Dawn Fraser
Sarah Sjostrom
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Dawn Fraser leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Dawn Fraser at #5 and Sarah Sjostrom at #11.
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The case for Dawn Fraser
The pioneering queen of sprint freestyle and one of the toughest competitors in the sport's history. Fraser became the first swimmer, male or female, to win the same event at three consecutive Olympics, taking the 100m freestyle at Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964. In 1962 she became the first woman to break 60 seconds for the 100m freestyle, and she set 27 individual world records across her career. She won eight Olympic medals (four gold, four silver) in an amateur era before the World Championships existed. Fierce and unruly, she was controversially banned for ten years after a flag-stealing prank in Tokyo, cutting short a career that might otherwise have yielded even more. Her three-in-a-row remains a landmark of durability.
The case for Sarah Sjostrom
The finest sprint and butterfly swimmer Europe has produced and a model of longevity. Sjostrom won the 100m butterfly at Rio 2016 in a world-record 55.48 that still stands, then reinvented herself as a freestyle sprinter, winning both the 50m and 100m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympics after an elbow injury that nearly ended her career. She has claimed three Olympic golds and around seven medals overall, together with roughly eight world-championship titles and world records in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle. First reaching a major final as a teenager in 2008 and still winning golds sixteen years later, Sjostrom's blend of explosive speed and career durability across two distinct specialties is almost unique in the sport.