Who is better, Phelps or Spitz?
Michael Phelps leads with a GOAT score of 98.1 against 87.5 for Mark Spitz — a gap of 10.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Phelps vs Spitz
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
PhelpsWinner
98.1Phelps wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Spitz
87.5Spitz wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/phelps-vs-mark-spitz
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. 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
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 Spitz — 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 | PhelpsRetired | SpitzRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 23 | 9 |
| Olympic medals | 28 | 11 |
| World titles (LC) | 26 | — |
| World records set | 39 | — |
| Olympic Games | 5 | — |
| Golds in one Games | 8 | — |
| World records | — | 33 |
| World Championship golds | — | 5 |
| Golds at one Games | — | 7 |
| Pan American golds | — | 5 |
| Dominance w25% | 99 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 100 | 96 |
| Longevity w20% | 93 | 70 |
| Honours w20% | 100 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 98 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Phelps98.1
Spitz87.5
FAQ
Where does Spitz beat Phelps?
Spitz does not lead any of the five categories; Phelps is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Phelps vs Spitz score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Phelps: 98.1, Spitz: 87.5.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Phelps 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.