SWIMMERS from Russia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Swimmers of all time. This list of famous Russian Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Swimmers.

1. Alexander Popov (1971 - )

With an HPI of 47.52, Alexander Popov is the most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Popov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Попо́в, born 16 November 1971), better known as Alexander Popov, is a former Russian swimmer. Widely considered the greatest sprint swimmer in history, Popov won gold in the 50-metre and 100 m freestyle at the 1992 Olympics and repeated the feat at the 1996 Olympics, and is the only male in Olympic games history to defend both titles. He held the world record in the 50 m for eight years, and the 100 m for six. In 2003, aged 31, he won 50 m and 100 m gold at the 2003 World Championships.

2. Vladimir Salnikov (1960 - )

With an HPI of 45.10, Vladimir Salnikov is the 2nd most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov (Russian: Владимир Валерьевич Сальников; born 21 May 1960) is a Russian former freestyle swimmer who set 20 world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metre events. Nicknamed the "Tsar of the Pool", "Monster of the Waves" and "Leningrad Express", he was the first person to swim under fifteen minutes in the 1500 m freestyle and also the first person to swim under eight minutes in the 800 m freestyle. He was named the Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and 1982 by Swimming World.

3. Oscar Grégoire (1877 - 1947)

With an HPI of 43.47, Oscar Grégoire is the 3rd most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Oscar Grégoire Jr. (26 March 1877 – 28 September 1947) was a Belgian water polo player and backstroke swimmer who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics, in the 1908 Summer Olympics, and in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Belgian water polo team and was able to win two silver and one bronze medal. In 1908 and 1912 he also participated in the 100-metre backstroke events, but was eliminated in the first round in both.

4. Yuliya Yefimova (1992 - )

With an HPI of 34.35, Yuliya Yefimova is the 4th most famous Russian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova (Russian: Юлия Андреевна Ефимова, also romanized Efimova; born 3 April 1992) is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian record holder in the 200 metre individual medley (short course), 50 metre breaststroke (short course and long course), 100 metre breaststroke (short course and long course), and 200 metre breaststroke (short course and long course). After making her Olympic debut in 2008, she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2012, and silver medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke in 2016. She is a six-time World Champion, winning the 50 metre breaststroke in 2009 and 2013, the 100 metre breaststroke in 2015, and the 200 metre breaststroke in 2013, 2017, and 2019. In 2019, she became the first woman to win the 200 metre breaststroke at a FINA World Aquatics Championships three times. She is a former world record holder in the long course 50 metre breaststroke. She has won 109 medals, including 48 gold medals, at Swimming World Cups. After failing a drug test, Yefimova was disqualified from competition for 16 months, from October 2013 to February 2015, was stripped of her results and medals at the 2013 European Short Course Championships, and four of her world short-course records were invalidated.

5. Natalia Ishchenko (1986 - )

With an HPI of 34.33, Natalia Ishchenko is the 5th most famous Russian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Natalia Sergeyevna Ishchenko (Russian: Наталья Серге́евна Ищенко; born 8 April 1986) is a retired Russian synchronized swimmer, five-times Olympic champion and nineteen-times world champion. Ishchenko announced her retirement from sports in April 2017. Since November 2017, she has served as Vice Minister of Sports of Kaliningrad Oblast.

6. Denis Pankratov (1974 - )

With an HPI of 32.97, Denis Pankratov is the 6th most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Denis Pankratov (Russian: Денис Панкратов; born 4 July 1974) is a retired Russian butterfly swimmer of the 1990s, who was best known for winning the butterfly double at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States in a unique style. His 100 m butterfly triumph is particularly remembered for his swimming over 25 m of the first lap underwater and then 15 m in the opposite direction, also underwater. He trained at the Volgograd club with fellow individual gold medallist at Swimming World World Swimmer of the Year Yevgeny Sadovyi.

7. Igor Polyansky (1967 - )

With an HPI of 32.62, Igor Polyansky is the 7th most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Igor Nikolaevich Polianski (Russian: Игорь Николаевич Полянский) (born 20 March 1967 in Novosibirsk) is a former backstroke swimmer from the USSR. Polianski trained at Dynamo in Novosibirsk. In 1986 he became the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR. From 1985 to 1990 Polianski was a member of the USSR National Team. He won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, including the gold in the 200 m backstroke. Polianski won gold medals at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in 100 m backstroke and 200 m backstroke and a bronze medal in 4×100 m medley. On 3 March 1985 in Erfurt, GDR, Polianski set the new world record in 200 m backstroke at 1:58.14, that stood six years. Three years later he improved world record time in 100 m backstroke three times: first on 15 March and 16 March in Tallinn, USSR, to 55.17 and 55.16 respectively and then on 16 July in Moscow to 55.00. The latter was beaten by David Berkoff a month later. In 1989 Polianski graduated from Omsk State Institute of Physical Culture. He lives in New Zealand and runs a swimming school – Waterlions, in partnership with his wife. He is a member of the Auckland Swimming Community, coaching from the Epsom Girls Grammar and Massey High School campuses.

8. Svetlana Romashina (1989 - )

With an HPI of 31.62, Svetlana Romashina is the 8th most famous Russian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Svetlana Alekseyevna Romashina (Russian: Светлана Алексеевна Ромашина, IPA: [svʲɪˈtɫanə rɐˈmaʂɨnə]; born September 21, 1989) is a former Russian synchronized swimmer who won a total of 41 gold medals while competing in four Olympic Games, seven world championships, and six European championships. She never placed lower than first at any of these events. After winning two golds at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she became the most decorated athlete in the history of her sport. After leading the Russian Olympic Committee squad to victory at the Tokyo Games, Romashina announced the end of her Olympic career.

9. Anastasia Davydova (1983 - )

With an HPI of 31.61, Anastasia Davydova is the 9th most famous Russian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Anastasia Semyonovna Davydova (Russian: Анастасия Семёновна Давыдова; born 2 February 1983) is a Russian former synchronised swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist, and current coach.

10. Vladimir Morozov (1992 - )

With an HPI of 29.02, Vladimir Morozov is the 10th most famous Russian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Vladimir Viktorovich Morozov (Russian: Владимир Викторович Морозов; born 16 June 1992) is a Russian competitive swimmer and Olympic medalist. He is the former world record holder in the short course 100-metre individual medley, the current textile world record, World Cup record and Russian national record holder in the 100-metre individual medley and 100-metre freestyle (short course), and Russian record holder in the 50-metre freestyle (short course and long course). He also holds the European record for the 100-metre individual medley. Formerly he held the Russian national record in the 50-metre backstroke (long course) and the 50-metre butterfly (short course), and held the European and Russian records in the 50-metre breaststroke (short course). In 2013, Morozov became the first person to swim faster than 18.00 seconds for 50 yards of freestyle on a relay in the NCAA with a time of 17.86 seconds. Over the course of his career, he has won 176 medals, including 123 gold medals, at Swimming World Cup circuits.