

THE BEST of the BEST
Here you will find some of the best swimmers of all time and a few facts about them.


Michael Phelps
Phelps is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time.
His greatest achievements include:
28 Olympic metals
Broke the record for most first-place metals when he won 8 gold metals at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Named the Most Successful Athlete at four consecutive Olympic Games.
He is the World Record Holder for: 100 meter butterfly, 200 meter butterfly and 400 meter individual medley.
​
​
If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do.
Michael Phelps

Natalie Coughlin
Coughlin is a 12-time Olympic medalist and the first female to ever swim the 100-meter backstroke in under one minute.
​
During the 2008 Olympics, she won 6 medals making her the first female athlete in Olympic history to win 6 medals in one Olympiad. She has won a total of 12 Olympic medals making her tied with two other swimmers for most all-time medals by a female swimmer. Coughlin earned the award of World Swimmer of the Year for one year and American Swimmer of the Year three times.
Winning a total of 60 medals in major international competition, Natalie Coughlin is easily one of our greats!
​
​
Without goals, training has no direction.
Natalie Coughlin

Rebecca
Britain's first Olympic swimming champion since 1988, Adlington, is another one of the greats!
​
She broke the 19 year-old record of the 800-metre freestyle in the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also won gold for the 400-metre during those Olympic Games. Adlington was the first Britain swimmer to win gold since 1908.
​
Adlington was a specialist in freestyle and was able to retire at age 23.