Alexander Popov
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 Alexander Popov at #7 and Ryan Lochte at #12.
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The case for Alexander Popov
The 'Russian Rocket', the greatest pure sprint freestyler of the 1990s and a technician of legendary smoothness. Popov won the 50m and 100m freestyle at back-to-back Olympics, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, four individual golds and nine Olympic medals in total, along with around six world-championship titles across a long career. Remarkably, he was stabbed in a Moscow street incident in 1996 yet returned to competition and set a 50m freestyle world record of 21.64 in 2000. Coached by Gennadi Touretski, Popov swam with a famously long, relaxed stroke that let him dominate the sprints for a decade, and he remained competitive into his early thirties, an unusual feat for a sprinter, winning world titles in 2003.
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.