Top 10 Greatest Olympic Swimmers of All Time

Mark Spitz's 7 gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics (all in world record time) stood as the greatest single-Games performance in history for 36 years until Michael Phelps surpassed it in 2008. Across his career Spitz won 9 Olympic gold medals total, was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969 and 1971, and was selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century.

Katie Ledecky is the most dominant female distance swimmer in history, winning 14 Olympic medals (10 gold) across the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Games and holding 14 individual world records simultaneously at her peak. Her 2016 Rio 800m freestyle victory came with a margin of 11.38 seconds over silver — the largest winning margin in Olympic swimming history. At the 2024 Paris Olympics she became the most decorated American female Olympian of all time.

Australia's Ian Thorpe, nicknamed the "Thorpedo," won 5 Olympic gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games and set 13 individual long-course world records. His signature event was the 400m freestyle, which he dominated with a then-impossible long-body technique. Thorpe retired at 24 and was named Australian of the Year in 2002. He remains one of the most technically innovative freestyle swimmers in the sport's history.

At just 15 years old, Australian Shane Gould became the only swimmer in history — male or female — to hold every world freestyle record simultaneously (100m through 1500m) when she achieved the feat in 1971. At the 1972 Munich Olympics she won 3 individual gold medals, a silver, and a bronze, then retired at 16. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977 and remains one of the most prodigious talents the sport has ever produced.

East German Kristin Otto's 6 gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics — across freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly events — is the record for gold medals won by a female swimmer in a single Games. She won gold in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay, a feat of versatility never equalled before or since in Olympic swimming history.

Janet Evans was the dominant female distance swimmer of the 1980s and 1990s, winning 4 Olympic gold medals at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games and holding the world record in the 400m freestyle for 17 years (1988-2005). Her technically unorthodox windmill freestyle stroke confounded coaches but produced one of the most efficient distance swimming techniques ever seen. She lit the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games alongside Muhammad Ali.

Ryan Lochte's 12 Olympic medals across the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Games place him second in US Olympic swimming history behind only Michael Phelps. He won gold in the 400m individual medley at Beijing 2008, a race in which he beat Phelps, and dominated the IM events for much of the 2000s-2010s. At peak he held 5 individual world records simultaneously and was named World Swimmer of the Year in 2011.

Natalie Coughlin won 12 Olympic medals across the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Games, making her the most decorated female American Olympian in history at the time of her 2012 retirement. She was the first woman to swim the 100m backstroke under 60 seconds (setting the world record in 2002) and won 6 medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. She is a 12-time NCAA champion and 9-time World Championships medalist.

Caeleb Dressel won 5 individual gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, matching Mark Spitz's single-Games record of 7 total golds (including relays). He set world records in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and 100m freestyle during those Games and became the first man to swim the 100m butterfly in under 49 seconds. Dressel was named World Swimmer of the Year in 2017, 2019, and 2021 and is considered the most explosive sprinter in swimming history.

Mark Spitz's 7 gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics (all in world record time) stood as the greatest single-Games performance in history for 36 years until Michael Phelps surpassed it in 2008. Across his career Spitz won 9 Olympic gold medals total, was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969 and 1971, and was selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century.

Katie Ledecky is the most dominant female distance swimmer in history, winning 14 Olympic medals (10 gold) across the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Games and holding 14 individual world records simultaneously at her peak. Her 2016 Rio 800m freestyle victory came with a margin of 11.38 seconds over silver — the largest winning margin in Olympic swimming history. At the 2024 Paris Olympics she became the most decorated American female Olympian of all time.

Australia's Ian Thorpe, nicknamed the "Thorpedo," won 5 Olympic gold medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games and set 13 individual long-course world records. His signature event was the 400m freestyle, which he dominated with a then-impossible long-body technique. Thorpe retired at 24 and was named Australian of the Year in 2002. He remains one of the most technically innovative freestyle swimmers in the sport's history.

At just 15 years old, Australian Shane Gould became the only swimmer in history — male or female — to hold every world freestyle record simultaneously (100m through 1500m) when she achieved the feat in 1971. At the 1972 Munich Olympics she won 3 individual gold medals, a silver, and a bronze, then retired at 16. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977 and remains one of the most prodigious talents the sport has ever produced.

East German Kristin Otto's 6 gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics — across freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly events — is the record for gold medals won by a female swimmer in a single Games. She won gold in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay, a feat of versatility never equalled before or since in Olympic swimming history.

Janet Evans was the dominant female distance swimmer of the 1980s and 1990s, winning 4 Olympic gold medals at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games and holding the world record in the 400m freestyle for 17 years (1988-2005). Her technically unorthodox windmill freestyle stroke confounded coaches but produced one of the most efficient distance swimming techniques ever seen. She lit the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games alongside Muhammad Ali.

Ryan Lochte's 12 Olympic medals across the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Games place him second in US Olympic swimming history behind only Michael Phelps. He won gold in the 400m individual medley at Beijing 2008, a race in which he beat Phelps, and dominated the IM events for much of the 2000s-2010s. At peak he held 5 individual world records simultaneously and was named World Swimmer of the Year in 2011.

Natalie Coughlin won 12 Olympic medals across the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Games, making her the most decorated female American Olympian in history at the time of her 2012 retirement. She was the first woman to swim the 100m backstroke under 60 seconds (setting the world record in 2002) and won 6 medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. She is a 12-time NCAA champion and 9-time World Championships medalist.

Caeleb Dressel won 5 individual gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, matching Mark Spitz's single-Games record of 7 total golds (including relays). He set world records in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and 100m freestyle during those Games and became the first man to swim the 100m butterfly in under 49 seconds. Dressel was named World Swimmer of the Year in 2017, 2019, and 2021 and is considered the most explosive sprinter in swimming history.