Adam Peaty
Ryan Lochte
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Ryan Lochte leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Adam Peaty at #9 and Ryan Lochte at #12.
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The case for Adam Peaty
The most dominant single-event swimmer of the modern era. Peaty transformed the 100m breaststroke, becoming the only man ever to break 57 seconds and setting the world record at 56.88 in 2019, a mark far ahead of the rest of history. He won Olympic gold in the 100m breaststroke at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, plus a mixed-relay gold, for three Olympic golds, and collected around eight world-championship titles. His 'Project 56' target became a byword for pushing a barrier thought unreachable. Between 2014 and 2021 he was undefeated in the 100m breaststroke at every major final, a streak of dominance rare in any sport. His combination of stroke rate and power rewrote what the event could be.
The case for Ryan Lochte
Phelps's great rival and, on his day, the only man who could beat him. Lochte won six Olympic gold medals and 12 Olympic medals overall across four Games, specialising in the individual medley and backstroke, and set world records in the 200m IM (1:54.00) and 200m backstroke. He was one of the most decorated swimmers in World Championship history, with 27 medals across long-course and short-course events, a testament to his range and durability. Fearsomely versatile, he pushed Phelps in the 200m and 400m IM and the 200m backstroke throughout their careers, often forcing world-record swims. A dominant medley racer whose reputation off the pool was later dented, Lochte's competitive record places him firmly among the greats.