Golden Era

Spitz entered seven events at Munich and won all seven, each as a world record, a single Games mark that stood until Michael Phelp...

Gould won three golds, a silver and a bronze at Munich 1972 at age 15, setting a world record in each gold swim. In 1971 and 1972 ...

Ender won the 100 m and 200 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly and a relay at Montreal, each in world record time, after two silvers at ...

Salnikov clocked 14:58.27 at the 1980 Moscow Games to break the 15 minute barrier, adding the 400 m freestyle title in the same me...

Gross won the 200 m freestyle and 200 m butterfly at Los Angeles 1984 and a relay gold at Seoul 1988, with six Olympic medals in t...

Caulkins won 48 American national titles and set American records in all four strokes plus the IMs, a versatility no swimmer match...

Meagher, nicknamed Madame Butterfly, set 2:05.96 in 1981, a record that stood until 2000. She won the 100 m and 200 m butterfly at...

Gaines was the top sprinter of 1980 when the American boycott removed his best shot, including world records in the 100 m freestyl...

Matthes won the 100 m and 200 m backstroke at both Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972, defending both titles, with eight world recor...

Otto won the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, 100 m butterfly and two relays in Seoul, becoming the first woman to win ...

The Munich Olympic swimming hall sits under the park famous tent roof landscape and staged Mark Spitz seven gold medal swims at th...

The Montreal pool sat at the foot of the stadium tower whose inclined design became one of the most photographed venues of the 197...

The International Swimming Hall of Fame opened on the Fort Lauderdale waterfront in the mid 1960s as a museum, archive and aquatic...

World governing body FINA staged the first world aquatic championships in Belgrade in 1973, giving swimmers a global title between...

Salnikov cracked 15 minutes in the Moscow final, a barrier compared in its day to the four minute mile. His distance training volu...

Meyer won the 200 m, 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1968 Olympics, the first woman to win three individual swimming golds at a s...

Naber dominated the backstroke at the 1976 Olympics, winning the 100 m and 200 m and becoming the first man under two minutes in t...

Babashoff was the leading American freestyler of the 1970s but finished second to East German swimmers in several events at the 19...

In August 1987 Lynne Cox swam about 4 km from Little Diomede Island in the United States to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union, in wa...