa Cruz, California; won gold, silver, and bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and set world records in the 200 m freestyle and 4x100 m freestyle relay.
Linda Mackenzie
Linda June MacKenzie, Australian freestyle swimmer born 1983 in Mackay, Queensland; won 4x200m freestyle relay gold at Beijing 2008 in world record 7:44.31; also competed at Athens 2004.
Lindsay Benko
Lindsay Benko, later Lindsay Benko Mintenko, is an American former swimmer who won Olympic gold in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
Lisa Jacob
Lisa Jacob (Lisa Rae Jacob, born 1974) is an American freestyle swimmer who won two relay golds at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, plus three golds and a silver at the 1991 Pan American Games.
Lorenzo Zazzeri
Lorenzo Zazzeri (born 1994, Florence) is an Italian freestyle sprint swimmer, captain of the Italian national team, with Olympic relay silver (Tokyo 2020) and bronze (Paris 2024), world and European relay titles, and a parallel painting career as ZazzArt.
Lorraine Crapp
Lorraine Crapp (Lorraine Thurlow), born 1 October 1938, Australian freestyle swimmer; 23 world records, first woman under 5 minutes for 400m freestyle, double gold medalist at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Lotte Friis
Lotte Friis, born 1988, Danish distance freestyle swimmer; 2008 Olympic 800 m bronze, world 800 m gold Rome 2009 and 1,500 m gold Shanghai 2011; retired 2017.
Luca Dotto
Luca Dotto, born 1990 in Camposampiero, is a retired Italian sprint freestyle swimmer, first Italian under 48 seconds in the 100 m freestyle, 2011 world silver medalist and 2016 European champion, now a Sky Sport commentator.