Arvo Ossian Aaltonen (2 December 1892 â 17 June 1949) was a Finnish breaststroke swimmer who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. He won bronze medals in the 200 m and 400 m events in 1920, and failed to reach the finals in 1912 and 1924.
Aaltonen was the first, and until 1992 (with Antti Kasvio's bronze medal-winning 200m freestyle performance), the only Finnish Olympic medalist in swimming. He won the 200 m event at the 1923 Nordic Championships, and he held 22 Finnish titles: in the 100 m (1912, 1915âÂÂ17), 200 m (1909, 1911âÂÂ13, 1915âÂÂ16, 1919âÂÂ21, 1923, 1925âÂÂ27) and 400 m (1912âÂÂ13, 1915âÂÂ17). In 1924âÂÂ30 and 1946âÂÂ47, he was a Finnish Swimming Federation board member. He immigrated to Canada in 1929 but returned to Finland in 1937.