Ryan MURPHY

With four individual Olympic medals to date, Ryan Murphy is one of the most consistent backstroke swimmers of his generation.

The American swept the men's 100m and 200m backstroke Olympic gold medals at Rio 2016, before teaming up with Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, and Cody Miller to win the 4x100m medley title.

Murphy's 51.85-second backstroke leg broke the world record during that race, to cap off the perfect Games.

In 2018, the Chicago swimmer won the same three titles at the Short Course World Championships, before winning three silver medals at the 2019 World Championships.

Murphy was selected as one of the US Olympic swim team captains for Tokyo 2020, due to his calm demeanour and vast experience in elite competition swimming.

He teamed up with Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, and Zach Apple to help Team USA win the men's 4x100m medley relay gold with a new world record, took home individual 200m backstroke silver, and won 100m backstroke bronze.

At the 2022 World Championships, Murphy won the 200m backstroke title, and finished second to Italy's Thomas Ceccon in the 100m backstroke, who broke the American's world record.