Caeleb Dressel
Katinka Hosszu
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Caeleb Dressel leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Caeleb Dressel at #6 and Katinka Hosszu at #10.
The case for Caeleb Dressel
The sprint-butterfly heir to Phelps and one of the most explosive swimmers ever. Dressel won eight Olympic gold medals through Paris 2024, including a five-gold haul at Tokyo 2020 across the 50m and 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and both American relays. He holds the 100m butterfly world record (49.45) and has been part of numerous world-record relays. At the 2017 Budapest World Championships he matched a single-meet record with seven gold medals, and across his career he has accumulated around 15 world-championship titles. Renowned for enormous power, a ferocious start and underwater speed, Dressel is the defining sprinter of the textile-suit era, though a mental-health break and a tougher Paris meet showed the toll of racing at the extreme.
The case for Katinka Hosszu
The 'Iron Lady', the most prolific racer of her generation and the queen of the individual medley. Hosszu won three gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics, in the 200m IM, 400m IM and 100m backstroke, and set world records in the 200m IM (2:06.12) and 400m IM (4:26.36) that showcased her all-round mastery. She amassed around nine world-championship titles and built an unprecedented career on the World Cup circuit, racing dozens of events per season for prize money and points, hence her nickname. Where most stars pick a lane, Hosszu contested every stroke and distance, and her medley dominance across the 2010s, combining butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle at the highest level, made her one of the most versatile swimmers ever.