Johnny Weissmuller

American swimmer, water polo player, and actor (1904–1984)

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Lived 1904–1984, aged 80United States

United States AthletesActor

Fame37.7
Momentum3.9
Athletes rank#62
Wikipedia27.8K

Wikipedia
67 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1904–1984
Aged 80

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Olympic swimmer turned Tarzan: Weissmuller dominated the pool in the 1920s with five golds and a bronze, then spent decades swinging through Hollywood in a loincloth.

Biography

About

Johnny Weissmuller was a Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He has one of the best competitive-swimming records of the 20th century. He set world records alongside winning five gold medals in the Olympics. He won the 100m freestyle and the 4 × 200 m relay team event in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Weissmuller also won gold in the 400m freestyle, as well as a bronze medal in the water polo competition in Paris.

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