Who is the All Time Greatest Swimmer
We are compiling a list of the greatest athletes from the sport of swimming, which will then be voted on and the winner placed on the shortlist of the all time greatest athlete ever (all sports).
The first stage is to get nominations for swimming before the vote is started. See the current list below of top athletes, compiled using other published lists and visitor feedback. If you believe that there is someone missing from this list, please place a comment below, including any relevant details about the person.
Swimming Greatest
The athletes below are listed in no particular order - once the shortlist is complete then you will be able to vote for who you think is the greatest of all. This list is not complete - if you know of someone who should be listed here, let us know using the comment form below.
| name | notes |
|---|---|
| Alexander Popov | Russia |
| Dawn Fraser | female swimmer from Australia, was the first woman who swam the 100-meter event in less than a minute. She won the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle for 3 successive Olympic games. |
| Grant Hackett | Australia, 1500m swimmer |
| Ian Thorpe | Australia |
| Jennifer ("Jenny") Elisabeth Thompson | She won 12 Olympic medals (8 golds). She was the USA Swimmer of the Year in 1993 and 1998. |
| Johnny Weissmuller | Weissmuller was one of the best swimmers of the world during the 1920s. He won 5 Olympic gold medals plus one bronze. He also set 67 world records. He famously went on to star in films as 'Tarzan' |
| Kristin Otto | Germany |
| Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungarian swimmer. She was World Swimmer of the Year 3 times, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001. She retired from the sport aged just 22. She was one of the youngest Olympic champions ever when she won the 200 m backstroke in 1988. She won that event two more times. |
| Mark Spitz | US swimmer Spitz shot to fame when he won 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Not only did he win these medals, he set world records in all the seven events he participated in. He was named the swimmer of the year in 1969, 1971, and 1972. Sports Illustrated magazine voted him one of the greatest Olympians and the athlete of the century in 2000. |
| Matt Biondi | USA Swimmer Biondi participated in the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympics, winning a total of 11 Olympic medals |
| Michael Gross | known as "The Albatross", from West Germany |
| Michael Phelps | Phelps won a record total of 22 Olympic medals, with 18 golds. He was named the World Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. |
| Shane Gould | Australia |
Related Pages
- More about the sport of swimming
- Who is better between Ian Thorpe and Micahel Phelps? See this head-to-head comparison.
- All time greatest index of sports
- Other sport specific lists
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Old Comments
Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.
- Phelps, Women, Fraser
- Jake (2013)
where is the female section ? rebecca addlington deserves a place.she won two gold medals in the london 2012 olympics - Jim Coulthard jake (2014)
I think Janet Evans is more deserving of a place. - 22 medals with 18 of them being GOLD. Enough Said (from Josh, Aug 2012)
- Phelps deserves the title of best ever for what he's won and his tremendous mental strenght. In the list should be added Roland Matthes, arguably the most talented swimmer of all time. (from Giotto, May 2012)
- phelps, come on people his heart can pump 2x as much blood as a normal heart and he eats more than 3 full grown men also he can win every event, best overall swimmer hands down (from spencer, Jan 2012)
- Dawn Fraser is the athlete of all time, so clearly she is the greatest ever swimmer (from John James, July 2011)
- Michael Phelps is the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (from Sam, March 2011)
- Grant Hackett (Oct 2010)
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