Female Olympic Swimmers
Dawn Fraser
Date of Birth: September 4, 1937
Nationality: Australian
Olympic Participation: Melbourne 1956 (2 Gold, 1 Silver), Rome 1960 (1 Gold, 2 Silver), Tokyo 1964 (1 Gold, 1 Silver)
Dawn Fraser is regarded as the greatest female swimmer in the world, being the first woman who swam the 100-meter event in less than a minute. When she was 12 years old, in 1952, a Sydney coach at one of the local baths spotted her. Fraser earned acclaim in 1955 when she broke existing records in the freestyle events right up to 880 yards. She shot into international fame at the Melbourne Olympics held in 1956 when she broke the 100-meter freestyle record, which was set 20 years back by Willy den Ouden. When she was just 18, she won 3 medals from her first Olympic games. She became the first of only three swimmers, along with Michael Phelps and Krisztina Egerszegi, in Olympic history to have won the gold medal in the same discipline for 3 successive Olympic games when she won the 100 m freestyle event in 1964.
Jennifer Beth Thompson
Date of Birth: February 26, 1973
Nationality: American
Olympic Participation: Barcelona 1992 (2 Gold, 1 Silver), Atalanta 1996 (3 Gold), Sydney 2000 (3 Gold, 1 Bronze), Athens 2004 (2 Silver)
She has won 12 Olympic medals, which includes 8 golds, making her the most decorated female American Olympian in history. She was the USA Swimmer of the Year in 1993 and 1998, and Women's Sports Foundation's Athlete of the Year in 2000.
Inge de Bruijn
Date of Birth: August 24, 1973
Nationality: Dutch
Olympic Participation: Sydney 2000 (3 Gold, 1 Silver), Athens 2004 (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze)
Inge de Bruijn is the most decorated Dutch Olympian. In addition to that, she has more combined Olympic and World Aquatic Championship titles (9) than any other female player. She was named Female Swimmer of the Year in 2000 and 2001 by Swimming World.
Mary T. Meagher
Date of Birth: October 27, 1964
Nationality: American
Olympic Participation: Los Angeles 1984 (3 Gold), Seoul 1988 (1 Bronze)
Named 'Madame Butterfly', she set a record in 1981 in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly event. Later, she won gold medals in the Summer Olympics in 1984 in the 200-meter and the 100-meter butterfly events, plus another gold for the butterfly leg of the medley relay for women. Then, in 1988 Olympics, held in Seoul, she won a bronze in the 200-meter butterfly. Meagher, unfortunately, missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to a US-led boycott.
Krisztina Egerszegi
Date of Birth: August 16, 1974
Nationality: Hungarian
Olympic Participation: Seoul (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Barcelona 1992 (3 Gold), Atalanta 1996 (1 Gold, 1 Bronze)
Egerszegi became one of the youngest Olympic champions in history when she won the 200 m backstroke discipline in the 1988 games. She remained the youngest female swimming champion until the 1992 Olympics. As mentioned earlier, she is, along with Dawn Fraser and Michael Phelps, one of only three swimmers to win the same event in 3 successive Olympic tournaments. She was the Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year from 1988 to 1993, and then again in 1996. She was World Swimmer of the Year 3 times, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. Weirdly, she retired from the sport after the Atlanta Games, aged just 22.
Natalie Coughlin
Date of Birth: August 23, 1982
Nationality: American
Olympic Participation: Athens 2004 (2 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze), Beijing 2008 (1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze), London 2012 (1 Bronze)
Coughlin became the first female American athlete to win 6 medals in one Olympics tournament in 2008. She is also the most decorated female American athlete, with 12 medals, an honor shared with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres.
Kirsty Coventry
Date of Birth: September 16, 1983
Nationality: Zimbabwean
Olympic Participation: Athens 2004 (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Beijing 2008 (1 Gold, 3 Silver), London 2012
The Bronze medal won by Coventry in 2004 was only Zimbabwe's second Olympic medal. She followed it up with the other two. After her performance in Beijing four years later, Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, called her 'a golden girl' and gifted her $100,000.
These were some champions of the water. Countless others have, no doubt, been left out, but that doesn't make their achievements any less special. As any Olympian will tell you, you have to be a champion to just compete in the Olympics, let alone win.
collected from buzzle.com