The Most Famous
SWIMMERS from Austria
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Austrian Swimmers of all time. This list of famous Austrian Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Otto Wahle (1879 - 1963)
With an HPI of 50.23, Otto Wahle is the most famous Austrian Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Otto Wahle (5 November 1879 – 11 August 1963) was an Austrian-American swimmer who took part in two Summer Olympic Games and won a total of three medals. Wahle coached the men's US swim team at the 1912 Olympics, and the men's US water polo team at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics.
2. Markus Rogan (b. 1982)
With an HPI of 30.04, Markus Rogan is the 2nd most famous Austrian Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Markus Antonius Rogan (born 4 May 1982 in Vienna) is a retired Austrian swimmer, who won two silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and a gold medal for 200 m backstroke at the 2008 World Short Course Championships in Manchester. He also was the world record holder in 200 metres backstroke (short course) in that year. Rogan's first big international success was a second-place finish in the 200 m backstroke at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. In the Olympics in 2004, Rogan placed second in both men's 100 m backstroke and the men's 200 m backstroke, both times behind Aaron Peirsol of the United States. The 200 metre race was controversial as Peirsol was first disqualified but later reinstated as gold medalist. Rogan told Peirsol on television that the result was unfair and that Peirsol should protest. As a teenager, the 6 ft 5 in tall Rogan swam for Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, where he trained with the Curl-Burke Swim Club. In July 2000, he cut short his final season of the Northern Virginia Swim League, swimming for the Mansion House Piranhas (of Mount Vernon). He flew to Australia and competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, failing to advance beyond the heats in the backstroke. He earned a scholarship to attend Stanford University from 2000 to 2004. On 8 December 2005, in Trieste, Rogan set a new world record in the 200 m backstroke for short course swim pools, with 1:50.43. This world record was later broken by American swimmer Ryan Lochte. Back on the short course in Short Course World Championships in Manchester, Rogan broke the world record again on 13 April 2008, in a time of 1:47.84, with Lochte finishing second by seven one-hundredths of a second (also under the old world record). Both swimmers were wearing the new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit. At the 2008 European Championships in Eindoven, The Netherlands, in March 2008, Rogan told reporters that he was planning to retire after the Beijing Olympics in August. He won both the 100 and 200 metre backstroke events (long course) at those European Championships. In the meantime, Rogan changed his plans on retirement. He swam at the World Championships in 2009 in Rome. He was training in Italy and wanted to enjoy the home event with his Italian training partners. At the 2010 European championships he won silver in the 200 m IM behind Olympic Silver medalist László Cseh. Rogan competed in his last Olympic games in London in 2012. He is now a psychologist working with athletes. He was the director of performance psychology for the Brazilian Olympic Team in Rio de Janeiro, 2016. In 2020, Markus secretly escaped Israel, after testing positive for COVID-19, breaking the law and resulting in his immediate dismissal from his post as performance psychology coach for the Jewish state’s national soccer team, violating government regulations that prohibit confirmed COVID-19 patients from breaking quarantine, and went to Ben Gurion Airport. He is married to Leanne Cobb, a marketing executive who was born in South Africa. They live together in Los Angeles, California.
3. Marlene Kahler (b. 2001)
With an HPI of 0.00, Marlene Kahler is the 3rd most famous Austrian Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Marlene Kahler (born 15 May 2001) is an Austrian swimmer. She competed in the women's 200 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. In 2021, she competed in the 2020 Olympics.
4. Bernhard Reitshammer (b. 1994)
With an HPI of 0.00, Bernhard Reitshammer is the 4th most famous Austrian Swimmer. His biography has been translated into different languages.
Bernhard Reitshammer (born 17 June 1994) is an Austrian swimmer. He has represented Austria at two Olympic Games. In April 2021, Reitshammer qualified to represent Austria at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where he went on to compete in the 100 metre backstroke, 100 metre breaststroke and 200 metre individual medley events. He also qualified to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. He reached the semifinals in the 100 m backstroke. He also participated in the 100 m backstroke and the 4x100 medley relay. He represented Austria at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea and he finished in 49th place in the heats in the men's 50 metre freestyle event. He represented Austria at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar. At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy he placed third with the Austrian team in the men's 4 x 100 m medley relay. At the 2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships he won gold in the 100 m medley. He studied at the University of Innsbruck.
5. Felix Auböck (b. 1996)
With an HPI of 0.00, Felix Auböck is the 5th most famous Austrian Swimmer. His biography has been translated into different languages.
Felix Otto Auböck (also spelled Auboeck, born 19 December 1996) is an Austrian swimmer. Felix is the current World Champion in the 400 metre freestyle short course as well as a three time Olympic Finalist, including a 4th Place finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Previously He competed in the men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2019, he competed in three events at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea. In 2020, Auboeck swam for the New York Breakers in the International Swimming League in Budapest. Auboeck represented Austria again at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, competing in the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events.
People
Pantheon has 5 people classified as Austrian swimmers born between 1879 and 2001. Of these 5, 4 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Austrian swimmers include Markus Rogan, Marlene Kahler, and Bernhard Reitshammer. The most famous deceased Austrian swimmers include Otto Wahle. As of April 2024, 3 new Austrian swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Marlene Kahler, Bernhard Reitshammer, and Felix Auböck.
Living Austrian Swimmers
Go to all Rankings
Markus Rogan
1982 - Present
HPI: 30.04
Marlene Kahler
2001 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Bernhard Reitshammer
1994 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Felix Auböck
1996 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Deceased Austrian Swimmers
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Austrian Swimmers (2024)
Go to all RankingsMarlene Kahler
2001 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Bernhard Reitshammer
1994 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Felix Auböck
1996 - Present
HPI: 0.00
