Phelps, greatest athlete of all time.

[Wear Schoonover]

No way!

Mary Lou Retton was much more dominant.

Never won gold with a broke leg.

[crtHAWGS]

he will go down as the all time most  gold medals in Olympic history, and most Gold in a single Olympics

Best swimmer of all time yes. best athlete no. the decatholon guys are the worlds best athletes hands down.  no acceptions

[bobbybouchet]

Tbe guy is a great swimmer, but the problem I have is the number of swimming events and all the medals they hand out. It's like they are giving out chuck e cheese tokens.  How many medals can Kobe or Lebron win this year? one. Based on the way swimming works, the bball players should get a medal for every game they win. Or they should also have a dunk contest for a medal, free throw contest, etc. Of course I don't want to see this.

[oldman1015]

Arguably he is the greatest swimmer of all time. I wouldn't say greatest athlete. Carl Lewis may hold that honor, it is hard to say. As mentioned before, it is hard to overlook a decathlete as being the world's greatest athlete due to the diversity of skills he must possess.

At any rate, it sure is fun watching Phelps destroy the competition. He is a beast!

i agree.

[JoePaul03]

I don't necessarily think Phelps is the "best" athlete ever, but I think the case could be made that he's one of the most "dominant" ever. By that I mean that I think he's as good or better at his chosen sport than any other athlete around is at theirs. It's kind of hard to argue against that idea when the guy wins a gold medal and sets a world record every time he gets in the pool.

[GabeMartini]

I know drummers for rock bands that probably have more endurance than he does. He's a good swimmer, yes, but who cares? I sure don't.

Might be cranky, but I'm ready for Football season.

[Killean]

These swimming medals are really almost directly comparable to Track and Field..


4 stroke types is comparable to say Sprint, Hurdles and Long Jump, which are essentially all leg techniques that are slightly different.  Same with the stroke techniques.

Add in different distances, plus relays.


What Phelps has done will probably NEVER be equalled.  Consider that the U.S. has a 32 year old swimmer who was in medal contention in an event and not past his prime.  Consider that Phelps is 23 years old.

[pigture perfect]

Would you consider Bruce Lee an Athlete?

Trying to compare athletes in different sports is like comparing apples to oranges.

[Wear Schoonover]

What Phelps has done will probably NEVER be equalled. 

Phelps has more gold medals than Mexico...ever.

http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olcmedals.shtml

[pigs rule]

He has more opportunities to win them.

How many does the fencing champion have an opportunity to win? If the champion of the decathlon wins all 10 events, he only gets one medal even if he sets world records in each event.

Medal count is not a good measure, after all the record he would be breaking is another swimmer's, Mark Spitz. Coincidence, probably not.

The record he BROKE for total gold medals was jointly held by a swimmer, a gymnast, a runner, and another I can't recall at the moment.
I am going to assume you know little about swimming. It is incredibly difficult to perform at a world level in ONE dicipline, much less five. And Mary Lou Retton is more dominant??? That is just nonsense. Phelps hasn't lost in the 200 butterfly in SIX YEARS! He has set 29, I believe, world records in his career.
He may not be the greatest athlete of all time, but he is sure on the short list.

[pigs rule]

I know drummers for rock bands that probably have more endurance than he does. He's a good swimmer, yes, but who cares? I sure don't.

Might be cranky, but I'm ready for Football season.

That is just incredibly dumb. I can only hope that comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek.

[EastexHawg]

Swimming is one of the least body damaging sports there is.

You are not going to tear an acl......roll an ankle.......throw your arm out.......etc.

People, you are not even supporting your own body weight, the water is doing a great deal of that for you.

The idea that a swimmer is the greatest athlete of our time is ridiculous.

Go find an Olympic size pool.  First, run from one end to the other and back as fast as you can.  Next, SWIM from one end to the other and back, again as fast as you can.

Then tell us how incredibly less demanding swimming is, what with the water supporting your body weight and all...

[drivetimeporks]

thing is, as with most olympic events..(no one disputes  phelps is   the greatest swimmer of all time)...does anyone actually care about  swimming?.. or cycling, or gymnastics?  some do most dont..would be easier to get the ncaas to have a football playoff than  have this debate

[SpareRib]

Go find an Olympic size pool.  First, run from one end to the other and back as fast as you can.  Next, SWIM from one end to the other and back, again as fast as you can.

Then tell us how incredibly less demanding swimming is, what with the water supporting your body weight and all...

I can vouch for that.  By the way, did you see the recent article saying that Phelps consumes 12000 calories a day to maintain his energy level for his sport?

[irishman]

Jim Thorpe.... for my money he'd be the greatest of all time

winner of the decathlon, pentathlon... played football, baseball, and basketball... all professionally (and very well I might add)

[drivetimeporks]

swimming is a total a$$ kicker..workout wise

[Wear Schoonover]

He may not be the greatest athlete of all time, but he is sure on the short list.

He is now as much a household name as Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, or Mark Spitz. I defy anyone to name a more significant accomplishment in American Olympics as Phelps' (short of the '80 hockey team).

[dacskc]

Go find an Olympic size pool.  First, run from one end to the other and back as fast as you can.  Next, SWIM from one end to the other and back, again as fast as you can.

Then tell us how incredibly less demanding swimming is, what with the water supporting your body weight and all...

I wonder how many of these people who think swimming isn't tough are swimmers? (Dogpaddling in the pool doesn't count) Back in the day before I became a couch potato, I used to swim 5 times a wk at a half size Olympic pool. After a while, I was swimming a mile (which took like 40/45 minutes if I remember right...I was slow) It is incredibly difficult to master the different strokes. I NEVER could do the butterfly. I couldn't coordinate the dolphin kick and the arm stroke for some reason. I could manage about 10 yards before I was worn out. I gave up trying for fear of looking like an idiot! (this was back when I was in good shape...I also lifted weights and ran. Swimming was more difficult than either)

[silverhawg]

Could Phelps be the greatest athlete of all time.  I think he may be, just by how hard Olympic swimming is and by the way he just wipes out his competition and world record after world record. I beleive he is greater in his sport than what Tiger is in his. What do you all think.

I'll bet tiger dominates far longer than phelps..but yes in the water world, he is a beast....

[drivetimeporks]

I'll bet tiger dominates far longer than phelps..but yes in the water world, he is a beast....

no doubt, as phelps is to swimming, tiger is to golf.. but.. now the debate..are golfers "athletes"?  itsa skill to me...

[MJ2]

According to the radio over the last 10 years, Basil Shabaz is/was the greatest athlete of all time.

Would have beaten Phelps by seconds.   Would have outscored Michael Jordan.  Only reason Farve lasted so long, Shabaz wasn't in the league.  Barry Bonds.... just another batter.

[nyhog87]

Being a former razorback swimmer, what he is doing is mind blowing. Not only is he winning the races, but he dominates them. He is in my mind the greatest swimmer of all time.  As long as he does not blow out a shoulder (try twirling your arm in water for 4 hours a day), he'll have at least 1 more Olympics.  As he gets older, he will probubly decrease the race lenghts and may make another olympics after that.

[bsking]

I think he is up for argument.

Mary Lou Retton is not however.  A sport that requires judges to give them a score will never have a legitimate "best".  Year in and year out judged events are being found to be rigged, even in these olympics. 

[mhsbc59]

The quetion was not greatest athlete of all time it was greatet Olympian of all time and yes he winns that by 4 lengths of the pool!!!!

[clarkhog]

Phelps can be considered the greatest swimmer up to this point because he's not only winning races but breaking records,also the

most decorated by gold medals athlete.But to call him greatest athlete of all time is extreme.

I'm getting a little tired of a contestant of any sport being called greatest of all time,when they are the best in their era.

They say records are made to be broken and I'm sure many we are seeing now will be broken in the future.

[SpareRib]

The question "greatest athlete" is too general to be answered.  It's like asking who is the greatest public servant of all time (excluding Christ). 

Could it be Jonas Salk, creator of the polio vaccine?  Could it be the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of millions?  Could it be Lincoln who freed the slaves?  Is it Billy Graham, Bill Gates (world's greatest contributor to charitable causes) ?

Different disciplines, impossible to reasonably compare.

[cypert2]

Crazy to say this guy is greatest athelete of all time or even on the short list. Your talking about a sport were world records are broken every week. I mean there was one race where 5 teams broke the world record. Not enough people are competitve swimmers. I grew up with dozens of people that played football, baseball, and basketball but not a one that tried competitve swimming. If as many people tried competitve swimming as other sports you may not even being hearing about Phelps. I will give him this. Of all the people that are competitive swimmers he is far and away the best.

[nyhog87]

To say that the only reason he is good is because there are not a lot of competitive swimmers is crazy.  Maybe not in Arkansas, but in quiet a few larger states swimming is a very popular sport.  I guess since you did not play lacross then it is not a hard sport either.  I too grew up with hundreds of people that played the B sports, and more than 90% of them could not make it through a swim practice.  However, the swim team routinely took on the other sports in their games for cross training.  Yes they beat us, but it was one heck of a workout for them as well.  Ask the former strenth coaches at the U of A if the men swimmers were athletes. Just because the US is THE team to beat at the Olympics, and we are seeing World records, do not dismiss the difficulty of the sport.  As I stated before, Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever to this point, hands down.  The greatest athlete ever?, there are too many differences between sports to compare.

[silverhawg]

I personally think the best overall athletes are the tri-athalon's..but, the only olympic tri-athelete I remember is Bruce Jenner..as to whether Golfer's are atheltes...the Pros & College players ..yes..they work out, stay in shape  & if you were to walk 18 holes 4 or 5 days a week, plus all the time spent on the range and putting greens.. the guys like me, that are weekend players or occasional players..no...anybody can ride a golf cart and swing a club

[Table Rocker]

Greatest olympian of all time....no doubt.

Greatest athlete of all time....in my opinion....was Bo Jackson.

amen, shear athletic ability Bo was the best there ever was, it was a shame his career was cut so short.

[MacHog19]

Greatest athlete?  Too subjective and too many variables.  Greatest swimmer?  We will know for certain tomorrow night.  Most dominant in his sport?  Probably so.

[junkyardhog]

Thorpe was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the twentieth century by the Associated Press (AP), in 1950

Most on here say it hard to compare when people play only one sport.

So you got a guy who played professional footbal, basketball,and baseball. He won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon.

I mean cmon, this is a no brainer.

Though i would throw in Cyde Scott , didn't he win silver at olympics and play in the NFL.

Those guys were athletes in a true sense. No modern day chemistry,workouts, and nutritional teams elping them reach peak performances.

[kingoftherapids]

Im bumping this because he is still the greatest swimmer in the world 7 years later. incredible. swimming isn't a sport you can just take off a year and come back as good as before. remarkable if he can add to his gold medal count

[DOGALUM]

Im bumping this because he is still the greatest swimmer in the world 7 years later. incredible. swimming isn't a sport you can just take off a year and come back as good as before. remarkable if he can add to his gold medal count

Still not the greatest athlete ever.  Not even close.

[Inhogswetrust]

Im bumping this because he is still the greatest swimmer in the world 7 years later. incredible. swimming isn't a sport you can just take off a year and come back as good as before. remarkable if he can add to his gold medal count

I think you're ready for a new sport jacket with real, real long sleeves.............................