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. Mark Spitz (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 66.19, Mark Spitz is the most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 63 different languages on wikipedia.

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.

2. Michael Phelps (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 63.78, Michael Phelps is the 2nd most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 96 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.

3. Gertrude Ederle (1905 - 2003)

With an HPI of 61.96, Gertrude Ederle is the 3rd most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

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".

4. Amedee Reyburn (1889 - 1920)

With an HPI of 61.66, Amedee Reyburn is the 4th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Amedee Valle Reyburn, Jr. (March 25, 1879 – February 10, 1920) was an American freestyle swimmer and water polo player who won two bronze medals in the 1904 Summer Olympics in his native St. Louis. He played football for Washington University, and by 1905 served as an executive and part owner of the Westminster Automobile Company of St. Louis. A flying enthusiast in the early years of aviation, he participated in a North American coast-to-coast trans-continental flight competition in 1911 that ended in Los Angeles. Amedee Valle Reyburn, Jr. was born on March 25, 1879 in St. Louis, Missouri to Henrietta Patterson Reyburn and Amedee Valle Reyburn Senior, who worked as a Manager at the Merchantile Trust Company of St. Louis. Reyburn Jr. attended Washington University where he played tackle on their football team for two seasons. Around 1900, Reyburn Jr. trained and competed in swimming as a member of the Missouri Athletic Club, and by 1903 played on their water polo team. In April, 1903, he suffered from an appendicitis, but recovered. Alex Meffert was the swimming director for the Missouri Athletic Club and coached and trained the club's swimmers and water polo players who attended the 1904 Olympics. Meffert advocated a traditional crawl stroke, with the body aligned parallel to the bottom of the pool, and a single breath taken after a left and right arm stroke cycle. He did not strongly advocate more than a single two-beat kick per stroke cycle. While he worked with the members of the New York Athletic Club before the Olympics in July and part of August, 1904, the Missouri Club was trained by Assistant Coach and Instructor Pete Rodgers, and team Captain Billy Orthwein, a Yale graduate and future lawyer. Meffert had been the regular coach, and returned to train the Missouri club's swimmers and water polo players in late August.

5. Duke Kahanamoku (1890 - 1968)

With an HPI of 61.20, Duke Kahanamoku is the 5th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized 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.

6. Jimmy McLane (1930 - 2020)

With an HPI of 59.91, Jimmy McLane is the 6th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 21 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.

7. Aileen Riggin (1906 - 2002)

With an HPI of 59.38, Aileen Riggin is the 7th most famous American Swimmer. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Aileen Muriel Riggin (May 2, 1906 – October 17, 2002), also known by her married name Aileen Soule (also Aileen Riggin Soule), was an American competition swimmer and diver. She was Olympic champion in springboard diving in 1920 and U.S. national springboard diving champion from 1923 to 1925. After retiring from competitions, she enjoyed a long and varied career in acting, coaching, writing and journalism. She was a swimming celebrity in Hawaii and the United States and an active ambassador of women's swimming well into old age.

8. George Kojac (1910 - 1996)

With an HPI of 57.13, George Kojac is the 8th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

George Harold Kojac (March 2, 1910 – May 28, 1996) was an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. Kojac represented the United States at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. As a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, he received a gold medal. Kojac and teammates Austin Clapp, Walter Laufer and Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record of 9:36.2 in the event final. Individually, he won another gold medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke with a second world record time of 1:08.2. He also finished fourth in the men's 100-meter freestyle in 1:00.8. Kojac was born to Ukrainian immigrants. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, and learned to swim in the East River in New York. In 1931 he graduated from the Rutgers University and missed the 1932 Olympics because of his studies at Columbia Medical School. During his swimming career Kojac set 23 world records. In 1968 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

9. Ken Walsh (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 57.06, Ken Walsh is the 9th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Kenneth Marshall Walsh (born February 11, 1945) is an American former competition swimmer for Michigan State University, a two-time 1968 Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder in three events.

10. Charles Daniels (1885 - 1973)

With an HPI of 56.87, Charles Daniels is the 10th most famous American Swimmer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Charles Meldrum Daniels (March 24, 1885 – August 9, 1973) was an American competition swimmer, eight-time Olympic medalist, and world record-holder in two freestyle swimming events. Daniels was an innovator of the front crawl swimming style, helping to develop the "American crawl". Daniels was born in Dayton, Ohio on March 24, 1885, to Thomas Porter Daniels and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Alice Meldrum Daniels, daughter of a dry goods store owner. He attended Dwight Prep school in New York City where he was captain of the school's basketball team, did the high jump, and ran the mile and half mile with the track team. Familiar with strong swimming, Charles's father Thomas often swam a half mile out to sea when the family vacationed in Long Island.

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 Ken Walsh. The most famous deceased American swimmers include Gertrude Ederle, Amedee Reyburn, and Duke Kahanamoku. As of April 2024, 125 new American swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Amedee Reyburn, Ken Walsh, and Edgar Adams.