Bookmarks 100 : Bathing Beauties - Olympic Female Swimmers

Amanda Beard
These bathing beauties are more than just pretty to look at, they have serious athletic ability. Most of them are highly accomplished swimmers and have won awards and medals at the Olympics and international competitions.

Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and model. She has participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics, and 2008 Summer Olympics, capturing a total of seven medals, the most recent in the 2004 games. She held the world number one ranking of 200 meter breaststrokers in 2003.

Inge de Bruijn

Inge de Bruijn is a Dutch swimmer, and a four-time Olympic champion and world record holder.

Natalie Anne Coughlin

Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer known for winning 11 Olympic medals. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics.

Laure Manaudou

Laure Manaudou is a French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She won the gold medal in the women's 400 meter freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was France's first gold medal ever in women's swimming

Stephanie Rice

Stephanie Rice is an Australian swimmer. She currently holds the world record in the 400 m women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Federica Pellegrini

Federica Pellegrini is an Italian swimmer. She is currently the women's 200 m freestyle (long course and short course) and 400 m (long course) freestyle world record holder. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to breach the 4 minute barrier in 400 m.

Therese Alshammar

Therese Alshammar is a Swedish swimmer. Standing at 1.80 m, she is a specialist of fast races in freestyle and butterfly stroke.

Dara Torres

Dara Torres is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. Torres is the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008), and, at age 41, the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she competed in the 50-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter medley relay, and 4x100-meter freestyle relay and won the silver medal in all three events.