1,324 articles
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.
Leisel Jones
Leisel Jones (born 1985), Australian breaststroke swimmer, 'Lethal Leisel'; first Australian swimmer at four Olympics (2000-2012), nine Olympic medals including 100m breaststroke gold at Beijing 2008, 14 world records.
Lenie de Nijs
Lenie de Nijs (1939–2023), Dutch swimmer of Hilversum, set six world records in freestyle, backstroke, and medley relay, won 1958 European relay gold, and missed the 1956 Olympics through the Dutch boycott.
Lennart Brock
Lennart Brock, born 1933, Swedish breaststroke swimmer of SK Poseidon and LUGI; swam on Sweden's 1953 European-record 4x100 m medley relay, later a masters swimming record holder and IFK Lund masters throwing athlete.
Lenny Krayzelburg
Lenny Krayzelburg, born Leonid Krayzelburg in 1975 in Odesa, is a Ukrainian-born American swimmer who swept the backstroke events at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won four gold 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.
Léon Marchand
Léon Marchand (born 2002, Toulouse) is a French swimmer, quadruple 2024 Olympic champion, world-record holder in the 400 m and 200 m individual medley, coached by Bob Bowman at ASU and Texas.
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.
Leonid Kolesnikov
Leonid Nikolayevich Kolesnikov (Леонид Николаевич Колесников, 1937–2010), Soviet breaststroke swimmer from Tashkent; 100 m breaststroke world record holder (1:11.4, 1961), 1958 European 200 m breaststroke champion, 1960 Olympian for CSKA Moscow.
Les Boardman
Les Boardman (Leslie Boardman, 1889-1975), Australian swimmer of the Sydney Swimming Club; won 1912 Stockholm Olympic gold in the 4x200 m freestyle relay for Australasia with world-record times, replacing Bill Longworth on the third leg.
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 Guangyuan
Li Guangyuan (李广源), Chinese backstroke and butterfly swimmer born 1997 in Taizhou; three golds and a bronze at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics, sixth in the 200 m backstroke at Rio 2016, and world and Asian Games relay medals.
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.
Li Zhuhao
Li Zhuhao (李朱濠), born 1999 in Wenzhou, Chinese butterfly swimmer; 2014 Youth Olympic triple gold medalist, 100m fly national record holder 50.96 (2017–2026), now a coach.
Lia Thomas
Lia Thomas, American swimmer, first openly transgender NCAA Division I champion (500-yard freestyle, 2022, Penn). CAS dismissed her 2024 challenge to World Aquatics' transgender eligibility rules; Penn later modified her records.
Liam Tancock
Liam Tancock (born 1985, Exeter) is an English former backstroke swimmer, two-time 50m backstroke world champion (Rome 2009, Shanghai 2011) whose 24.04 world record stood from 2009 to 2018, and an Olympian for Great Britain.
Libby Trickett
Libby Trickett (Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM, née Lenton, born 1985), Australian swimmer; four Olympic golds across Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012; multiple 100m freestyle world record holder.
Liliana Szilagyi
Liliana Szilagyi (Szilágyi Liliána), born 1996 in Budapest, Hungarian butterfly swimmer; double 2014 Youth Olympic champion, 2016 European 200 fly silver medalist, two-time Olympian; in 2021 accused her father Zoltán Szilágyi of abuse; now a yoga instructor.
Lilly King
Lilly King, American breaststroke swimmer from Evansville, Indiana; 2016 Rio Olympic 100m breaststroke champion (1:04.93 OR) famous for finger-wag confrontation with Russia's doped Yulia Efimova; six Olympic medals, 20 world titles; retired August 2025.
Lin Li (olympedia 46089)
Lin Li (林莉), Chinese swimmer born 1970 in Nantong, Jiangsu; won 200m IM gold at Barcelona 1992 in world record 2:11.65, plus two silvers and a 1996 bronze across three Olympics.
Lina Kaciusyte
Lina Inga Kačiušytė (Лина Качюшите), born 1963 in Vilnius, Soviet-Lithuanian breaststroke swimmer; 1980 Olympic 200 m breaststroke champion (2:29.54), 1978 world champion, and three-time 200 m world record holder.
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 Jezek
Linda Jezek (Linda Louise Jezek-Witwer), American backstroke swimmer born 1960 in Palo Alto; 1976 Olympic medley relay silver, 1978 world champion and 200 m backstroke world record holder (2:11.93), 1980 U.S. Olympic team member.
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.
Lisa Rocke
Lisa Rocke (born c. 1912, Magdeburg) was a German breaststroke swimmer who set the women's 200 m breaststroke world record, 3:08.2, on 21 April 1932 in Leipzig, and was German champion in 1930 but was not selected for the 1932 Olympics.