The fastest swimmer, the most decorated Olympic athlete, the greatest athlete of all time. And all this is one person - American Michael Phelps. At the moment, he has 28 Olympic medals (an absolute record), of which 23 are gold and 37 world records, 7 of which have not yet been broken. If on land, then on water it is definitely Phelps.

Who is he - the fastest swimmer

Michael Phelps was born in 1985 in Baltimore. He started swimming at the age of 7. This was facilitated by his unusual build. Disproportionately short legs and an elongated torso, long arms, and large feet are an ideal combination for swimmers. In the full-length photo of Phelps, you can appreciate the structure of his body.

Already as a child, at the age of 10, Michael Phelps set a national record in his age group. At the age of 15, he competed in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Thus, he became the youngest Olympian among swimmers in the last 68 years. Phelps did not make it into the top three at that Olympics and took 5th place. He was 0.33 seconds short of 3rd place.

But the very next year, at the World Championships, he set a world record in the 200-meter butterfly.

At the age of 15 years and 9 months, Phelps becomes the youngest athlete to set a world record in swimming.

The next 4 Olympics brought Michael Phelps 23 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. The Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 were especially successful for him. Phelps won at all distances at which he started, which allowed him to win 8 gold medals at once.

After completing the games in Rio de Janeiro 2016, he announced his retirement.

Interesting facts about Michael Phelps:

• has the nicknames "Baltimore Bullet" and "Flying Fish";
• height 193 cm, weight 88 kg;
• The daily food intake contains 10,000 Kcal, the so-called. "Phelps diet";
• 9 times recognized as the best swimmer of the year in the USA and 7 times in the world;
• absolute leader in swimming records;
• all of his world and Olympic records were set before 2008;
• in 2012, at the London Olympics, he broke the record for the number of all medals (22) in all sports, which stood for 48 years and belonged to our gymnast Larisa Latynina (18 medals);
• if Phelps had competed for himself as a separate country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he would have taken 10th place in the official standings, thereby ahead of 177 participating countries;
• has a foot size of 47, an arm span of 203 cm, which is 10 cm more than his own height.

Phelps' incredible and rare size for the average person is practically the norm for top swimmers. Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe, with a height of 196 cm, could boast of a similar parameter of the lower extremities. Our famous Olympian Alexander Popov, who dominated swimming in the mid-90s, was 2 meters tall and wore size 48 shoes.

Baltimore Bullet and other Olympic champions

Reading about Phelps' achievements, people far from sports will not quite understand how cool he is. Well, yes, there are many medals, many records, but he is not the only one who shows outstanding results in sports. There are many great athletes in the world who also set and are setting records.

If an athlete wins Olympic gold, then he is already a hero in his country. If 2 gold - twice a hero. Well, if it’s 3, then he’s incredibly cool and one of the world’s elite.

In the entire recent history of the Olympic Games, we have 333 athletes who have won Olympic gold 3 times.

• There are already only 152 athletes who are 4-time Olympic champions;
• 5 athletes have 7 gold medals each;
• 8 gold from 7 athletes;
• Only 5 Olympians have won 9 gold medals.

How much does Phelps earn?

Being the most decorated athlete who has set many world and Olympic records, the “Baltimore Bullet” cannot boast of the same outstanding income. We can say they are quite modest for an athlete of this level. Swimming itself is not the most profitable sport. In America, the swimming federation pays athletes in the TOP 16 a stipend of $3,000. And of course the prize money, from 3 to 75,000 dollars.

If you are interested in famous Russian swimming athletes, then in this article we will talk about the great Russian swimmers for 2018.

Swimming is an Olympic sport that has brought fame and recognition to many Russian swimmers.

Famous Russian women swimmers

Ilchenko Larisa

Larisa is an Olympic champion, multiple Russian champion and 8-time world champion. Sportswoman of the CSKA team. For three years in a row, 2006, 2007, 2008, she was recognized as the best open water swimmer, and in 2010 she was recognized as the best open water swimmer of the first decade of the 21st century. She became a gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics (2008). In 2006 she received the title of Honored Master of Sports of Russia.

In total he has 12 medals:

• 10 gold
• 1 silver
• 1 bronze

Awards of Larisa Ilchenko:

• Order of Friendship

Yulia Efimova

Yulia Efimova is an Honored Master of Sports of Russia. At 25, she is already a 3-time Olympic medalist, 5-time world champion and 3-time European champion. He goes to competitions as a representative from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). She took part in the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016). In London she took third place in the 200m breaststroke, but already in 2016 she won two silver medals for the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

The total number of Julia's medals is 30:

• 15 gold
• 10 silver
• 5 bronze

Julia has many awards:

• "Silver Doe"
• Order of Friendship
• Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree
• Honored Master of Sports of Russia
• Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation

Famous Russian male swimmers

Popov Alexander

Popov Alexander is one of the best world-class swimmers and the most famous swimmer in Russia. He is a 4-time Olympic champion, 21-time European champion and 6-time world champion. Record holder among Russian Olympic swimmers in the number of gold medals.

He took part in the Olympic Games in Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004). In Barcelona, ​​he received two gold medals for the 50 and 100 m freestyle and two silver medals for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and the 4 × 100 m medley relay.

He received two more gold and two silver medals in Atlanta, all for the same types of swimming. He won his last Olympic medal (silver) in Sydney in the 100m freestyle.

In total, Popov has 47 medals:

• 31 gold
• 11 silver
• 5 bronze

Alexander's awards:

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree
• Order of Friendship
• Honored Master of Sports of the USSR

Vladimir Morozov

Vladimir Morozov is an Honored Master of Sports of Russia, an Olympic bronze medalist, and a multiple European and world champion in short course. He plays for CSKA. At the London Olympics (2012) he received bronze in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. On top of that, Vladimir is the first athlete in the history of Russian swimming to win the World Cup!

The number of medals Vladimir currently has is 42:

• 21 gold
• 15 silver
• 6 bronze

Without a doubt, these people are the best swimmers in Russia of the last decade, because all these Russian swimmers are Olympic champions, world and European champions. Each of them made titanic efforts to become the best swimmers not only in Russia, but also in the world.

Michael Phelps continues to move toward canonization. The unstoppable American swimmer became the most titled Olympian in the history of planet Earth, breaking a 2,000-year-old record. The 13th gold medal in individual Olympic competitions - the athlete has 22 in total - surpassed the achievements of the ancient Greek athlete Leonidas of Rhodes, who won 12 times at four Olympics. Lenta.ru opens a history textbook and writes the name of an American swimmer into it.

BC

If Michael Phelps had lived 2,168 years ago, he would have had a worthy contender in the race to become the most decorated Olympic athlete. The ancient Greek runner Leonidas of Rhodes was unbeatable from 164 to 152 BC. The athlete excelled in such disciplines as running (200 meters), double running (400 meters) and hoplithodrome. The athletes entered the last race dressed in a combat helmet, armor, shin guards, and with a bronze shield in their hands. The competitions took place in any weather, so sometimes athletes in combat armor competed in 40-degree heat.

In the entire history of the ancient world, only seven athletes managed to win three types of competition at one Olympics. Leonid is the only one who managed to do this more than once. The ancient Greek athlete won his last gold medals at the age of 36. There is very little biographical information left about Leonid of Rhodes; history has not preserved his lifetime image. Nevertheless, his achievements are not forgotten. The greatness of the athlete is evidenced by the fact that the signature on his statue on the island of Rhodes read: “He was fast as God.”

our era

It is unlikely that Michael Phelps was thinking about Leonid Rhodessky when he entered the 200-meter medley final. The swimmer, who at that time had a dozen gold medals in individual competitions, emerged from the pool after 1 minute 54.66 seconds as the most titled athlete in Olympic history. By the way, the American swam a little faster at a similar distance in Beijing 2008 (by 0.43 seconds). However, this did not prevent Phelps from leaving behind Japanese Kosuke Hagino (1:56.61) and Chinese Wang Shun (1:57.05).

After the swim, the athlete said that everything he dreamed of was now happening to him in reality. “Even as a child, I wanted to do something that no one had ever done before. And I'm enjoying what's happening now," Phelps said. At the end of the Rio Olympics, the American promised to retire from the sport.

As a child, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In order to direct the irrepressible energy of a seven-year-old child in the right direction, in 1992 his parents sent him to the swimming section. Already at the age of 15, he went to his first Olympics in Sydney 2000 and became the youngest swimmer called up to the banner of the US team at the Olympic Games in the last 70 years. He left there without medals, but Phelps came to the next games in Athens to become a king. 24 years after he first entered the pool, Michael has achieved everything he could have wanted in the sport.

There are two more swims ahead of us, in which Phelps will take part. “It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago I was just learning to swim, and in the next 48 hours my career will end,” said Michael. The 100-meter butterfly and the 4x100-meter medley relay in two days can take an American swimmer to the heights of the ancient Greek Olympus.

Now his hypothetical loss seems incredible. American commentator from CBS TV channel Elliott Friedman almost went crazy, noting Ryan Lochte's supposed victory in this race. Phelps and Lochte were swimming in adjacent lanes, and Friedman confused them, for which he was later forced to publicly apologize.

Phelps attracted and continues to attract a lot of attention. After the Games in London, he was already planning to retire, which he announced at a press conference that attracted a crowd of journalists. In 2014, he suddenly missed the pool and decided to return to the sport. We know what happened next. His heart was broken by the very fact of the participation of Russian athlete Yulia Efimova in this Olympics, who was twice caught for doping, although he himself was once seen smoking marijuana.

And if Leonid of Rhodes has a statue with the signature discussed above, then recognition of Phelps’s merits not only in the sports world, but also in everyday life can serve as a rating from GQ magazine “50 people and phenomena that made the 21st century what it is.” “Yes”: the American took 14th place on this list.

Thanks to Phelps, sports journalists around the world remembered the name of the great athlete of antiquity. Perhaps in a couple of thousand years (if the Olympic movement survives that long), the world will know about the athlete who broke the record of “the great swimmer of ancient times, Michael Phelps, who was fast as the devil.”

The history of world sports, meanwhile, shows that in various types of swimming, Russians at the Olympics and world championships of recent decades have won significantly more medals, including the highest medals, than in hockey and football. It’s not a sin to remember many of the heroes of these competitions, Russian swimmers, by name.

Top seven famous swimmers of Russia

It makes no sense to rank these champions solely based on the number of awards they have won. All of them deserve to be at the head of this specific rating, and therefore in this case we will not even try to draw up some kind of table of ranks.

• Whatever happens in the future, the name of Larisa Ilchenko is already forever inscribed in the annals of world swimming. It was this Russian woman who, at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, became the first Olympic champion in open water competitions, which were included in the program for the first time. Both before and after this, Ilchenko had no equal at eight world championships. Such a “golden” collection can be the envy of athletes of any sport.
• Vladimir Salnikov, who broke all sorts of records at various freestyle distances, has four gold medals at the Games and won the world championships the same number of times. About one of his last triumphs at the Olympics in Seoul, in the 1500-meter race, when he turned 28, Salnikov himself said that he overcame the last meters solely through willpower. And he proved that will is also an important factor in ultimate success.
• Another freestyle swimmer, Alexander Popov, took up the baton from Salnikov. The games in Barcelona and Atlanta allowed him to bring his collection of gold medals to four, and there were also the same number of silver awards. The medal harvest continued at the world championships: six medals of the highest standard at distances of 50 and 100 meters.
• Among the cohort of great Russian swimmers is the name of Denis Pankratov, a butterfly specialist. Twice he left his opponents behind in the 100 and 200 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and another time he became world champion. For his ability to cover a significant part of the distance under water after the start, Denis received the nickname “Russian submarine” from journalists.
• Another Russian freestyle swimmer, Evgeniy Sadovy, made his mark at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he added the same medal in the 4x200 relay to the gold in the 200 and 400 meters. Who knows how many more awards Sadovy could have won if it had not been for the health problems that arose. He retired when he was only 23 years old.
• Among Russian swimmers, one cannot help but remember Yulia Efimova, an athlete with a very difficult fate. She was not yet destined to become an Olympic champion, but two silver medals in breaststroke at the 2016 Games in Brazil are a very worthy result. To this we add five more gold medals at world championships in different years. It could have been more, but in May 2014 Efimova was disqualified for a year and a half because her doping test gave a positive result for prohibited substances. The swimmer’s explanations were not taken into account, but, returning to competitive practice, Efimova became the world champion in the 100-meter dash in Kazan a few months later.
• Evgeny Korotyshkin also does not have a top-ranking Olympic medal in his collection, but he does have a silver medal from London 2012 in the 100-meter butterfly. But at the World Short Course Championships there is more than enough gold: three such awards. He set world records several times and was also a captain in the country's swimming team.

There is still something to strive for

The younger generation of Russian swimmers has someone to look up to, and not only in their own country. There are some Olympic swimming champions whose results are unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future.

And here at an unattainable height is the American Michael Phelps, nicknamed the “flying fish” for his achievements: Phelps has 23 gold medals at the Games in different years. Add to this another 26 top medals at the world championships, and it is easy to assume that this swimmer does not have enough space at home to display the numerous awards he has won during his career.

It is impossible not to note another unique achievement of Phelps: he broke records and won in three disciplines at once - freestyle, butterfly and medley swimming. It’s not for nothing that fellow residents of Baltimore insisted that one of the city streets bear Phelps’ name.

Mark Spitz is another American who preceded Phelps in setting many records. Mark was the first swimmer to win seven gold medals during a competitive program at the Games in 1972. Only 36 years later this achievement was surpassed by the same Phelps. Mark could have had even more awards, but he decided to leave the sport in the prime of his life - at 22 years old. This decision was influenced by the terrorist attack during the Munich Olympics, which killed more than a dozen participants.

And finally, the name of Australian Ian Thorpe is on the list of the best swimmers in the world. He became famous not only for his achievements in middle-distance freestyle swimming (five-time Olympic champion), but also for his special suit in which he performed. However, nine years later, the use of such suits in competitions was prohibited, and athletes were ordered to compete in swimming trunks. However, by that time Thorpe had already taken a long, almost five-year break from his sports career, and his attempt to return to “big swimming” ended in failure.

Swimming is one of the most popular and record-rich sports. People have long begun to compete in the water and compare results: who will swim the farthest, who will stay under water the longest, who will cover the distance the fastest? Being among the best is not so easy. This requires physical training, high labor costs, strength, endurance and, of course, the desire to win! Be inspired by the great achievements of the best swimmers in the world, believe in yourself and your strengths, this will help you achieve high results in sports. Enjoy reading!

The best swimmers in the world

Mark Spitz(Modesto, California, USA)

Nickname - "Mustachioed Shark." Nine-time Olympic champion in swimming.

The champion has had a love for swimming since childhood. At the age of 3 he was already a good swimmer, at 5 he began competing in competitions, and at 10 he won his first victories and became the owner of 17 national and 1 world records. When the swimmer was 15, he won 4 gold medals at the Olympic Games in Maccabiana (Israel).

Mark Spitz is a pioneer who managed to win 7 gold medals at one Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich. Each of the awards was supplemented by a world record. After these games, the swimmer ends his sports career. In total, Mark Spitz recorded 33 world records.

• Mark Spitz stood out among other athletes for his laziness and cowardice. It’s not for nothing that he was nicknamed the “lazy athlete.” Before the performance, the coach gave him a “magic pill” that would help him win. In reality, it was just regular glucose - the placebo effect worked all the time.
• To the coach’s question: “Does a mustache get in the way during competitions?” Mark replied that they even help move water away from his mouth, thereby making his body more streamlined and increasing his speed. At the next competitions, all Soviet athletes competed with mustaches.
• Having become famous, Mark Spitz began to appear in a lot of commercials. Once, during a live commercial for shaving accessories, he shaved off his famous mustache for a million dollars!
• He was awarded the title “Swimmer of the Year” three times.

Michael Phelps(Baltimore, Maryland)

Nickname - "Baltimore Bullet". 23-time world champion in swimming.

Michael Phelps can easily be called one of the greatest and most accomplished swimmers in history. Phelps's sports career is a series of endless victories and achievements! The champion begins setting records at the age of 16. In total, he has 28 Olympic medals and 29 individual world records.

In 2001, Michael Phelps set his first world record in the 200-meter butterfly. The next glory came to the athlete 3 years later at the Olympics in Athens: 8 awards, 6 of them gold medals!

At the championship in Melbourne in 2007, Michael Phelps confidently took 7 more gold medals. A year later, at the Beijing Olympics, the swimmer again surprises the world with his victories. Michael wins 8 gold medals, surpassing Mark Spitz's record, which held him for 36 years (7 gold medals in the Olympic Games alone).

The athlete's career ended in 2016. He is now married to model Nicole Johnson, and they have a young son.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• Champion is the author of 2 books: Beneath the Surface: My Story (2008) and No Limits: The Pursuit of Success (2009).
• Michael drinks a very large amount of water per day. The Guinness Book of Records even included a case when he drank 91 liters in a day, that is, more than he weighs.
• In addition to his athletic achievements, Michael Phelps is famous for his diet, which involves eating 10,000 calories a day!
• The swimmer has a non-standard leg size - 47. The arm span is 201 - 203 cm, which is 10 cm more than the athlete's own height!
• Phelps was awarded the Swimmer of the Year award 7 times.
• In 2004, in the city of Baltimore, where the swimmer was born, one of the streets was named after him.

Training on the side and on the water for two and a half to three hours every day was the norm for me. I set a goal: to always be first. In some places it worked, in others it didn’t, but I never deviated from this rule. Michael Phelps

Laszlo Cech(Budapest, Hungary)

150-time champion of Hungary, 32-time European champion, three-time champion of the 2011 Universiade.

The swimmer received his first well-deserved award in 2003 at the World Championships - silver in the 400-meter medley event. The period from 2003 to 2015 turned out to be very successful for Cech - he never left the competition without awards! At 50 meter distances, Laszlo took at least two medals and one gold at seven European Championships in a row. Several times Cech competed with Michael Phelps, but lost to him and left with silver.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• Before every competition, Laszlo Cech shaves his head.
• In 2015, he was recognized as the best swimmer in Europe according to LEN (European Swimming League).

Ian Thorpe(Sydney, Australia)

Nickname - "torpedo". 5-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion.

Ian Thorpe is one of the strongest swimmers in the world. In 1998 in Perth (Australia), Ian won his first gold and became the youngest champion in history. Agree, not bad for a 16-year-old boy who went swimming only out of boredom?

Between 2000 and 2004, the swimmer won 5 gold medals at the Olympic Games. Received 11 awards at world championships. After the Olympics, the athlete became more famous. Many well-known companies such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, Omega signed a contract with Ian. The swimmer transferred part of the money received from advertising to charitable purposes.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• At first, swimming was not easy for the champion due to an allergic reaction to chlorine. Despite this, Ian Thorpe overcame it and won his first medal at the age of 9! And at 14 he already joined the Australian national team.
• Ian Thorpe spends 40 hours a week in the water.
• He received the nickname “torpedo” when, before reaching adulthood, he showed excellent results in competitions and began to win gold medals.

Alexander Popov (Sverdlovsk - 45, Russia)

Nickname - "Russian Rocket". Four-time Olympic champion, six-time world champion, 21-time European champion.

The series of great victories begins in 1991 at the European Championships in Athens - at which the swimmer takes 4 gold medals. In 1993, Alexander received 2 more golds at the European Championships. A year later, the swimmer wins the world record at the Rome World Championships. The next year, the champion adds 4 awards to his collection: two personal and two team.

The swimmer became famous at the 1996 Olympics, where he again took 2 golds, leaving strong rivals behind. In the same year, Alexander was seriously wounded in a street skirmish, but this did not break him. After rehabilitation at the competitions in Seville, he surprised everyone by becoming European champion twice!

In 1998, Alexander Popov won gold medals for the third time. The swimmer receives a trophy for the outstanding swimmer of the last decade from the ISF (International Swimming Federation). After 2 years, the swimmer breaks the world record at a distance of 50 meters. After 5 years, the swimmer ends his sports career.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• Footage from the life of a swimmer, from a stab wound and treatment to a return to sporting achievements, was captured in the sports drama “Champions: Faster. Higher. Stronger". Since 2016, the champion has been a member of the anti-doping commission of the Russian Olympic Committee.
• Since 2016, the champion has been a member of the anti-doping commission of the Russian Olympic Committee.

Chad Le Clos(Durban, South Africa)

He is an Olympic champion in 2012, a multiple world champion and a Commonwealth Games champion.

He is an Olympic champion in 2012, a multiple world champion and a Commonwealth Games champion.

Chad Le Clos has been swimming since he was very young. From a young age he already competed. At the age of 11, he received his first gold medals at competitions held in the Kings Park swimming pool. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a South African swimmer took home a set of medals: 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. In the same year, at the World Championships, Chad won 1 gold in short distances.

In the period from 2011 to 2012, the swimmer amazes with his stunning victories. At the Summer Olympics in London, Chad Le Clos won gold and silver medals. In one of the swims, he beat Michael Phelps himself three times, whom he had never even met before!

In 2013, the swimmer again set records: at distances of 100 and 200 meters. A year later, at a tournament in Doha, Chad set his first world record in the 100-meter race, and a year later in the 200-meter distance.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• He is a favorite of many girls due to his charm. Swimmer's Instagram - @chadleclos92.
• He also enjoys football and supports the Manchester United team.

Ryan Lochte(Rochester, New York, USA)

Nickname - "Majestic". He is a six-time Olympic champion and winner of 39 gold medals at world championships.

In terms of his athletic achievements, Ryan is right behind Michael Phelps. Some of his records have not yet been broken!

The first award was awarded at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Then he won gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay, and then silver in the 200 meters, losing only to Michael Phelps.

The champion receives his next award at competitions in Melbourne in 2007. It was then that he set his first world record in the 200-meter backstroke. As a result, the swimmer takes 2 gold and 2 silver. The games in Beijing in 2008 were no less successful for the swimmer. With them he received 2 gold and 2 bronze.

Interesting facts about the athlete

• At the 2012 World Championships in Istanbul, Ryan gave his gold medal to a little boy. He said that when he was little, a famous swimmer sent him to hell. And from then on, he promised himself that he would never treat little ones poorly.

• FINA Aquatics World magazine twice recognized Raine as the best swimmer in the world.
• In addition to competing, Ryan Lochte is passionate about the world of fashion. He has signed with some major companies (Gatorade, Gatorade) and acts as a model. He is also interested in other sports: basketball, skateboarding, and recently started surfing.
• He was suspended for 14 months for an Instagram photo of himself receiving a vitamin injection banned by the anti-doping agency FINA.
• Brand ambassador.

A great mood is the key to success

Your results directly depend on your psychological mood. Adhere to the psychological attitude - “I am strong, I can do it.” The result will not be long in coming.

Warm up

A 15-20 minute warm-up before training allows you to warm up your muscles, prepare your cardiovascular system for physical activity and significantly reduce the risk of injury.

Maintain optimal body position in the water

Make sure that your body is stretched “as if on a string” in the water. This will result in less water resistance and increased speed. The face should be under water and looking down. Keep your elbow elevated.

Watch your stroke

The stroke should be performed with outstretched arms. “Long” strokes are the most effective and require less energy. When swimming freestyle, your toes should enter the water first. This way you reduce the risk of shoulder injury.