"The water is your friend...you don't have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move." - Alexandr Popov.

That should be the ultimate mantra of a swimmer. Throughout history, so many names are there who made water, their friends in order to succeed in it. Their love for swimming was much more intense than the desire to win the medal in the Olympics. Every four years when the Olympics are announced, one of the most important parts of the sport waits eagerly to take part in the category of swimming. In this article, we'll talk about a few such swimming icons that made the world proud with their skill, hard work and dedication. So, let's look into them one by one-

 Michael Phelps, nicknamed The Baltimore Bullet.

When the discussion is about Michael Fred Phelps, counting his achievements is not an easy job as there is a long list of it. He started his professional swimming career at the early age of fifteen. In his career, he has won sixteen Olympic medals, including six golds and two bronze at Athens in 2004. Eight more golds are there in his list of achievements in Beijing in 2008. Through his performance, he surpassed the great American swimmer, Mark Spitz. In total, he has won fifty- nine medals in major international championships like the Olympic and the Pan Pacific Championships.

 Mark Spitz, who is known for his majestic performance

This is a great name in the history of swimming as Mark Spitz has achieved not one or two but seven golds at a single Olympic in the year 1972 at Munich, which is later surpassed by none other than Michel Phelps. He created history through this 1972 game because there was no such record since then. He also attempted in the 1992 Olympics at the age of 41 but didn't perform well to achieve any medal. However, we should not forget his achievements which are 11 medals. Among them nine are golds which earned him great fame as a great Olympian swimmer.

Matt Biondi, another Olympic legend

Another name in this list is Matt Biondi, who went to Seoul in the year 1988 and defeated all his competitors. There he created four new world records by achieving seven medals, five of which are golds. But he retired soon after the 1992 game with a good count of eleven medals through his spectacular performance.

So, these are few among the greats. Hope to share with you more such informative contents