The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from Ireland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Irish Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 1 of which were born in Ireland. This makes Ireland the birth place of the 42nd most number of Swimmers behind Philippines, and South Korea.

Top 5

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

Photo of Michelle Smith

1. Michelle Smith (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 33.34, Michelle Smith is the most famous Irish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Michelle Smith de Bruin (born 16 December 1969) is an Irish lawyer and retired Olympic swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for the 400 m individual medley, 400 m freestyle and 200 m individual medley, and also won the bronze medal for the 200 m butterfly event. Smith's rise to dominance in the 1995 European Championships, followed by her wins in Atlanta, all at a relatively advanced age for swimmers, were marked by allegations of doping that were never proven. Smith was later banned for four years by FINA, the international swimming federation, for manipulation of an anti-doping sample by deliberate contamination with alcohol, a decision upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport when Smith appealed. Already superannuated in swimming terms, Smith never returned to competitive swimming and later worked as a barrister, practising under her married name of Michelle Smith de Bruin. Despite the ban for manipulating samples, none of Smith's swimming achievements were shown to have been as a result of using performance enhancers and, therefore, not annulled, so she remains Ireland's most successful Olympian.

Photo of Darragh Greene

2. Darragh Greene (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Darragh Greene is the 2nd most famous Irish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Darragh Greene (born 20 October 1995) is an Irish swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre breaststroke at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. He qualified to represent Ireland at the 2020 Summer Olympics In Tokyo Japan.

Photo of Puch Hem

3. Puch Hem (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 0.00, Puch Hem is the 3rd most famous Irish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Puch Hem (born 3 May 1999) is a Cambodian swimmer. He competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Mona McSharry

4. Mona McSharry (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mona McSharry is the 4th most famous Irish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Mona McSharry (born 21 August 2000) is an Irish competitive swimmer. She is a two-time Olympian and won the bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2024 Summer Olympics. McSharry is also a World Championships (25m) and European Short Course Championships bronze medalist, a junior world champion and a two-time junior European champion. McSharry is the holder of multiple national senior records, including 50 m, 100 m and 200 m breaststroke in both long course and short course, and 100 m individual medley in short course.

Photo of Brendan Hyland

5. Brendan Hyland (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Brendan Hyland is the 5th most famous Irish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Brendan Hyland (born 23 September 1994) is an Irish swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. Hyland has also competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 5 people classified as Irish swimmers born between 1969 and 2000. Of these 5, 5 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Irish swimmers include Michelle Smith, Darragh Greene, and Puch Hem. As of April 2024, 4 new Irish swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Darragh Greene, Puch Hem, and Mona McSharry.

Living Irish Swimmers

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Newly Added Irish Swimmers (2024)

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