Who is better, Weissmuller or Spitz?
Johnny Weissmuller leads with a GOAT score of 87.6 against 87.5 for Mark Spitz — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Weissmuller vs Spitz
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Johnny Weissmuller above Mark Spitz: 87.6 vs 87.5. Johnny Weissmuller leads on Dominance, Longevity. Mark Spitz leads on Peak, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WeissmullerWinner
87.6Weissmuller wins: Dominance, Longevity
Spitz
87.5Spitz wins: Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/johnny-weissmuller-vs-mark-spitz
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Johnny Weissmuller
87.6
Weissmuller leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Johnny Weissmuller
2. Mark Spitz
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
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Mark Spitz5 seasons played · career day 2,55526 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Johnny Weissmuller5 seasons played · career day 1,82511 major golds
-57.7% vs Spitz at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Weissmuller | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 19 |
| 🇺🇸 Spitz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 35 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | WeissmullerRetired | SpitzRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 5 | — |
| Olympic bronze medals | 1 | — |
| World records | 51 | 33 |
| US national titles | 52 | — |
| Unbeaten individual races | 1 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 9 |
| Olympic medals | — | 11 |
| World Championship golds | — | 5 |
| Golds at one Games | — | 7 |
| Pan American golds | — | 5 |
| Dominance w25% | 92 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 96 |
| Longevity w20% | 72 | 70 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Weissmuller87.6
Spitz87.5
FAQ
Where does Spitz beat Weissmuller?
Spitz scores higher on peak, honours. Weissmuller leads on dominance, longevity.
How is the Weissmuller vs Spitz score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Weissmuller: 87.6, Spitz: 87.5.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Weissmuller vs Spitz. 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.