Most Swimming World Records Broken — Individual Athletes
Source:
Wikipedia
Key Findings
🏆
Michael Phelps leads in Individual World Records Broken with 39.
📊
Average Individual World Records Broken: 15.50 · median: 10.
↔️
Gap: Michael Phelps is 7.8× larger than Ryan Lochte.
About This Dataset
Most Swimming World Records Broken — Individual Athletes
Swimmers who have broken the most individual long-course world records in FINA/World Aquatics competition. Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky are among the most prolific world record holders in swimming history, with Phelps having broken 39 individual world records across his career.
Analysis
Michael Phelps heads the table on 39, ahead of Mark Spitz (33) and Katie Ledecky (15) in Individual World Records Broken. 34 separates the highest figure (39) from the lowest (5). First and second are separated by 6, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Only 2 of the 8 reach even half the leader's figure (19.5 or more).
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Wikipedia
- Coverage
- 8 entities · 8 observations
- Measure
- Individual World Records Broken
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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