Most Prestigious Swimmers of All Time

Swimming is one of the popular sports that have produced many of the world’s all-time best athletes. Their names are almost synonymous with excellence and powerful swimming careers that have earned them prestige, worldwide fame and fans. Most of these swimmers are male who have emerged as undisputed leaders in many championships, particularly the Olympic Games. Among these prestigious swimmers include Mark Spitz,  Michael Phelps, and Aaron Peirsol of the United States, and Ian Thorpe of Australia. Some of the famous female swimming champions include Rebecca Soni of the U.S., Federica Pellegrini of Italy, Laure Manaudou of France, and Australia’s Stephanie Rice and Liesel Jones.

Mark Spitz. At 62 as of February 2012, Mark Spitz is a retired American swimmer. Behind him, however, is a record of seven gold medals he won at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and nine other Olympic gold, a silver and a bronze he won between 1968 and 1972. Upon his retirement at the young age of 22, he had accumulated swimming feats of five Pan-American gold, 31 American Athletic Union titles, eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles, and set 33 world records in swimming. From 1977 to 1983, he had been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Swimming, International Jewish Sports, United States Olympic, San Jose Sports, National Jewish Museum Sports, Long Beach City College, and the Indiana University Athletics.

Michael Phelps. Born in June 1985, Michael Phelps is truly the most successful athlete in two Olympic Games. He has won a total of 16 Olympic medals, six of which are gold and two bronze in 2004, and eight gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, surpassing the 8-medal performance made by Mark Spitz at the Munich Olympic Games. That feat earned for him the Sportsman of the Year Award given by the Sports Illustrated magazine. He has equaled the 8-medal record of any type at any single Olympics made by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the Games in Moscow in 1980. His 5-gold feat also tied the single Olympics record of fellow American Eric Heiden also in the 1980 Games. He holds the all-time record of having the most number of individual gold Olympic medals. His total win in international swimming competitions, including the Olympics, equals 54 gold, 9 silver and 3 bronze.

Aaron Peirsol. He is a former American swimmer but only two years senior to Michael Phelps. Born in Irvine, California, he specialized in backstroke to become the world record holder in the 100-meter and 200m backstroke events. He debuted in the 2000 Summer Olympics and, at age 17, won a silver medal in the 200m backstroke. A 7-time Olympic medalist with five gold and two silver, he has a total of 36 medals—29 gold, 6 silver and a bronze, courtesy of the Olympics, and the world and Pan-American swimming competitions.

Ian Thorpe. An Australian, Ian Thorpe was born in October 1982 and was idolized by Michael Phelps in the latter’s teenage years. He has won five Olympic gold medals—the most number won by any Australian athlete. His overall performance speaks of 11 world championship gold, the second highest by any swimmer. Once the youngest ever to become male world champion, he has announced his intention to return to swimming for the 2012 London Olympics, more than five years from his retirement in November 2006.