Who is better, Van Almsick or Phelps?
Michael Phelps leads with a GOAT score of 98.1 against 88.0 for Franziska van Almsick — a gap of 10.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Van Almsick vs Phelps
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Michael Phelps above Franziska van Almsick: 98.1 vs 88.0. 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
Van Almsick
88.0Van Almsick wins: no category outright
Candidates
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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. Franziska van Almsick
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 Van Almsick — 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 | Van AlmsickRetired | PhelpsRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic medals | 10 | 28 |
| World Championship golds | 3 | — |
| European titles | 18 | — |
| 200 m freestyle world records | 2 | — |
| 200 m freestyle best | 118 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 23 |
| World titles (LC) | — | 26 |
| World records set | — | 39 |
| Olympic Games | — | 5 |
| Golds in one Games | — | 8 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 99 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 100 |
| Longevity w20% | 84 | 93 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 100 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 98 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Phelps98.1
Van Almsick88.0
FAQ
Where does Van Almsick beat Phelps?
Van Almsick does not lead any of the five categories; Phelps is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Van Almsick vs Phelps score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Van Almsick: 88.0, Phelps: 98.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Van Almsick 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.