Analyzing History’s Greatest IMers

It’s a question that’s been quite difficult to answer: is there a common stroke that the best IMers in swimming most commonly excel at? We all know that IMers are the most well-rounded swimmers out there, but is there one “strong” stroke that they all seem to have in common?

To do this quick analysis, we’ll take a look at the best IMers within the last 10-20 years and see if they had any particular strokes that they were the strongest at. To quantify this, we’ll assign one point per “strong” discipline, and then we’ll tally everything up at the end to see if one stroke comes out above the others.

Michael Phelps

There’s not much to be said here other than the fact that Phelps did not have a weak stroke. A former world record holder in both butterfly events, Phelps also formerly owned the 200 freestyle world record and was the first under both 1:44 and 1:43 in the event.

At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, he even qualified for the 200 backstroke — behind none other than world-record holder Aaron Peirsol — in a time that would have earned silver in that year’s Olympic final in Athens. What’s more, even his flat-start 100 freestyle time back in 2008 (47.51) could easily challenge in many of today’s international-level championship finals (and won bronze at the 2008 Olympics behind the two fastest men in history at the time).

If you had to pinpoint a weak stroke of his, it would be breaststroke — but even his breaststroke became a weapon in his IM’s during the height of his career. It’s quite difficult to assign points here, but for the sake of our analysis, we’ll go with the two strokes in which Phelps has held world records.

Points: +1 for butterfly, +1 for freestyle

Katinka Hosszu

Known as the Iron Lady, Hosszu is not only the second-fastest performer of all time in the 400 IM, but her world record in the 200 IM from 2015 (2:06.12) still stands to this day. In fact, across the course of her career, she collected four world titles in the 200 IM and five world titles in the 400 IM — highlighted by a triple gold medal performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In international competition, Hosszu has also amassed accolades in events other than the individual medleys. In fact, she took Olympic gold in the 100 backstroke in Rio, along with silver in the 200 backstroke. What’s more, her European Record in the 200 butterfly (2:04.27) is also untouched to this day — the result of a bronze-medal effort at the 2009 Worlds.

Points: +1 for backstroke, +1 for butterfly

Ryan Lochte

In addition to his success in the IMs, Lochte is known as one of history’s best backstrokers. He formerly held the world record in the 200 backstroke, taking Olympic gold in 2008 and becoming the first man under 1:54 in the event. In addition, he was a huge factor in America’s dominance in the 800 freestyle relay.

To understand Lochte’s place as one of swimming’s greatest, let’s look at his performance at the 2011 Worlds — perhaps one of the greatest individual swimming performances in the post-super suit era. Lochte would emerge with golds in the 200 freestyle (defeating Phelps), 200 IM (defeating Phelps again in world record time), 400 IM, and 200 backstroke.

Aside from this, Lochte’s underwaters are just as lethal. In fact, at the 2015 Worlds — where he four-peated as world champion in the 200 IM — he made waves for pushing off the breast-to-free turn on his back. For our purposes, however, we’ll go with the two strokes in which he’s claimed gold medals in international competition.

Points: +1 for backstroke, +1 for freestyle

Daiya Seto

To this day, Seto is one of the most talented short course swimmers in the history of swimming. His world record in the 400 IM, 3:54.81, has remained untouched and unchallenged ever since 2019, and he’s won six straight SC world titles in the event. He also formerly held the world record in the short course 200 butterfly (1:48.24) and came within two-tenths of the 200m breaststroke world record.

Seto also established his dominance in the long course pool. Though he never came away with an Olympic gold or world record, he’s collected eight world championship medals across both IM distances — including four world titles. At the 2017 Worlds, he also came away with a bronze in the 200 butterfly, an event he still holds the Asian record in.

Points: +1 for butterfly, +1 for breaststroke

Yana Klochkova

Klochkova is one of the very few swimmers who have repeated as double-IM Olympic champions. She previously held the world record in both the short course and long course 400 IM events.

Klochkova was also a tremendous mid-distance freestyler. At the 2000 Sydney Games, she won a silver medal in the 800 free in addition to her golden double in the IMs. She captured a world title in the 400 free a year later, and in 2002, she won gold in the short-course 400 free as well. As part of Ukraine’s 400 medley relay, she swam the butterfly legs, contributing to a silver and bronze at the European Championships.

Points: +1 for butterfly, +1 for freestyle

Leon Marchand

If “underwaters” were a stroke, Marchand is amongst one of the best we’ve ever seen at doing it. But it isn’t, so we can marvel at his breaststroke instead — and the fact that he owns not only the world record in the 400 IM, but also the second-fastest performance ever in the 200 IM.

Yet fixating only on his breaststroke might still be an injustice. Just like everyone else on this list, Marchand’s versatility is world-class, with an Olympic record in the 200 butterfly to boot. He also owns the second-fastest performance in the 200-yard freestyle in history and the fastest ever in the 500 free.

Despite this, Marchand has yet to race in a long-course freestyle event in major international competition. So for now, we’ll account for his remarkable accolades across the breaststroke and butterfly events.

Points: +1 for breaststroke, +1 for butterfly

Summer McIntosh

Still just a teenager, McIntosh has already established herself as one of the best IMers in history — and arguably the most versatile swimmer on the planet. Not only does she hold the world record in the 400 IM, but she also took down Olympic Records in the 200 IM and 200 butterfly recently in Paris.

What’s more, McIntosh is an incredible freestyler, having held the 400 freestyle world record briefly in 2023 and being one of just three women in history to go under 3:57. In fact, she’s the only person within the past decade to have defeated Katie Ledecky head-to-head in any long-distance freestyle race. In doing so, McIntosh became the second-fastest performer ever in the 800 freestyle.

I think the choices here are pretty clear. Yet, here’s perhaps the most incredible part: McIntosh is still a teenager…so the sky’s the limit.

Points: +1 for butterfly, +1 for freestyle

Tallying Up the Points

With all that in mind, here’s the final count…

Butterfly: 6 points

Backstroke: 2 points

Breaststroke: 2 points

Freestyle: 4 points

Obviously, the sample size I used here was quite small, and this was perhaps a rudimentary way of finding a common strength amongst the best IMers. But I can’t say I’m shocked — and it makes sense that the best IMers not only have the strength to take the race out strong, but they also have the propensity to close the race well.

I know all the backstrokers and breaststrokers are not going to like this, but let me know what you think is the most important stroke for an IMer…