While the swimming events in these Rio Games will be remembered as Michael Phelps's last hurrah in his storied career, there were two women making waves of their own.

Phelps's haul of four gold and a solitary silver medal may have sealed his exalted spot in the pantheon of swimming's greatest, but his countrywoman Katie Ledecky and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu almost threatened to overshadow the US great.

Ledecky claimed gold in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle events -- the first freestyle treble since 1968 -- while shattering her own world records in the two latter events. Such was the 19-year-old's dominance in the longer range events that it took second-placed Jazmin Carlin of Great Britain over 11 seconds to reach the wall after Ledecky was home and dry.

She did not just stop there either, helping team USA to gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay and silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. With four gold and a silver, along with Phelps she helped the United States dominated the swimming events, taking home 16 of the 33 gold medals up for grabs.

In second place on that table were Hungary and Australia, who each took home three of the gold on offer. While Australia had two different winners in individual events before claiming gold in the 4x100m relay, all three of Hungary's gold were captured by the Iron Lady, Hosszu.

Coming into the event, the 27-year-old's dominance in the pool was well documented, after her exploits in the 2013 FINA Swimming World Cup where she set three world records. However, she had failed to capture a single medal in the 2012 London Olympics and that was expected to weigh heavily on her shoulders.

Once the 400m individual medley kicked things off, all that pressure just seemed to spur Hosszu on. The Iron Lady lived up to her billing, shattering the world record as she took home gold.

She followed that up with wins in the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley, with history looming as Hosszu tried to join Kristin Otto as the only women to win four individual swimming gold in a single edition.

However, she stumbled at the final hurdle after leading for much of the 200m backstroke, as USA's Maya Dirado overtook her, leaving Hosszu with a silver.

With most of the world's eyes glued on Phelps and what he would do in what is his final Summer Games, the female pair of Ledecky and Hosszu certainly gave the world something else worth watching.