Order These Iconic Swimmers by Their Career Peak Year

Arrange these legendary competitive swimmers in the correct chronological order of when they dominated their sport and set their most famous world records. Swimming has been part of the modern Olympics since 1896, and the sport has produced extraordinary athletes who have pushed the boundaries of human aquatic performance. Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at Munich 1972 defined a generation; Ian Thorpe's dominance at Sydney 2000 brought an Australian golden era; Michael Phelps transcended all comparison with 23 Olympic gold medals across four games. Each of these swimmers represented the apex of their era's training methods, technique, and technology. Order these legendary swimmers from earliest to most recent career peak.