533 articles
Hans Freese
Hans Freese (Johann Heinrich Freese, 1918–1941), German freestyle swimmer from Bremen; 1936 Olympian, 1938 European 4x200m relay champion, world 4x100m relay record holder, died of war wounds near Leningrad.
Hans Joachim Klein
Hans Joachim Klein (born 1942, Darmstadt), West German freestyle swimmer nicknamed Little; 1964 Tokyo Olympic silver in three relays, bronze 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle world record 1:58.2, later German Olympic Society president.
Hansje Bunschoten
Hansje Bunschoten (1958–2017), Dutch freestyle swimmer and broadcaster. Set six European records, first Dutch woman under one minute in the 100 m freestyle, competed at Munich 1972, later NOS Studio Sport director and Olympic swimming commentator.
Harold Hardwick
Harold Hampton Hardwick (1888-1959), Australian swimmer and boxer: 1912 Olympic 4x200m relay gold and 400m/1500m bronze, 1911 Empire sprint and heavyweight boxing titles, later Australian heavyweight pro boxer.
Heike Friedrich
Heike Friedrich (born 1970, Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz) is a German former swimmer for East Germany; 1988 Seoul Olympic champion in the 200 m freestyle and 4x100 m relay, silver in the 400 m, four-time 1986 world champion, 200 m world record holder 1986-1994, later implicated in the GDR doping investigation.
Helene Madison
Helene Madison (1913-1970), American freestyle swimmer from Seattle, won three gold medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics (100m, 400m, 4x100m relay) and held 23 world records; first woman to swim 100 yards freestyle in one minute.
Helmuth Fischer
Helmuth Fischer (Helmut Paul Wilhelm Fischer, 1911–1996) was a German freestyle swimmer from Bremerhaven: German 100 m champion 1933 and 1935–39, fifth at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, European record holder over 100 m and in the 4×100 m relay.
Herbert Heinrich
Herbert Heinrich (Johannes Herbert Walter Heinrich, 1899–1975), German freestyle swimmer of SV Poseidon Leipzig; 1926 and 1927 European 4x200 m relay champion, 1927 world record 9:49.6, 12 national titles, competed only at Amsterdam 1928.
Hilda James
Hilda James (Hilda Marjorie James-McAllister, 1904-1982), "The English Comet", British swimmer; 1920 Antwerp relay silver, world freestyle records 220y-440y, introduced six-beat crawl to England, ISHOF 2016.
Hinkelien Schreuder
Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer born 1984 in Goor, Olympic 4x100 m freestyle relay gold (Beijing 2008) and silver (London 2012), short course 100 m medley world record holder 57.74, later chair of the Dutch Dopingautoriteit.
Hironoshin Furuhashi
Hironoshin Furuhashi (古橋廣之進, 1928–2009), the "Flying Fish of Fujiyama", Japanese freestyle swimmer who set 33 world records 1947–1950, was barred from the 1948 Olympics, and later led the Japanese Olympic Committee 1990–1999.
Hiroshi Negami
Hiroshi Negami (根上博, 1912-1980), Japanese freestyle swimmer from Rikkyo University; 1935 national 400 m record 4:45.2, 4x200 m relay world record 8:52.2, fifth in the 400 m freestyle at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, later Japan Swimming Federation president.
Hiroshi Suzuki
Hiroshi Suzuki is the name of two Japanese Olympic athletes: a swimmer who won two silver medals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and a bobsledder at five Winter Games.
Hisakichi Toyoda
Hisakichi Toyoda (豊田久吉, later Minejima, 1912–1976), Japanese freestyle swimmer; won 1932 Los Angeles Olympic gold in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a world record 8:58.4; distinct from inventor Sakichi Toyoda.
Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson (Howard R. Johnson, 1919-2015), American freestyle swimmer for Yale, three-time NCAA champion (220-yard freestyle 1940, 1941; 100-yard freestyle 1942), captain of Yale's first NCAA championship team, 400-yard freestyle relay world record holder; not the Motown singer or baseball player.
Igor Grivennikov
Igor Grivennikov (Игорь Анатольевич Гривенников), Soviet swimmer born 1952 in Moscow, Dynamo Moscow; 1972 Munich Olympic silver (4x100 free relay) and bronze (4x200), 1973 world relay silver, later a biochemist.
Ilsa Konrads
Ilsa Konrads (born 1944, Riga) is an Australian former swimmer, half of the Konrads Kids with brother John; she set 12 individual world records, won 1958 Commonwealth gold and 1960 Olympic relay silver.
Irene Guest
Irene May Guest (1900-1970), American swimmer of Philadelphia's Meadowbrook Club; at Antwerp 1920 she took 100 m freestyle silver and relay gold in a 5:11.6 world record.
Irene Steer
Irene Steer (1889–1977), Welsh swimmer, won gold in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, swimming anchor for Great Britain's world-record 5:52.8 team; first Welsh woman Olympic gold medalist.
Iris Komar
Iris Komar, East German freestyle swimmer, won 1970 European 4x100 m relay gold in world-record 4:00.8; later Dr. paed. (Leipzig 1993), sport psychologist, and author of the Schwimmbibliothek coaching series.
Irma Heijting Schuhmacher
Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher (Irma Schuhmacher), Dutch freestyle swimmer (1925-2014): Olympic relay bronze 1948 and silver 1952, 1950 European 100 m freestyle champion, 3x100 m medley relay world record holder; emigrated to Queensland, Australia in 1952.
Istvan Barany
Istvan Barany was a Hungarian swimmer who won 100 meter freestyle silver at the 1928 Olympics and became the first European to swim that distance in under one minute.
Istvan Korosi
István Kőrösi (1915–2005) was a Hungarian freestyle swimmer who won bronze in the 100 meter at the 1938 European Championships in London and held a 4 × 100 meter relay world record.
Jack Alexy
Jack Alexy (John Carroll Alexy, born 2003) is an American sprint freestyle swimmer, 6'8", from Morristown, NJ, who swims for Cal. Olympic gold in the 4x100 free relay at Paris 2024; American records 45.05 (25m) and 46.81 (50m) in the 100 free.
Jack Babashoff
Jack Babashoff (Jack Babashoff, Jr.), American sprint freestyle swimmer born 1955 in Whittier, California; 1976 Olympic 100 m freestyle silver medalist and world-record-setting relay swimmer, brother of Shirley Babashoff.
Jack Hatfield
Jack Hatfield (John Gatenby Hatfield, 1893-1965), English swimmer from Middlesbrough; double silver and relay bronze at Stockholm 1912, five world records 1912-1914, four Olympics, Hall of Fame inductee.
Jack Medica
Jack Chapman Medica (1914-1985), American freestyle swimmer from Seattle; 1936 Berlin Olympic 400m freestyle champion and double silver medalist; set 11 world records and coached Columbia and Penn.
James Magnussen
James Magnussen (The Missile), Australian sprint freestyle swimmer born 1991 in Port Macquarie; first Australian 100m freestyle world champion (2011, 2013), London 2012 Olympic silver, Rio 2016 relay bronze; retired 2019, then finished last in both sprints at the doped 2026 Enhanced Games.
Jamie Perkins
Jamie Perkins (born 2005, Nambour, Queensland) is an Australian freestyle swimmer and surf lifesaver, Olympic gold medallist in the 4x200m freestyle relay at Paris 2024 and world champion in the same event at Singapore 2025.
Jane Barkman
Jane Barkman (Jane Louise Barkman Brown), American swimmer born 1951 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; won gold in the 4x100 m freestyle relay at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and 200 m freestyle bronze in 1968.