Swimmer Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all-time. Simple. Hands down. The best ever.

Phelps proved that once again during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he won his 22nd Olympic medal, making him the most decorated athlete ever in the games.

What makes Phelps’ performance so incredible is that he has earned these medals during a period of three Olympics, dominating each one and setting himself apart from the world’s other great swimmers.

A lot of people spoke about Phelps’ lack of motivation heading into these games. After his first event of these Olympics, where he didn’t medal and fellow American Ryan Lochte won the gold, many wondered if Phelps still had what it took to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

Lochte even questioned Phelps’ dedication prior to the 2012 games as Phelps took some time off to enjoy life and the spoils of winning. He admittedly hates to train, and his coaches have complained in the past that it’s sometimes difficult to get him into the practice pool.

But when push comes to shove, Phelps has always shined at the Olympic games.

He quieted any doubters as he won his fourth gold medal, this time in the 100 fly, on Friday night. That marked his third straight games winning gold in the event dating back to the 2004 games in Athens.

Last week, some columnists wrote that what Phelps has done in his three Olympics is great and noteworthy, but he is not the greatest Olympian of all time. They give this honor to Jesse Owens, who starred for the United States in the 1936 games in Berlin.

It’s true that Owens had an amazing Olympics, winning gold in the 100, 200, 400 relay and the long jump. Owens also did it in the face of pure evil, Adolf Hitler, who tried to use the ’36 Olympics to prove his point that the Aryan race was the dominant race.

Owens, an African American, shot that theory down, embarrassing Hitler with his performance, which came against nearly all-white competition.

While Owens’ body of work at those Olympics was highly impressive, highly courageous and will forever be one of the most important events in world history, he doesn’t match Phelps’ record.

Owens did that during one Olympics games. Phelps has dominated for three straight games.

Some might argue that decathletes, who compete in 10 different track and field events, are better Olympians than Phelps. Well, this would be incorrect. They might be better all-around athletes, as they have to move from the 100-meter dash, to the long jump, to the pole vault, to a throwing event and so on, but greatest Olympians? No. That honor goes to Phelps.

Phelps has to go from the freestyle, to the butterfly, to the breast stroke to the backstroke, at times doing it all in one event called the medley. These are four entirely different strokes that force the body to move different ways.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps won eight gold medals. Owens won four at one Olympics.

Swimming is arguably one of the hardest and most tiring competitions in which to compete. It’s not a natural movement to compete in the butterfly, where one literally twists the arms from the side of the body to around the top of the head and back down to the side while coming out of the water. The breast stroke involves moving the hands from a clasped position in front of the chest then quickly separating the water with an inside-out stroke while kicking like a frog. These are not natural movements for the human body, but Phelps makes it look easy.

While all the athletes competing at the games are truly amazing and deserving of their awards, many of the other events come more natural to the human body, like running. Though the sprinters are absurdly fast and the long-distance runners have incredible stamina, most people learn to run from a young age, while swimming the butterfly cannot be mastered by most who take to the water.

When history looks back at the greatest Olympians of all time, Owens will be near the top, but he, as well as all the others, will be looking up at Michael Phelps.

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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards representing the majority opinion of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.