3,573 articles
Vladimir Salnikov
Vladimir Salnikov (Владимир Валерьевич Сальников), born 1960, Soviet distance freestyle swimmer; four Olympic golds (1980, 1988), first under 15 minutes for 1500 m and under 8 for 800 m; later Russian Swimming Federation president.
Vladimir Struzhanov
Vladimir Struzhanov (Владимир Васильевич Стружанов, 1932–2014), Soviet swimmer, 1956 Olympic bronze in 4x200 m freestyle relay, 1958 European champion, five-time world record holder.
Vladimir Syrovatka
Vladimír Syrovátka (1908–1973), Czechoslovak sprint canoeist born in Zdolbuniv, Ukraine; nicknamed Rus. Won C2 1000 m gold with Jan Brzák-Felix at Berlin 1936 in 4:50.1; European champion 1934.
Vladimir Vasin
Vladimir Vasin is a Soviet diver who won the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics. He was the first Soviet diver to win an Olympic gold in diving.
Vladimir Yeshinov
Vladimir Yeshinov (Vladimir Eshinov, Владимир Ешинов), 1949–2024, Soviet rower for Dynamo Leningrad; Olympic gold in the coxed four at Montreal 1976, two-time world champion (1974, 1975), 1973 European champion.
Vyacheslav Ionov
Vyacheslav Ionov (Вячеслав Ионов), Soviet sprint kayaker (1940-2012), won K4 1000 m gold at Tokyo 1964 in 3:14.67, world K4 10,000 m champion 1966, later a canoeing coach in Moscow; distinct from rower Vyacheslav Ivanov.
Vyacheslav Ivanov
Vyacheslav Ivanov (Вячеслав Николаевич Иванов, 1938–2024), Soviet single sculler, first to win three consecutive Olympic golds in the single sculls (1956, 1960, 1964) and first single sculls World Champion (1962).
Waco Surf
Waco Surf, formerly BSR (Barefoot Ski Ranch), is a 450-acre surf resort in Waco, Texas, with a 2-acre PerfectSwell pneumatic wave pool opened in 2018 and rebranded in 2021, about 90 minutes from Dallas and Austin.
WAITEUTEU Sauvetage Cotier
WAITEUTEU Messanges Sauvetage Côtier (WMSC) is a French coastal lifesaving club in Messanges, Landes, affiliated to the FFSS; it competes in lifesaving sport, trains lifeguards (BNSSA, PSE, PSC1, SST), and organizes the Coupe de France Masters and Open de Messanges.
Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding, a water sport towing a rider on a binding-equipped board behind a boat or cable system; also called wake. Boat and cable disciplines, WWA founded 1989 by Jimmy Redmon, judged trick runs.
Waldemar Tietgens
Waldemar Tietgens (Oscar Waldemar Tietgens, 1879–1917), German rower of Germania Ruder Club Hamburg; Olympic gold in coxed fours at Paris 1900, fourth in the eights; killed in action in Flanders in World War I.
Wally Kinnear
Wally Kinnear (William Nicoll Duthie Kinnear, 1880-1974), Scottish rower for Kensington Rowing Club; won 1912 Stockholm Olympic single sculls gold in 7:47.3, Diamond Sculls 1910-11, Wingfield Sculls 1910-12.
Wally O'Connor
Wally O'Connor (James Wallace O'Connor, 1903-1950), American swimmer and water polo player; four-time Olympian, 1924 relay gold in world record 9:53.4, water polo bronze 1924 and 1932; not the jockey Winnie O'Connor.
Wally Ris
Wally Ris (Walter Stephen Ris, 1924–1989), American freestyle swimmer; double gold medalist at the 1948 London Olympics in the 100 m freestyle (57.3 OR) and 4×200 m relay (8:46.0 WR); University of Iowa, ISHOF 1966.
Wally Wolf
Wally Wolf (Wallace Perry Wolf Jr., 1930-1997), American Olympic swimmer and water polo player; gold medalist in the 4x200 m freestyle relay at 1948 London, four-time Olympian, later a Los Angeles entertainment attorney. Not the baseball pitcher Walter Beck Wolf.
Walter Bathe
Walter Bathe (Walter•Bathe), German breaststroke swimmer (1892-1959) who won double gold in the 200 m and 400 m breaststroke at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and held the 100 m breaststroke world record 1910-1914.
Walter Brack
Walter Brack (Carl Emil Walter Brack, 1880–1919), German Berlin swimmer, Charlottenburger SV; won 1904 Olympic gold in the first 100 yard backstroke (1:16.8) and silver in the 440 yard breaststroke; ISHOF Pioneer Swimmer 1997.
Walter Dießner
Walter Dießner (born 1954, Meißen) is a German rower who won Olympic silver 1976 and gold 1980 in the coxed four for East Germany, rowing with twin brother Ullrich, plus four world titles; later a baker in Meißen.
Walter Hofmann
Walter Hofmann (born 1949, Sömmerda) is an East German canoe slalom paddler, C-2 specialist, Olympic gold medalist at Munich 1972 with Rolf-Dieter Amend, and world champion in 1971, 1975 (team) and 1977.
Walter Kusch
Walter Kusch (born 1954, Hildesheim), West German breaststroke swimmer; 1978 world champion 100 m breaststroke, 1976 Olympic medley relay bronze, 1974 European medley relay champion, later masters record holder.
Walter Laufer
Walter Laufer (1906–1984), American swimmer of the Cincinnati YMCA and Chicago Lake Shore AC; 1928 Olympic gold (4x200m relay) and silver (100m backstroke); set four backstroke world records on his 1926 European tour.
Walter Meyer
Walter Meyer (Walter Friedrich Meyer, 1904-1949), German rower, Olympic gold medalist in the men's coxed fours at Los Angeles 1932 for the Berlin Rowing Club; later a Nazi Party member who died in Buchenwald internment.
Walter Richardson
Walter Pierce Richardson, American butterfly swimmer born 1943 in Chicago; University of Minnesota NCAA champion, 1963 4x100 m medley relay world record holder (4:00.1), and 1964 Tokyo Olympic relay heat swimmer who received no medal under then-current rules.
Walter Schroder
Walter Schroder (Walter Wilhelm Ludwig Schröder; 1932–2022) was a German rower who won Olympic gold in the men's eights at Rome 1960 with the Ratzeburg crew.
Walter Spence
Walter Percy Spence (1901-1958), Guyanese-born swimmer who competed for Canada at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, won 1928 relay bronze, set the 100 m breaststroke world record in 1927, and won three straight NCAA 100 free titles.
Walter Volle
Walter Volle (Walter Rolf Volle, 1913–2002), German rower and coach. Won 1936 Berlin Olympic gold in the coxed four, then coached the 1964 Tokyo coxed four to gold; Berliner Ruder-Club head coach.
Walther Katzenstein
Walther (Walter) Katzenstein, 1878 Lisbon to 1929 Hamburg, German rower of Germania Ruder-Club Hamburg; won gold in the coxed four at the 1900 Paris Olympics, first German Olympic rowing champion, and placed fourth in the eights.
Waneek Horn-Miller
Waneek Horn-Miller (born 1975) is a Mohawk water polo player from Kahnawake, Canada; 1999 Pan Am gold medalist, co-captain of Canada's 2000 Olympic team, first Mohawk woman from Canada to compete at the Olympics, and 2019 Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Wang Changhao
Wang Changhao (王长浩), Chinese swimmer born 2002 in Tianjin, butterfly and relay specialist; Olympic gold 2024 men's 4x100 medley relay, Asian record 3:27.01, Chinese 50 fly record 23.25.
Wang Ciyue
Wang Ciyue (王赐月), Chinese artistic swimmer born 1999 in Nanjing; won Paris 2024 Olympic team gold (996.1389), China's first in the sport, plus seven world team titles 2022–2024 and 2023 Asian Games gold.