Kosuke Kitajima
Sarah Sjostrom
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Sarah Sjostrom leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Kosuke Kitajima at #8 and Sarah Sjostrom at #11.
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The case for Kosuke Kitajima
The greatest breaststroker of his era and a Japanese national icon. Kitajima achieved a feat no other man has managed, winning both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at two consecutive Olympics, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, a breaststroke double-double, for four individual golds and seven Olympic medals overall. He set multiple world records in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and won world-championship titles across the 2000s. Famous for his aggressive, powerful pull-out and racing intensity, Kitajima's Athens victory came amid a controversy over an illegal underwater dolphin kick that helped prompt the 2005 rule change legalising a single kick in the pull-down. He defined breaststroke for a decade before Adam Peaty raised the event to another level.
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.