SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent polls asked SwimSwam readers who rounds out their “starting five” swimming team for the first quarter of the 21st century:
Question: Who cracks your top-5 swimmers of the quarter century (2000-2024) if Phelps, Ledecky, Lochte and Thorpe are the first 4?
RESULTS
- Sarah Sjostrom – 34.0%
- Katinka Hosszu – 16.6%
- Leon Marchand – 14.9%
- Caeleb Dressel – 13.8%
- Natalie Coughlin – 5.3%
- Kaylee McKeown – 3.2%
- Aaron Peirsol – 2.7%
- Grant Hackett – 2.0%
- Other – 1.9%
- Laszlo Cseh – 1.2%
- Pieter van den Hoogenband – 1.2%
- Kosuke Kitajima – 1.1%
- Missy Franklin – 1.1%
- Sun Yang – 0.8%
- Inge de Bruijn – 0.1%
- Rebecca Soni – 0.1%
- Kirsty Coventry – 0.1%
Over the past month, the National Hockey League (NHL) has been releasing their quarter-century teams for different franchises, as the end of 2024 marked 25 years since we entered into the year 2000 (though the turn into the 21st century officially occurred on Jan. 1, 2001).
Since 2000, Michael Phelps has become the greatest Olympian of all-time, so his status as the best swimmer of the last 25 years is unquestioned.
The same can be said for Katie Ledecky on the women’s side, as, with nine gold and 14 total Olympic medals, most would consider her the greatest female swimmer ever.
Phelps and Ledecky were obvious picks as the top two swimmers of the first quarter century, with Ryan Lochte and Ian Thorpe likely being penciled in as the next two by most.
Lochte was one of the world’s best swimmers for an extended period of time, from 2004 until 2016, winning 12 Olympic medals and a combined 39 world titles between short course and long course.
Thorpe had a much more abbreviated career at the top, and it started before 2000, but he was dominant in his prime. The Australian won five gold and nine total medals between the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and claimed nine of his 11 LC world titles in either 2001 or 2003, including setting individual world records in the men’s 200, 400 and 800 free at the 2001 Worlds in Fukuoka.
But beyond those four, the swimmer to round out the top five swimmers of the past 25 years didn’t seem as clear-cut. There was no shortage of candidates, so we brought it to the SwimSwam poll to see who fans believe to be a top-five swimmer of the past quarter century.
In the most-voted poll since just after the Olympics, Sarah Sjostrom led the way with 34% of votes, and it’s easy to see why.
Sjostrom reached the top of the sport in 2009, winning a world title and breaking the world record in the women’s 100 fly at the age of 15, and 15 years later, won a pair of Olympic gold medalists in the 50 and 100 free just before her 31st birthday.
During the 15 years between, Sjostrom had some disappointments, such as the 2012 Olympics in London, but was largely dominant at every major championship meet from there. She won Olympic gold in Rio in the 100 fly, breaking the world record, and also won minor medals in the 100 and 200 free.
She bounced back from a broken elbow early in the year to win silver in the 50 free at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and then reeled off a stunning double last summer in Paris with a sweep in the 50 and 100 free.
The Swede has also won 14 long course world titles during her career, including six straight in the 50 fly (2015-2024) and three straight in the 50 free (2022-2024), and currently owns world records in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 fly in long course (and previously held the 100 fly in LC and the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free and 100 fly in SC).
Trailing Sjostrom was the recently retired Katinka Hosszu, whose career resume we outlined in last week’s SwimSwam Pulse article.
Like Sjostrom, Hosszu had an extended reign of dominance primarily throughout the 2010s, though her Olympic success only came in 2016—to be fair, she would’ve been a favorite for two golds at the Tokyo Olympics if they went forward in 2020.
Hosszu earned 16.6% of votes, while the two male swimmers who exceeded 10% in the polls were Leon Marchand and Caeleb Dressel.
Marchand has had a short, but incredible, reign atop the sport. After placing 6th in the 400 IM at the Tokyo Olympics, he’s progressively become more dominant each year since, winning two world titles and one silver in 2022, claiming three world titles and breaking Phelps’ longstanding 400 IM world record in 2023, and then delivering one of the greatest Olympic performances of all-time with his individual four gold medals (and a relay bronze) at the 2024 Olympics on home soil in Paris.
Dressel kicked off his Olympic career with a pair of relay gold medals in Rio, and then he reeled off three dominant performances at the 2017 World Championships, 2019 World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics, winning a combined 18 gold medals between those three meets. That included individual golds in the men’s 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly each time out, and a 50 fly title in 2019 to boot.
Dressel won a pair of world titles in 2022 before ending his meet early, and he hasn’t returned to top form since, though he was getting close in 2024, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team and winning three relay medals, including two gold, which gives him nine total to tie for #2 all-time among all athletes behind Phelps’ 23.
Dressel also currently owns two world records in the men’s 100 fly (LC) and 100 IM (SC), and previously held SC marks in the 50 free and 100 fly as well.
From there, 12 other swimmers were featured in the poll, eight of whom earned at least 1% of the vote.
- Natalie Coughlin won 12 Olympic medals between the 2004 and 2012 Games, 11 of which came in Athens and Beijing. That included going back-to-back in the 100 back in 2004 and 2008, and she also won individual medals in the 100 free and 200 IM. She held world records in the LCM 100 back and the SCM 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly and 100 IM during her career.
- Kaylee McKeown swept the women’s 100 and 200 back at two straight Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and in 2023, became the first female swimmer to sweep the 50, 100 and 200 world titles in the same stroke in the backstroke events. She has nine career Olympic medals, including an individual bronze in the 200 IM, and currently holds the LCM 50 and 200 back world records, and previously held the LCM 100 back and SCM 100 and 200 back marks.
- Aaron Peirsol won five gold and seven Olympic medals from 2000 until 2008, including sweeping the men’s 100 and 200 back in 2004, and repeating in the 100 back in 2008. He also won four world titles in the 200 back from 2001 until 2009, only settling for silver in 2007, and claimed three straight 100 back gold medals at Worlds from 2003 until 2007. He currently owns the 200 back world record in LCM and previously held the 100 back record and the SCM 200 back mark.
- Grant Hackett won seven Olympic medals between 2000 and 2008, including repeating in the 1500 free in Athens after first winning on home turf in Sydney. He then won silver in Beijing. Hackett also won four straight world titles in the 1500 from 1998 to 2005, shattering the world record in 2001, and won back-to-back titles in the 800 free (2003/2005) and went wire-to-wire with titles in the 400, 800 and 1500 in 2005. He formerly held world records in the LC 200, 800 and 1500 free, and the SC 400, 800 and 1500.
- Laszlo Cseh was regarded as the second-best all-around male swimmer in the world for years during the Phelps era, winning six Olympic medals spanning from 2004 to 2016—four silver and two bronze. Phelps won gold in five of those races, and in the other, the 100 fly in 2016, the two tied for silver (with Chad le Clos). Cseh did win two world titles during his career, coming in the 400 IM (2005) and 200 fly (2015), and previously held world records in the 200 and 400 IM in SCM.
- Pieter van den Hoogenband won seven Olympic medals from 2000 until 2008, including upsetting Thorpe in the men’s 200 free at Sydney 2000. van den Hoogenband also went back-to-back at the Olympics in the 100 free in 2000 and 2004, and was the runner-up to Thorpe in the ‘Race of the Century’ in the Athens 200 free final. He curiously never won a LC world title, but did hold the world record in the LC 100 and 200 free during his career.
- Kosuke Kitajima won seven Olympic medals from 2004 to 2012, including completing the breaststroke double-double, winning the men’s 100 and 200 breast at the 2004 Games in Athens and then repeating in both races in 2008. He also helped propel Japan to three Olympic medals in the men’s medley relay, won three LC world titles, and held LC world records in the 100 and 200 breast during his career.
- Missy Franklin was the best female swimmer in the world from 2011 until 2013, winning 13 gold medals across the 2011 Worlds, 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds. That included a six gold medal haul at the 2013 Worlds, and claiming five medals at the London Olympics, including four golds and a sweep of the backstroke events. Franklin held world records in the LC and SC 200 back during her career, and although she continued to win medals at the 2015 Worlds (five medals, two individual) and 2016 Olympics (prelim relay), injury cut her career short.
We also saw nearly 2% vote for “other” in the poll—if that was you, let us know your pick in the comments below.
Also, if you’ve got any interesting poll questions you’d like to see in the future, let us know in the comments.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Who will be the most impactful midseason addition:
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Excuse me? I can’t find Adam Peaty??????????
So on the current poll; since Alex Walsh wasn’t taking classes or swimming at meets in the fall, isn’t she also a second semester addition? If so my vote is for other.
Someone to predict next quarter with the actual swimmers?
 😜
What’s the case for Lochte over Sjostrom?
If the big differential is relay medals then I really disagree with that for individual comparisons.
I’m not affiliated with SwimSwam, but when the poll was posted in the results for the previous poll on Hosszu, others brought up Lochte. I go into waaaaaay too much here: https://swimswam.com/swimswam-pulse-40-6-pick-rio-olympic-success-as-hosszus-biggest-achievement/#comment-1505299 . The Lochte argument really comes down to a peak vs longevity question and how much you value LC over SC. Sjostrom is the argument that would have kept him out but ultimately with how I value things since the question Swimmer, not Olympian, I gave some value to everything swam in meters. Incidentally I cover why I wouldn’t have Hosszu in my top 5. All based only on individual performances. Though I admit Ledecky gets some bonus points in my head for being the… Read more »
I didn’t vote in that poll because I couldn’t decide. For a majority of swimmers in that poll, there’s such a good argument for putting them in the top 5
Sjostrom thoroughly deserved this.
bit of recency bias in other votes.
Hackett >>> Dressel. Hackett did not lose a 1500 race for 10 years (and set WRs from 200 -1500 metres). He was unbelievably dominant. His 800 SC WR was only broken at the end of 2023 after 25 years?
Recency bias + Nationality favoring Americans.
For example,
I’d pick Kaylee McKeown over Nathalie Coughlin
Her individual Olympics results is better Coughlin’s (4 gold 1 bronze to 2 gold 3 bronze)
Kaylee also broke World Records in 5 individual events, many more than Coughlin. She is also the third fastest swimmer ever in her fifth event (400 IM)
Coughlin also broke 5 different individual WRs: 1bk lc plus 4 in sc – 1&2BK, 1 fly, 1im – though of course sc records were nowhere near the standard of lc ones at the time so agree that McKeown is more impressive.
Yana Klochkova should definitely be in this list – got to be one of the most underrated swimmers in history
Did Yana Klochkova ever break WR?
Yes: 400IM LC and SC: they lasted 6-7 years. And as far as I can tell her she had the 2nd-fastest LC 200IM after a swimmer who was banned for doping.
Yes, she broke the 400 IM WR in both LCM (2000 Olympic Games) and SCM (2002 World Cup). Both by over a second. SCM had stood for almost a decade before she broke it.
Maybe controversial, but I would personally not pencil in Lochte in the top 4 (and likely not top 5), certainly not above Sjostrom as he has fewer individual Olympic and World LC medals and far fewer WRs. There’s actually a quite a few people on the list who beat Lochte on one or multiple of those achievements. Thorpe, while an icon, really only covers 4 of his 5 big years within the time-frame, and one could even say his position in top 5 is debatable (someone like Hozzsu has been much more “present” with Thorpe being retired for 20/25 years in the list). It’s obvious to me that relays shouldn’t count (due to country bias), and that SCM is heavily… Read more »
I disliked ur comment for ur Thorpe take. In this century made an Olympic podium in the 100 free and broke COUNTLESS WRs in the 200, 400 and even 800. He had freestyle in a chokehold. And if you look past Paul in that plastic suit by 0.01, he would still own the WR coming up to 3 decades later.
I’m not meaning to devalue Thorpe ofc and I do believe he’s top 5. I just thought it was interesting to see Sjostrom as a “choice” while Thorpe was in, despite Thorpe breaking 8 WRs LCM from 2000 onwards compared to Sjostrom’s 9, his 6 WC LCM golds compared to 14 for Sjostrom, and Sjostrom having 1 more Olympic medal individually. Thorpe’s 400 WR was insane, but Sarah may well achieve similar longevity with her 50 fly given she’s still got 0.6 on the next best ever. I understand Thorpe’s 2001 was incredible, but someone like Sarah never got that opportunity.
I do agree my argument for Lochte may be well stronger, maybe I should’ve left Thorpedo alone (again,… Read more »
Wind assisted 50 fly…
Thorpe 2001 Fukuoka:
100 free 4th
200 free 🥇WR
400 free 🥇 WR
800 free 🥇 WR
4×100 free 🥇
4×200 free 🥇 WR
4×100 medley 🥇
Thorpe is also the only male swimmer ever to medal in 100-200-400 free in a single Olympics
I agree that relays and SCM should be ignored but as mentioned by others Thorpe really is in the top four without a doubt and Lochte held the 400 IM textile record for 10 years and holds the 200 Back textile record for 13 years and counting. Then on top of that is the 200 IM WR.
You couldn’t be more wrong about Thorpe. He’s clear number two after Phelps. Funnily enough as the Phelps hype was building into Athens I dismissed it and said to myself that I’d already seen Thorpe the best swimmer of all time.
IDK fam, I think Thorpe at #2 is a valid take, but saying CLEARLY #2 ahead of Ledecky feels like an exaggeration to me.
Thorpe can never be ahead of Ledecky.
Just to stir the pot…when considering Ledecky, it might be worth examining how many strong competitors she faces(ed) in LCM distance events. Just looking at every meet I attend, there’s way more competition in the field at 50, 100, 200 free and even at 400 vs 800 & 1500. While she clearly has dominated the latter 2 distances for 15+ years, there might be a case for how many young swimmers end up focusing on distance free vs 50, 100, 200. I’d bet it’s 4:1 or more. So, are there as many talented swimmers who could challenge her- no.
That being said, 100% she deserves to be in the top 5 of this poll.
Grimes will certainly have a big impact, but not on the final team standings. Guiliano will have a big impact on team standings, but probably not the record book. So, I think it comes down to voters’ personal criteria.
Is this comment on the right article?
yes, it’s about the next poll