{"id":444499,"date":"2020-08-20T14:39:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T21:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=444499"},"modified":"2020-08-20T14:43:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T21:43:28","slug":"swim-poll-of-the-week-55-believe-mark-spitz-is-best-male-swimmer-of-all-time-after-michael-phelps-among-retired-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swim-poll-of-the-week-55-believe-mark-spitz-is-best-male-swimmer-of-all-time-after-michael-phelps-among-retired-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim Poll of the Week: 55% Believe Mark Spitz Is Best Male Swimmer of All-Time After Michael Phelps Among Retired Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Spitz topped the swim poll of the week as the top male swimmer of all-time among retired athletes after Michael Phelps.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Thursday August 20, 2020, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products<\/a>. In our last poll, we wanted to know: Who is the greatest male swimmer of all-time among retired athletes after Michael Phelps<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two weeks ago during the pre-scheduled dates of the now-postponed Olympic Games<\/a>, Swimming World<\/em>\u00a0Editors\u00a0Craig Lord\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0John Lohn<\/strong>\u00a0put together an event-by-event\u00a0League of Olympic Swim Legends<\/strong> in which we considered the impact of the likes of\u00a0Mark Spitz<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Ian Thorpe<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Roland Matthes<\/strong><\/a>, Vladimir Salnikov<\/strong><\/a> and\u00a0Matt Biondi<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Spitz won four individual gold medals at the 1972 Olympics but retired shortly after two trips to the Games due to no real professional opportunities available for swimmers at the time. Spitz was extraordinary, of course, and his count placed him more than 20 points ahead of the snap for bronze, which went to the East German Matthes and the Australian Thorpe.<\/p>\n

Matthes swept the backstroke golds at the 1968 & 1972 Olympics and won a bronze in the 100 back in 1976. Thorpe swam in two Olympics and won three individual gold medals, sweeping the 200 & 400 free in 2004, and also claimed gold in 2000.<\/p>\n

Spitz broke 21 world record in his career compared to Matthes’ 17 and Thorpe’s 13.<\/p>\n

American\u00a0Matt Biondi\u00a0<\/strong>won two individual gold medals in Seoul 1988, winning the 50 & 100 freestyle. He broke seven individual world records in his career.<\/p>\n

We asked for the swim poll and it looks like our audience sided with the American swimmer\u2026<\/p>\n