The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from United States

This page contains a list of the greatest American Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 263 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the most number of Swimmers.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Swimmers of all time. This list of famous American Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Swimmers.

1. Gertrude Ederle (1905 - 2003)

With an HPI of 69.83, Gertrude Ederle is the most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

Gertrude Caroline Ederle (; October 23, 1905 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Among other nicknames, the press called her "Queen of the Waves".

2. Mark Spitz (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 66.86, Mark Spitz is the 2nd most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time. This achievement set a record that lasted for 36 years, until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Phelps, like Spitz, set seven world records. Between 1968 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic golds, a silver, and a bronze, in addition to five Pan American golds, 31 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) titles, and eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles. During those years he set 35 world records, two of which were in trials and unofficial. Swimming World Magazine named him World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He was the third athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals.

3. Michael Phelps (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 63.94, Michael Phelps is the 3rd most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 98 different languages.

Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games, held by gymnast Alexander Dityatin, by winning six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row. Phelps is a former long course world record holder in the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, and 400-meter individual medley. He has won 82 medals in major international long course competitions, of which 65 were gold, 14 silver, and three bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps's international titles and record-breaking performances have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award eight times and American Swimmer of the Year Award eleven times, as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2012 and 2016. Phelps earned Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award due to his unprecedented Olympic success in the 2008 Games. After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael Phelps Foundation, which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. Phelps retired following the 2012 Olympics, but he made a comeback in April 2014. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, his fifth Olympics, he was selected by his team to be the flag bearer of the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. He announced his second retirement on August 12, 2016, having won more medals than 161 countries. He won the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award in 2017. He is widely regarded as the greatest swimmer of all time and is often considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time.

4. Mike Troy (1940 - 2019)

With an HPI of 63.14, Mike Troy is the 4th most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Michael Francis Troy (October 3, 1940 – August 3, 2019) was an American competitive swimmer, a two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder in three events. The peak of Troy's swimming career occurred between 1959 and 1960 while he was coached by Doc Counsilman of the Indiana Hoosiers swimming and diving team at Indiana University. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he won his first gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Individually, he won a second gold with his first-place finish in the men's 200-meter butterfly—his signature event. Troy broke the world record in the 200-meter butterfly six consecutive times before it was taken over by fellow American swimmer Carl Robie in 1961. In 1971 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. After college, Troy entered active duty with the United States Navy on February 15, 1964, and completed Officer Candidate School. Troy was commissioned as an Ensign and volunteered for Underwater Demolition Training, now known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. After months of grueling training, Troy graduated with BUD/S class 33 in December 1964. Troy received assignment to Underwater Demolition Team ELEVEN (UDT-11) and later deployed with his team to South Vietnam in 1966. He was recommended for the numerous awards for his combat service during the Vietnam War. Troy resigned from active duty on February 28, 1969. After leaving military service Troy settled in the San Diego area where he worked as a real estate agent and swimming coach. His trainees included Mike Stamm. At the time of his death in 2019 Troy was co-owner of the Gold Medal Swim School in Chandler, Arizona, with two time Olympic coach Mike Walker. Troy served as Chairman of the International Section of the Olympic Committee and Vice President of the American Swimming Coaches Association. Troy was the National Director of the USA Paralympic Swimming Team. He accompanied the team to Athens, Greece in September 2004 where the U.S. Paralympic team won numerous medals. Troy died on August 3, 2019, in Arizona at the age of 78.

5. Jimmy McLane (1930 - 2020)

With an HPI of 62.24, Jimmy McLane is the 5th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

James Price McLane Jr. (September 13, 1930 – December 13, 2020) was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and a world record-holder.

6. Duke Kahanamoku (1890 - 1968)

With an HPI of 61.66, Duke Kahanamoku is the 6th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer, lifeguard, and popularizer of the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born three years before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He lived to see the territory's admission as a state and became a United States citizen. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming, winning medals in 1912, 1920 and 1924. Kahanamoku joined fraternal organizations: he was a Scottish Rite Freemason in the Honolulu lodge, and a Shriner. He worked as a law enforcement officer, an actor, a beach volleyball player, and a businessman.

7. Charlie Hickcox (1947 - 2010)

With an HPI of 61.49, Charlie Hickcox is the 7th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Charles Buchanan Hickcox (February 6, 1947 – June 14, 2010) was an American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in six events.

8. Wally Ris (1924 - 1989)

With an HPI of 60.48, Wally Ris is the 8th most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Walter Steven Ris (January 4, 1924 – December 25, 1989) was an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and world record-holder. Ris won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He received his first gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and set a new world record of 8:46.0 with American teammates Jimmy McLane, Wally Wolf, and Bill Smith. At the US Olympic trials of the 1948 4x200-meter freestyle relay, several swimmers who had already qualified in other events slowed down in their heats or swam fast in the prelims and scratched themselves for the final to allow more swimmers to qualify for the US Olympic Team. Ultimately, coach Robert Kiphuth did hold a time trial shortly after the actual trials with eleven of the swimmers. This time trial had Jimmy McLane as first overall with a time of 2:11.0, Bill Smith and Wally Wolf in 2:11.2, and Wally Ris in 2:12.4. This quartet was used for the Olympic final. The next four-Eugene Rogers in 2:14.2, Edwin Gilbert in 2:15.4, Robert Gibe in 2:15.6, and William Dudley in 2:15.9, were used in the Olympic prelims. The next three swimmers-Joe Verdeur who came in 2:16.3, Alan Ford in 2;16.4 and George Hoogerhyde in 2:17.4 were not used in any capacity in the 4x200 freestyle relay. In individual competition, he won a second gold in the men's 100-meter freestyle (57.3), finishing a half-second ahead of U.S. teammate Alan Ford (57.8). Ris was a star swimmer at Crane Technical High in Chicago. He then attended the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Iowa Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and swam for the Iowa Hawkeyes swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Big Ten Conference competition from 1947 to 1949. He was the NCAA national champion in the 100-yard freestyle in 1948 and 1949. Ris was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 1966. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Mission Viejo, California.

9. Doug Russell (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 60.04, Doug Russell is the 9th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Douglas Albert Russell (born February 20, 1946) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three different events.

10. Carolyn Schuler (1943 - 2024)

With an HPI of 60.02, Carolyn Schuler is the 10th most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Carolyn Jane Schuler (January 5, 1943 – July 22, 2024), also known by her married name Carolyn Schuler Jones, was an American competition swimmer, a 1960 Rome Olympic gold medalist in both the 100-meter butterfly and the 4x100-meter medley, and a one-time world record-holder. Schuler began swimming competitively at the age of 13 and was not recognized in her youth as an outstanding competitor. During most of her competitive career prior to the Olympics, she had rarely won an individual National championship. At a high point in her early career, she was a member of an AAU National Championship team for the Berkeley YMCA, that captured the national AAU medley championship with only a five member team. Showing dominance, they established a new American record for the medley relay at nationals, though Schuler still would hold few if any individual championships in her early career. Swimming for the Berkeley YMCA in the National Jr. Girls championship, Schuler was part of a medley relay team consisting of Sylvia Ruuska, Mary Lou Elsenius, and Patricia Ruuska that won the 4x100-yard medley relay event in 4:44.8 at the Fresno State College Pool on March 8, 1958. A Berkeley Y team including Schuler, Sylvia and Patricia Ruuska and Ann Bancroft set the National record in the 440-yard freestyle relay with a 4:29.0 in July, 1959, breaking the record of 4:36 set in 1957 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. At the Far Western Swim Meet in San Francisco, in late August, 1959, she set a world record of 2:38.1 in the 200-meter butterfly, gaining national attention, and beginning speculation about a possible place on the Olympic team the following year.

People

Pantheon has 263 people classified as American swimmers born between 1868 and 2007. Of these 263, 207 (78.71%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American swimmers include Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, and Doug Russell. The most famous deceased American swimmers include Gertrude Ederle, Mike Troy, and Jimmy McLane. As of April 2024, 263 new American swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Gertrude Ederle, Mark Spitz, and Michael Phelps.