Swimming: America’s Forgotten Sport
By Kate Perschke
February 26, 2020
Check out the interactive chart above that shows the top 10 medal leaders in Olympic swimming. The top three ranked athletes are Michael Phelps (USA) with 28 Olympic medals, Jenny Thompson (USA) with 12 Olympic medals, and Ryan Lochte (USA) with 12 Olympic medals.
Since the birth of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, competitive swimming has been a sport only the most physically and mentally fit competitors can handle. There have been 28 Summer Olympic Games in 23 cities across the world. The Summer Games have occurred every four years, with the exception of the years 1916, 1940, and 1944 because of major conflicts due to World War I and II.
Today, swimming continues to be a sport that is dominated by the United States on a global scale, despite being fairly unpopular domestically. According to USA Swimming membership data, 2017 had the highest reported amount of American swimmers at 418,956. Comparatively, in 2017 about 5.22 million Americans over the age of 6 played tackle football. Even with the high intensity stakes and engaging races found in competitive swimming, sports such as football and baseball take the limelight among American sports fans and athletes.
The United States of America tends to claim international victory in swimming despite being a forgotten sport domestically. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals, holding the record of most gold medals in the sport until 2008. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps broke Spitz’s record by winning eight gold medals. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, earning 28 medals from four Olympic Games.
According to Sports Reference Olympic Sports, the United States has claimed 553 medals in swimming, with 248 gold, 170 silver, and 135 bronze medals. Of the top 26 athlete medal leaders in Olympic swimming, 53.8% are USA athletes, rankings one through eight all being Americans. Following the United States is Australia, with 15.3% of its swimmers ranking in the top 26.
Additionally, Sports Reference Olympic Sports reports swimming has the second most participants in an Olympic sport by United States athletes, having 710 swimmers since 1896. The most participants in an Olympic sport by United States athletes is athletics, with 1,904 participants since 1896. Athletics has claimed 819 medals for the United States, only 266 more medals than swimming.
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo, Japan.
Update: The 2020 Summer Olympic Games were cancelled on March 24 due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.