By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
After the record-setting year that was 2023, we’re gearing up for another exciting year over here at SwimSwam, and part of that is releasing our fourth annual Top 100 list—check out last year’s rankings here.
Similar to 2023, we’ve taken a statistically driven approach reliant primarily upon world rankings and World Championship medals. We’ve also taken into account things such as potential, Olympic medal opportunities, injuries, and versatility. Long course is weighted more than short course, though performance potential in both formats is factored in.
We’ve also moved Russian and Belarusian swimmers way down this list because of their likely absence from the Olympics or either World Championship meet. While that doesn’t preclude them from swimming fast at domestic meets (including whatever Russia comes up with to replace the Olympics), those swims just won’t mean quite as much without the international spotlight.
We’ll be breaking down the top 100 into multiple installments, so keep an eye out as they’re released.
These lists are, by nature, subjective. If you disagree, leave your thoughts/ranks in the comments.
Braden Keith, Sophie Kaufman, Anya Pelshaw and Mark Wild contributed to this report.
Men’s Rankings:
- #100 – #91
- #90 – #81
- #80 – 71
- #70 – 61
- #60 – 51
- #50 – #41
- #40 – #31
- #30 – #21
- #20 – #11
- #10 – #1
This first group features swimmers who all have the ability to be an individual Olympic finalist. For some, it comes down to performing at the right time, and for others, it’s simply pushing through their domestic rankings and earning a spot on the Olympic team.
#100: Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus – It’s been a while since Shymanovich has swum a best time in a primary event, but he’s not far off either. Last year, he was within .12 seconds of his best in the long course 100 breast. A Belarusian, Shymanovich’s path back to international meets is probably a little easier than that of his Russian colleagues.
#99: Wang Kuan Hung (Eddie Wang), Chinese Taipei – Wang finished 8th in the 200 fly at last year’s World Championships, but his silver medal at the Asian Games in 1:54.53, within a tenth of his best time, was his top swim of the year. He seems to be almost entirely focused on that event now, eschewing his secondary races.
#98: Zalan Sarkany, Hungary – Sarkany wasn’t on Hungary’s World Championship team last year, but after a great block of training back home in the fall, he’s come out firing over the last month. First, he went 14:53 in the 1500 at a Hungarian Olympic qualification event, which was a near 11-second improvement on his previous best time and would have made the final at Worlds. Then, back at Arizona State and in training mode again, he swam 14:28.09 in the 1650-yard free, which would have won last year’s NCAA title. The combination of the two training sites is working for him.
#97: Benedek Kovacs, Hungary – Kovacs played the three rounds of the World Championships very well last year in the men’s 200 back. He was 14th in prelims in 1:58 before erupting for a new best time of 1:55.89 in the semis. He ended with a 1:55.85 showing in the final and a 5th-place finish. Without Russian participation, the men’s backstroke events are vulnerable for some surprise medalists in Paris. He was a bit too casual in prelims of the 100 back at Worlds, missing out on semis, but he’s within range of a final in that event as well.
#96: Oliver Klemet, Germany – Klemet qualified for the Olympics in open water by finishing 3rd in the 10km in Fukuoka. He suffered in the pool in the 400 free at Worlds, clocking 3:49.9 after going 3:45.3 early in the year. He also went 14:45 in April in the 1500, which ranked top 10 in the world last year but only 4th among Germans. Given that this ranking is focused on pool swimming, where he chooses to focus his energy (or if the double goes better with pool coming first in Paris) will go a long way in determining if this ranking is justified or should be higher.
#95: Josif Miladinov, Bulgaria – Miladinov, still only 20, hasn’t been a best time in the 100 fly since his breakthrough 50.93 at the 2021 European Championships, and hasn’t been a best time in the 100 free since a 48.83 in 2020 (when he was only 17). It’s a headscratcher of a progression. He did make the 100 fly Olympic final one month after his 18th birthday, however, so there’s experience on the big stage.
#94: Jacob Peters, Great Britain – Peters was 4th at Worlds last year in the 50 fly, and missed the final in the 100 fly by a narrow margin (he was 51.1 at British Trials). He’s not on GB’s roster for long course Worlds in Doha so that 50 won’t do him much good for international medals.
#93: Justin Ress, USA – Ress’ value in these rankings plummets in an Olympic year because his best event, the 50 backstroke, is not on the Olympic schedule, and he wasn’t chosen for the U.S. team for Worlds. Without that event—where he is the 2022 world champion and the 2023 silver medalist—Ress faces an uphill climb to earn a U.S. Olympic roster spot. His best bet is earning a spot on the 4×100 freestyle relay, which he’s done for the last two Worlds. But Caeleb Dressel‘s potential return to form along with new American men bursting onto the scene makes that easier said than done. He was also 3rd at U.S. Trials in the 100 back behind Ryan Murphy and Hunter Armstrong.
#92: Jake Foster, USA – Jake Foster, the older of the two Foster brothers, took a gap year before starting medical school to chase his Olympic dream. The early returns have been great—he won a Pan American Games gold medal in the 100 breaststroke and at the USA Swimming Pro Championships in July, he swam 59.64 in the 100 breast and 2:08.23 in the 200 breast. There are openings on the U.S. Olympic team in the men’s breaststrokes, and Foster is trending in the right direction in a hurry.
#91: Thomas Neill, Australia – Objectively, Neill, 21, didn’t have a great year for most of 2023. At Worlds, he was 10th in the 200 IM and 11th in the 400 IM. But in the latter half of the year, he seemed to gather some momentum, including best times in the 200 IM (1:57.41) and 400 IM (4:13.43) in December in the Queensland Championships, along with his best swim in years in the 200 free (1:45.78). It feels like he took a step backward last year to take two forward for Paris.
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