The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from Finland

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Finnish Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 4 of which were born in Finland. This makes Finland the birth place of the 18th most number of Swimmers behind South Africa, and Spain.

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Finnish Swimmers of all time. This list of famous Finnish Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Arvo Aaltonen

1. Arvo Aaltonen (1892 - 1949)

With an HPI of 49.84, Arvo Aaltonen is the most famous Finnish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.

Arvo Ossian Aaltonen (2 December 1892 – 17 June 1949) was a Finnish breaststroke swimmer who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. He won bronze medals in the 200 m and 400 m events in 1920, and failed to reach the finals in 1912 and 1924. Aaltonen was the first, and until 1992 (with Antti Kasvio's bronze medal-winning 200m freestyle performance), the only Finnish Olympic medalist in swimming. He won the 200 m event at the 1923 Nordic Championships, and he held 22 Finnish titles: in the 100 m (1912, 1915–17), 200 m (1909, 1911–13, 1915–16, 1919–21, 1923, 1925–27) and 400 m (1912–13, 1915–17). In 1924–30 and 1946–47, he was a Finnish Swimming Federation board member. He immigrated to Canada in 1929 but returned to Finland in 1937.

Photo of Jani Sievinen

2. Jani Sievinen (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 32.46, Jani Sievinen is the 2nd most famous Finnish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Jani Nikanor Sievinen (pronounced [ˈjɑni ˈsie̯ʋinen] ; born 31 March 1974) is a former medley swimmer from Finland, who won the silver medal in the 200 m individual medley at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In winning the World Championship 200m individual medley title in 1994, he established a new world record of 1:58.16 which lasted for almost nine years until it was broken by Michael Phelps (USA). Jani Sievinen was married to Mari Sievinen. They have three daughters (born 2008, 2010 and 2013). Sievinen also has two sons (born 1997 and 2001) from his previous marriage to Susanna Sievinen.

Photo of Hanna-Maria Seppälä

3. Hanna-Maria Seppälä (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 28.35, Hanna-Maria Seppälä is the 3rd most famous Finnish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Hanna-Maria Hintsa (née Seppälä born 13 December 1984) is a retired Finnish freestyle swimmer, who won the world title in the 100 m freestyle at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Hintsa started swimming at age five and made the Finnish national junior team by age 10. In 1999 she won the bronze medal in the European Junior Championships in the 50 m freestyle event. To date she has broken 100 Finnish national records. Hintsa's manager was the now-defunct SportElite company.

Photo of Ari-Pekka Liukkonen

4. Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 27.95, Ari-Pekka Liukkonen is the 4th most famous Finnish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (born 9 February 1989) is a Finnish swimmer and European champion. He competed in the 50 m freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is the Finnish record holder over that distance with a time of 21.58 sec, as well as the short course record in the 50 m. He also holds the 100 m freestyle record, at 49.44 seconds. At the 2016 Olympics he swam in the 50 and 100 m freestyle events.

Photo of Matti Mattsson

5. Matti Mattsson (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 25.36, Matti Mattsson is the 5th most famous Finnish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Matti Mattsson (born 5 October 1993 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's 200 metre breaststroke, finishing in 17th place overall in the heats and failing to qualify for the semifinals. In Barcelona at the 2013 Swimming World Championships, he won bronze medal in Men's 200 metre breaststroke. He has qualified to represent Finland at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He won bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Men's 200 metre breaststroke. In January 2022, Mattsson was named the 2021 Sports Personality of the Year.

Photo of Ida Hulkko

6. Ida Hulkko (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 0.00, Ida Hulkko is the 6th most famous Finnish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Ida Hulkko (born 12 December 1998) is a Finnish swimmer specializing in the breaststroke. She competed at the 2017 European Short Course Swimming Championships, as well as the 2018 European Aquatics Championships, placing 5th in the 50m breaststroke finals. She swam at the 2018 FINA Short Course Championships, reaching the final in the 50m breaststroke. She also swam for the Florida State Seminoles of NCAA Division I. Hulkko announced she would redshirt the 2019-20 collegiate season in order to train for Tokyo. In May 2020, Hulkko announced she would not be returning to swim for the Seminoles. In 2021, Hulkko won silver in the 50 metre breaststroke at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships, setting a national record in the process. She qualified to represent Finland at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At the games, Hulkko progressed to the semi-finals in the Women's 100 metre breaststroke after setting a national record in her heat. In 2024, Hulkko competed in the Summer Olympics in Paris, once again competing in the 100 metre breastroke. She finished 26th in the heats and did not advance. Hulkko is the daughter of Finnish Army general Petri Hulkko. She got engaged to Turkish swimmer Metin Aydın in 2024.

Photo of Mimosa Jallow

7. Mimosa Jallow (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mimosa Jallow is the 7th most famous Finnish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Mimosa Jallow (born 17 June 1994) is a Finnish swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Jallow was born to a Gambian father and a Finnish mother in Jyväskylä.

People

Pantheon has 7 people classified as Finnish swimmers born between 1892 and 1998. Of these 7, 6 (85.71%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Finnish swimmers include Jani Sievinen, Hanna-Maria Seppälä, and Ari-Pekka Liukkonen. The most famous deceased Finnish swimmers include Arvo Aaltonen. As of April 2024, 3 new Finnish swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Arvo Aaltonen, Ida Hulkko, and Mimosa Jallow.

Living Finnish Swimmers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Deceased Finnish Swimmers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Newly Added Finnish Swimmers (2024)

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous