Who is better, Bedford or Phelps?
Michael Phelps leads with a GOAT score of 98.1 against 81.7 for Barbara Bedford — a gap of 16.4 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Bedford vs Phelps
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Michael Phelps above Barbara Bedford: 98.1 vs 81.7. Michael Phelps leads on Dominance, Honours, Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
PhelpsWinner
98.1Phelps wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Bedford
81.7Bedford wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/barbara-bedford-vs-phelps
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Michael Phelps
98.1
Phelps leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Michael Phelps
2. Barbara Bedford
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇺🇸 Michael Phelps548 major golds
7 seasons by age 21 · 78.3 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Bedford — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | BedfordRetired | PhelpsRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 1 | — |
| Pan Pacific titles | 2 | — |
| NCAA titles | 5 | — |
| US titles | 6 | — |
| World Championship medals | 2 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 23 |
| Olympic medals | — | 28 |
| World titles (LC) | — | 26 |
| World records set | — | 39 |
| Olympic Games | — | 5 |
| Golds in one Games | — | 8 |
| Dominance w25% | 78 | 99 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 100 |
| Longevity w20% | 78 | 93 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 100 |
| Statistics w15% | 84 | 98 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Phelps98.1
Bedford81.7
FAQ
Where does Bedford beat Phelps?
Bedford does not lead any of the five categories; Phelps is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Bedford vs Phelps score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Bedford: 81.7, Phelps: 98.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Bedford vs Phelps. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.