Swimmers, Ranked

Won a record 23 Olympic golds (28 medals total), including an unmatched 8 golds at Beijing 2008.

Owns 9 Olympic golds and holds the world records in the 800m and 1500m freestyle by huge margins.

Won 7 golds at Munich 1972, each in world-record time, a feat unmatched until Phelps in 2008.

Won 5 Olympic golds and set 13 long-course world records, Australia's most decorated Olympian.

A 9-time Olympic gold medalist, including five at Tokyo 2020, holding the 100m butterfly world record.

Won 8 Olympic golds (11 medals total) across three Games and set numerous freestyle world records.

Won 5 individual Olympic golds and held the 200m backstroke world record for 17 years.

Won 6 golds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the most ever by a woman at a single Games.

Won 3 golds at Rio 2016 with world records and dominated the medley events for a decade.

One of the few swimmers to win the same event (100m freestyle) at three consecutive Olympics (1956-1964).

Won the 1500m freestyle at back-to-back Olympics (2000, 2004) and went undefeated in the event for years.

Won 6 Olympic golds (12 medals) and set world records in the individual medley behind Phelps' shadow.

Won 5 Olympic golds and repeatedly broke his own backstroke world records through the 2000s.

Won 4 golds at London 2012 as a teenager, including a world-record 200m backstroke.

Dominant in a single stroke, winning 100m breaststroke golds in 2016 and 2021 and holding its world record.

Won 4 golds across 2000 and 2004 with several world records, but over a shorter peak window.

A five-Games 200m freestyle finalist with one Olympic gold (2008) and a long-standing world record.

A three-time Olympic champion whose legacy is tainted by a lengthy doping ban for a sample-tampering violation.