June 23 marks Olympic Day, a holiday dedicated to the Olympic movement and its three pillars: move, learn and discover. To celebrate, we’re giving swim fans a chance to move (their mouse to scroll lower down this page), learn (about the most-decorated Olympic swimmers of all-time) and discover (some swimming legends they may not have previously known).
Of course, it’s no secret who’s atop this list. And the difference between #1 and #2 (a margin of 16 total medals and 14 golds) highlights just how historic Michael Phelps‘ achievements in the sport have been.
It’s also interesting to note that Team USA has the top 8 swimmers on this list. The only swimmer from outside the USA to ever crack double digits in total Olympic medals is Franziska van Almsick, who never won an Olympic gold, but racked up 4 silver and 6 bronze over a lengthy career that spanned the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
Most-Decorated Olympic Swimmers of All-Time
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Total Medals | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Years |
| 1 | Michael Phelps | USA | 28 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 2004-2016 |
| 2 | Jenny Thompson | USA | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1992-2004 |
| 2 | Ryan Lochte | USA | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2004-2016 |
| 2 | Dara Torres | USA | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1984-2008 |
| 2 | Natalie Coughlin | USA | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2004-2012 |
| 6 | Mark Spitz | USA | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1968-1972 |
| 6 | Matt Biondi | USA | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1984-1992 |
| 8 | Gary Hall, Jr. | USA | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1996-2004 |
| 8 | Franziska van Almsick | Germany | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1992-2004 |
| 10 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2000-2004 |
| 10 | Alexander Popov | Russia | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1992-2000 |
| 10 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2000-2012 |
| 13 | Nathan Adrian | USA | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2008-2016 |
| 13 | Dawn Fraser | Australia | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1956-1964 |
| 13 | Kornelia Ender | East Germany | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1972-1976 |
| 13 | Roland Matthes | East Germany | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1968-1976 |
| 13 | Allison Schmitt | USA | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2008-2016 |
| 13 | Inge de Bruin | Netherlands | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2000-2004 |
| 13 | Jason Lezak | USA | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2000-2012 |
| 13 | Petria Thomas | Australia | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1996-2004 |
| 13 | Shirley Babashoff | USA | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1972-1976 |
| 13 | Susie O’Neill | Australia | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1992-2000 |
Swimming is a funny sport sometimes. I,m a fan but I,m honest. Medal inflation with the relays make relatively worse swimmer win more medals if he/she comes from a country with depth. Jenny Thompson is on the list while krisztina egerszegi is not.
Katinka hosszu is nowhere to be found. We are talking about the most versatile female swimmer in history here.
Could not agree more. Egerszegi would have 7 golds, 100 back from Seoul and the same from Atlanta where she did not even enter the event because of the Chinese dopers.
You mean East Germans? Chinese didn’t win any backstroke events in the Olympics
Babashoff won the same number of medals in 76, but her’s should have been gold. The rest of the American women were effectively shut out. DDR doping efforts were unfair to a generation of swimmers.
The top 5 and many of the top 20 won their medals after they were able to turn pro and swim beyond the typical college-age career.
Other factors: swimmers shut out by boycotts, PED’s, and having citizenship outside USA or Australia.
Considering these impediments, I wonder how Spitz, Caulkins, Meagher, Michael Gross, Egerszegyi, and a few others would have stacked up.
Spitz has his 9 from ’68 and ’72. He knew his time was up after graduating from college. If he’d have had the opportunity to go pro, it’s very conceivable at he’d have returned for ’76, when the USA men crushed everyone else. Maybe another 5-7 golds?
Caulkins and Meagher were shut out by the boycott. It’s completely possible… Read more »
I wonder who #1 is
For those of you musing: these are outdated now (pre-Rio!) but here are a couple articles I did a while back that analyze individual AND individual + relay all-time medal counts: https://staging.swimswam.com/revenge-nerds-time-womens-olympic-medal-winners/ (Women) and https://staging.swimswam.com/revenge-nerds-part-2-time-mens-olympic-medal-winners/ (Men)
Kornelia Ender, not Elder
What is the reason adding cells for Coughlin’s medals totals 11?