SWIMMERS from Spain

Top 10

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

1. Gemma Mengual (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 43.62, Gemma Mengual is the most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Gemma Mengual Civil (born 12 April 1977 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish synchronised swimmer. She has competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. On 15 February 2012 she announced her retirement. After retiring she became involved with coaching the national synchronised swimming team. However in June 2015 Mengual announced that she would return to competition with the aim of competing at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, in the mixed duet with Pau Ribas, whom she had previously coached. Although she had previously indicated that she would not compete beyond the World Championships, in September of that year she confirmed via social media that she would compete in the duet in the 2016 Summer Olympics with Ona Carbonell. During the 2020 Olympic Games (celebrated in 2021 due to COVID) she collaborated in the broadcast for the swimming-pool and floor events giving technical insight and expert opinion on the Olympian sport women.

2. Mireia Belmonte (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 42.32, Mireia Belmonte is the 2nd most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the former world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly, 400 metre individual medley, 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. She was the first Spanish woman to win a gold medal in swimming at an Olympic Games and is widely considered to be the greatest Spanish swimmer of all time. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro she became Olympic champion in the 200-metre butterfly, and also won the bronze medal in the 400-metre individual medley. She previously competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where she debuted at 17 years old, and at 2012 London, where she won two silver medals, one in the 200 metre butterfly with a time of 2:05.25 and one in the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 8:18.76.

3. Andrea Fuentes (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 42.27, Andrea Fuentes is the 3rd most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Andrea Fuentes Fache (born 7 April 1983 in Valls, Tarragona) is a Spanish swimming coach and former synchronised swimmer. She is the most decorated swimmer in the history of the Spanish national team, with four Olympic, 16 World Championship and 11 European Championship medals: her four Olympic medals also make her the most decorated Spanish female Olympian of all time, alongside Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Mireia Belmonte.

4. Teresa Perales (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 42.07, Teresa Perales is the 4th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Teresa Perales Fernández (born 29 December 1975), 1st Marchioness of Perales, is an S2 classified Spanish swimmer, politician and motivational speaker who has won a total of 28 Paralympic medals at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics. She is the most decorated Spanish Paralympian in history, and holds the current Paralympic record in women's 100m freestyle (S2) following the 2024 Summer Paralympics. In 1995, at the age of nineteen, Perales was diagnosed with neuropathy and lost the use of her legs within three months. Following the 2000 Games, she earned a Diploma in Physiotherapy and married Mariano Menor. She later had a child with him following the 2008 Games. In addition to swimming, Perales has been a politician, teacher, entrepreneur and motivational speaker. As an Aragonese Party (PAR) politician, she was in office from 2003 to 2007. Following her departure, she co-wrote an autobiography with her husband. Despite having no plans to return to politics, she was symbolically on the 2011 ballot for PAR as a member of the Congreso de los Diputados. Perales has supported a number of causes including Doctors Without Borders, Fundación Carlos Sanz and Fundación Vicente Ferrer. Taking up swimming at the age of 19, she joined the Aragon-based disability sport club CAI CDM a year later. A year after that, in 1997, she competed in her first Spanish championships, in which she earned several medals. The following year, she made her national team debut at the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she earned a bronze medal. She then went on to compete in the 1999 European Championship, 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2001 European Championships, 2002 IPC World Championship, 2004 Summer Paralympics, 2006 IPC World Swimming Championship, and 2008 Summer Paralympics. She took a break from swimming following the 2008 Games to give birth to her son. She returned to the pool in 2011 for the European Championship and then competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. She earned at least one medal in every Paralympics, European Championship, and World Championship in which she competed. Because of her sporting achievements, Perales was awarded the Gran Cruz del Mérito Deportivo and the Medalla de Oro de la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo. She has earned several other honors including being named the Woman of the Year by the Spanish women's magazine Mujer hoy.

5. David Meca (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 40.17, David Meca is the 5th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

David Meca Medina (born 1 February 1974) is a long distance swimmer from Spain, who has swum from mainland Spain to Ibiza among his exploits. He won gold at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal for the men's open water 25 km. Meca took silver in the 5 km event at the 2000 World Championships in Hawaii. He also won silver in the 25 km competition and a bronze in the 10 km at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Meca served a one-year ban on every competition and a four-year ban on championships following a positive test for nandrolone, a banned performance enhancer, in 1999. He was able to participate in World Championships in year 2000 because the sanction had not then been confirmed by the FINA. The sanction that was finally lifted because the swimmer was considered clean, after a long battle to prove his innocence. It was during the time of this sanction that he started focusing on challenges which nobody had done before. He swam from mainland Spain to Ibiza (about 80 miles or 129 km), in more than 27 hours swimming non-stop; and swam from Alcatraz to mainland San Francisco in less than 3 hours. Meca successfully swam the English Channel on 10 August 2004 in 7 h 46 mins, and again on 29 August 2005 in 7 h 22 mins. He swims for the Club Natació Sabadell.

6. Ona Carbonell (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 39.83, Ona Carbonell is the 6th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Ona Carbonell Ballestero (born 5 June 1990) is a Spanish synchronized swimmer. Carbonell competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won the silver medal in the women's duet, with Andrea Fuentes, and a bronze medal in the team event. She competed in the women's duet at the 2016 Summer Olympics, with Gemma Mengual, finishing in fourth place. During her preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics, Carbonell gave birth in August 2020. Despite medical advice not to train for six months, Carbonell returned in four weeks and competed at the Olympics, where she came seventh in the team event. A documentary, Starting Over, was made of her grappling with the roles of mother and athlete. In December 2022 she was honored as one of the BBC 100 Women.

7. Sergio López Miró (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 39.37, Sergio López Miró is the 7th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Sergio López Miró (born August 15, 1968) is a former international top swimmer from Spain, who won the bronze medal in the 200 meters breaststroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He competed in college for Indiana University and American University. López served as the head coach for the men's and women's swim teams at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, he became the head swimming coach at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida and coached several swimmers onto the U.S. national team. This includes Ariana Kukors, Charlie Houchin, Ryan Murphy and also Singapore’s Joseph Schooling. He was appointed head coach of Singapore Swimming as well as an adviser coach of the coaching academy of the Singapore Sports Institute, with his term starting on January 1, 2015. On April 30, 2018, Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock announced Lopez's hiring as head coach for the university's swimming and diving programs. He won his first international medal at the 1987 Mediterranean Games.

8. Raquel Corral (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 39.08, Raquel Corral is the 8th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Raquel Corral Aznar (born 1 December 1980) is a Spanish synchronized swimmer who competed at the Olympics in 2004 and 2008 where she won a silver medal in the team event.

9. Irina Rodríguez (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 37.82, Irina Rodríguez is the 9th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Irina Rodríguez Álvarez (born 16 September 1977 in Barcelona) is a Spanish synchronized swimmer who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

10. Rafael Muñoz (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 37.79, Rafael Muñoz is the 10th most famous Spanish Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Rafael "Rafa" Múñoz Pérez (born 3 March 1988) is an Olympic swimmer from Spain. He competed for the Spanish Olympic team at the 2008 Olympic Games. He was born in Córdoba. On 5 April 2009, at the 2009 Spanish Championships, he swam a 22.43 in the long-course 50 butterfly, going under the existing World Record of 22.96 by South Africa's Roland Schoeman. This time, however, was not recognized as the world record until 22 June, when the governing body of aquatic sports, FINA, finally accepted the controversial swimsuit he and many other swimmers had been wearing as they achieved such times. His world record was broken by Andriy Govorov in July 2018. He was coached by Romain Barnier in France, as part of the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille team.