The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from Sweden

This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 14 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 11th most number of Swimmers behind Netherlands, and Italy.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Swimmers of all time. This list of famous Swedish 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 Swedish Swimmers.

1. Arne Borg (1901 - 1987)

With an HPI of 47.93, Arne Borg is the most famous Swedish Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Claes Arne Borg (18 August 1901 – 7 November 1987) was a Swedish swimmer. He is best known for breaking 32 world records and winning five Olympic medals in the 1920s. In 1926 Borg won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, shared with Edvin Wide. Next year, at the 1927 European Championships, he set a new world record in the 1500 m at 19:07.2 which stood for nearly 11 years. Besides swimming, Borg also won a European silver medal in water polo in 1926. His twin brother Åke was also an Olympic medalist in swimming. At the end of his swimming career Borg turned professional and toured with aquatic shows. After that he worked as a swimming coach and ran his tobacco shop in Stockholm. His daughter Inga Borg (1925–2017) was a children's book writer.

2. Greta Johansson (1895 - 1978)

With an HPI of 47.02, Greta Johansson is the 2nd most famous Swedish Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Anna Teresa Margareta "Greta" Johansson (9 January 1895 – 28 January 1978) was a Swedish diver and swimmer, who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics. She won the gold medal in the 10 m platform and finished fourth with the Swedish 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team. Johansson learned to swim and dive in Stockholm's municipal baths. She attended them on free tickets given at her public school, as all Swedish children were then required to learn swimming and diving. She won the Swedish titles in 1910, in the breaststroke, and in 1911, in the 100 m freestyle and high diving. In 1913 she emigrated to the United States, where she first worked as a shop assistant. There she married the Swedish diver Ernst Brandsten who also competed at the 1912 Olympics. The couple trained divers, swimmers, and the water polo team at Stanford University from 1915 to 1948 and operated the sports and recreation Searsville Lake Park. They were both inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame: Brandsten as a diving coach in 1966 and Johansson as a diver in 1973.

3. Martha Norelius (1909 - 1955)

With an HPI of 46.54, Martha Norelius is the 3rd most famous Swedish Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Martha Maria Norelius (January 22, 1909 – September 25, 1955) was a Swedish-born American competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in five different freestyle swimming events.

4. Pontus Hanson (1884 - 1962)

With an HPI of 46.36, Pontus Hanson is the 4th most famous Swedish Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Pontus Hanson (24 May 1884 – 4 December 1962) was a Swedish water polo player and swimmer, who won a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the 200 m breaststroke. In water polo he won bronze medals in 1908 and 1920 and a silver in 1912. His brother Sven competed in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1912 Olympics. Hanson worked as a government official, and in parallel took active part in the development of swimming in Sweden, acting as a sports functionary in 1905–1922.

5. Åke Borg (1901 - 1973)

With an HPI of 45.88, Åke Borg is the 5th most famous Swedish Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Åke Borg (18 August 1901 – 6 June 1973) was a Swedish swimmer. Teaming with his twin brother Arne he won a bronze medal at the 1924 Olympics and two European championship medals in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.

6. Gunnar Larsson (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 43.72, Gunnar Larsson is the 6th most famous Swedish Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Karl Gunnar Larsson (born 12 May 1951) is a former swimmer from Sweden. He won the 400 metre individual medley event at the 1972 Summer Olympics by two one-thousandths (0.002) of a second over American Tim McKee, breaking the Olympic record. The controversy over the accuracy of such timing was the reason the international swimming rules were subsequently changed, and today swimming times are measured in hundredths of a second. He also won the 200 metre individual medley event at the same Olympic Games, setting the new world record. Two years earlier, Larsson received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal due to his swimming at the 1970 European championships where he won three gold (200 metre medley, 400 metre medley and 400 metre freestyle) and one silver (200 m freestyle). A year later, 1973, Larsson won the 200 metre individual medley at the first official FINA World Championships in Belgrade. During his career, Larsson set three world and eight European records. Together with Arne Borg he is considered as Sweden's greatest swimmer of all time. In 1979, he was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Larsson retired from competitive swimming in 1973 and until 1980 worked as a swimming coach. Later he took miscellaneous jobs, mostly with McDonald's and the Swedish Swimming Federation (2000–2005); he also did one year of acting in 2003. Between 1974 and 2004 he worked as part-time swimming commentator with radio stations. His mother died in 1960 when he was only nine years old. In 1979, he married Marianne Larsson. They have three children: Lotten (b. 1978), Emelie (b. 1980) and Amanda (b. 1989). His elder sisters, Karin and Kristina, are also former Olympic swimmers.

7. Sarah Sjöström (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 41.73, Sarah Sjöström is the 7th most famous Swedish Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Sarah Fredrika Sjöström (Swedish: [ˈsɑ̂ːra ˈɧø̂ːstrœm]; born 17 August 1993) is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialising in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events. As of 2024, Sjöström has won a total of 23 individual medals at long course World Championships, more than any other swimmer in history. She is the only female swimmer to win five individual medals at a single FINA World Aquatics Championships, a feat she accomplished in 2019. In 2021, Sjöström achieved a career total of over 1000 most valuable player points in the International Swimming League, becoming the first swimmer in history to do so. In 2022, she became the first swimmer from any country to have won a total of 28 medals at LEN European Aquatics Championships. She has won 112 medals at Swimming World Cups. Sjöström is the current world record holder in the 50 metre freestyle (long course), the 100 metre freestyle (long course), and the 50 metre butterfly (long course). She is a former world record holder in the 100 metre butterfly (long course), 50 metre freestyle (short course), 100 metre freestyle (short course), 100 metre butterfly (short course), 200 metre freestyle (short course), and the 4×50 metre medley relay (short course). She is the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. She won the Overall Swimming World Cup in 2017 and 2018. In 2022, she became the first swimmer representing a country in Europe to win 10 individual World Championships gold medals. She currently represents Energy Standard in the International Swimming League. Sjöström participated in five consecutive Olympic Games, from Beijing 2008 through Paris 2024. She has won six Olympic medals: three gold (100 metre butterfly, 100 metre freestyle and 50 metre freestyle), two silver (200 metre freestyle and 50 metre freestyle), and one bronze (100 metre freestyle).

8. Therese Alshammar (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 36.67, Therese Alshammar is the 8th most famous Swedish Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She is coached by former Swedish swimmer Johan Wallberg. She is the first female swimmer and the third overall (after Lars Frölander and Derya Büyükuncu) to participate in six Olympic Games.

9. Bengt Baron (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 36.04, Bengt Baron is the 9th most famous Swedish Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Bengt Baron (born 6 March 1962) is a business leader and former backstroke swimmer from Sweden. Baron won the 100 m backstroke at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and was a member of the bronze winning team from Sweden in the 4×100 m freestyle at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. An undergraduate student from the University of California, Baron was named into its Hall of Fame in 1999. In the years 1979–1985 he won a total number of 33 Swedish titles. After his career as swimmer, Baron attended the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his MBA in 1988. Upon graduation, he joined McKinsey & Company in their Stockholm office, after which he joined numerous consumer companies, including Coca-Cola, AB Frionor (a Norwegian frozen seafood company), and Kodak. From 2001 to 2004, Baron was CEO and President of Absolut Vodka, CEO and president of its parent company V&S Group 2004–2008, then CEO for Leaf 2009–2012 and after Leaf's merger with Cloetta he was CEO of the new Cloetta from 2012. He announced in 2015 that he was going to leave Cloetta. He was previously married to Agneta Mårtensson, the couple has two daughters. He now lives with another woman.

10. Lars Frölander (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 35.44, Lars Frölander is the 10th most famous Swedish Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Lars Arne Frölander (born 26 May 1974) is a Swedish swimmer. He has competed in six consecutive Olympic Games (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012).

People

Pantheon has 23 people classified as Swedish swimmers born between 1884 and 2004. Of these 23, 18 (78.26%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swedish swimmers include Gunnar Larsson, Sarah Sjöström, and Therese Alshammar. The most famous deceased Swedish swimmers include Arne Borg, Greta Johansson, and Martha Norelius. As of April 2024, 9 new Swedish swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Louise Hansson, Michelle Coleman, and Hannah Burkhill.