| PHELPS | Michael --, American swimmer, winner of 23 Olympic gold medals (6) |
| LOCHTE | American swimmer; winner of 12 Olympic medals (4,6) |
| SERENA | Winner of 23 grand slam tennis titles (6,8) |
| WILLIAMS | Winner of 23 grand slam tennis titles (6,8) |
| RYAN | And 14 Across American swimmer; winner of 12 Olympic medals (4,6) |
| IANTHORPE | Australian swimmer, winner of three gold medals at the 2000 Olympics (3,6) |
| JORDAN | Michael ---, American basketball player who won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s (6) |
| EDERLE | Gertrude ___, American swimmer who was the first woman to swim the English Channel (6) |
| OAFISH | Old American swimmer can be uncouth (6) |
| MICHAELPHELPS | American who has won 23 Olympic gold medals, more than any other athlete (2 wds.) |
| JOHNSON | Michael ---, American former sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals and held world records in the 200m and 400m (7) |
| MATT | Biondi, American swimmer who won eight Olympic gold medals (4) |
| EVANS | Janet, American swimmer who won four Olympic gold medals (5) |
| SPITZ | American swimmer who won seven Olympic gold medals in 1972 (5) |
| DUKAKIS | Michael, American politician defeated by George Bush in the 1988 presidential election (7) |
| RYANLOCHTE | American swimmer with 12 Olympic medals who was suspended by USA Swimming after falsely claiming to have been robbed at gunpoint after a night out in Rio in 2016 (4,6) |
| AMANDABEARD | Seven-time Olympic medallist who was American Swimmer of the Year in 2003 and 2004 (6,5) |
| MARKSPITZ | American swimmer who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics (4,5) |
| CHANG | Michael ---, American tennis player who was the youngest male player in history to win a Grand Slam singles event (5) |
| HOFF | Katie ___, American swimmer who won three medals at the 2008 Olympics |
