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 next group of men is loaded with swimmers who can be Olympic finalists this year if they perform at the right time—something some of them struggled with last year.
#90: Brendon Smith, Australia – Smith had a good 2023, finishing 5th in the 400 IM at the World Championships in 4:10.37, ranking him #8 for the year as a whole. The top two in this race are way ahead of the field (Marchand/Foster), and Daiya Seto still looks pretty good too. Smith hasn’t gone a best time since Tokyo, but at only 23, he’s still easily in range of getting back there again. He also made the semis in the 200 IM in Fukuoka after nearing his PB at Aussie Trials (1:58.84).
#89: Yan Zibei, China – Yan’s stock has taken a hit because of Qin Haiyang‘s breakthrough. That hurts Yan’s value in these rankings, but he still showed himself as a reliable breaststroker in 2023. He finished 6th in the 100 breast (59.23) at Worlds and swam on China’s prelim medley relays. The men’s 100 breast is a crowded race right now though, and he’ll need to be closer to his personal best of 58.63 to make a run at a medal in Paris.
#88: Chen Juner, China – After breaking Wu Peng‘s super-suited 200 fly Chinese record in May in 1:54.16, Chen was unable to match that time at Worlds. He missed qualifying for semis, though his personal best would’ve moved him safely through to the final and earned him 6th. He rebounded with a bronze at the Asian Games but was nearly two seconds from his best (1:56.04). Chen, who will turn 20 next month, has the potential to be a factor in the 200 fly final, he just needs to swim fast at the right time. And although he would need drops to make any sort of an impact, he also cracked the world’s top 50 last year in the 100 free (48.40) and 100 fly (51.73).
#87: Petr Zhikharev, Russia – Zhikarev swam best times in both the 50 and 100 butterfly in 2023, most notably breaking 51 seconds for the first time in the 100 in April, clocking 50.88. That time would have put him right in the heart of the action in the Worlds 100 fly final and placed 5th. Two factors that keep Zhikarev from rising any further in the ranks are how crowded the 100 fly is as an event right now along with the fact that Russia’s eligibility to compete at international meets is still up in the air. He turned 24 in October.
#86: Hugo Gonzalez, Spain – At 24, Gonzalez had one of his best years as a pro swimmer in 2023. He swam his first best time in the 200 backstroke since 2017, clocking 1:56.33 for 7th at Worlds. He also finaled in the 200 IM, swimming the second fastest time of his career. Of those two, the 200 back is the one where there’s a clearer path to an Olympic podium. But Gonzalez is expected to be at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, where he could win big with many of the swimmers who beat him last summer absent.
#85: Luke Hobson, USA – Hobson might be the U.S.’s next big hope in the 200 freestyle. After a breakthrough performance at U.S. Nationals to make his first Worlds team (1:45.12 in prelims), he missed the medals with a 5th place finish in Fukuoka, hitting a PB of 1:44.87 in the semis. He’s been quiet since the summer and will have to contend with several huge names—who have all been faster than his best—if he wants to make the jump onto the podium in Paris. Perhaps that’s why he’s one of just a handful of NCAA swimmers slated to race in Doha: more experience moving through the rounds of the 200 free on the international stage with a reduced field could do a lot for his experience and confidence levels.
#84: Kirill Prigoda, Russia – Similar to Zhikharev, Prigoda produced some elite times last year that ranked amongst the world’s best, but his status for any international medals is unknown—and probably thin at this point for Russians. Despite being a relative veteran, having turned 28 in late December, he’s been on the best form of his career of late, including hitting a best time of 58.92 in the 100 breast last year which ranked #9 in the world for 2023. He was even better in the 200 breast, emerging as the world’s fourth-fastest with a blistering 2:07.47 at Russian Nationals, just shy of his 2022 best of 2:07.25.
#83: Antonio Djakovic, Switzerland – Djakovic’s big breakthrough was in 2022, when he earned silver medals in the 200 and 400 free at the European Championships with respective lifetime bests of 1:45.32 and 3:43.93. The 21-year-old had a hard time matching that success in 2023; he missed the final of the 200 free in Fukuoka, though he did finish 6th in the 400 free. Djakovic is the Swiss National Record holder in the 200/400/800/1500 freestyle, but what makes it so hard to rank him higher is just how crowded his primary events (200/400) are. Both have well over eight swimmers capable of making the final which means that there will be some big names on the outside looking in. At least on the Worlds/Olympics stage, Djakovic hasn’t consistently shown himself capable of making sure that he isn’t one of the swimmers missing out after a poor prelim swim.
#82: Oleksandr Zheltyakov, Ukraine – Zheltyakov, who turned 19 in November, dropped a second-and-a-half last season to become the European Junior champion in the 200 back, swimming 1:55.79 in the final. He also won the 100 back at Euro Juniors, and swept the same events at World Juniors in Netanya, establishing a PB of 53.73 in the 100. In a world where 1:55 could medal at the Olympics, his upswing is coming at the right moment – though it will be with limited senior international experience.
#81: Szebasztian Szabo, Hungary – Szabo, the co-owner of the SC world record in the 50 butterfly (21.75), has found most of his international success in that event. That makes 2024 more of a challenging year for him as it’s a non-Olympic event. A pure sprinter, he also races the 50 freestyle and made the semis at Worlds, where he added time from prelims and finished 16th. His lifetime best is 21.60 from 2022 and his Worlds prelims time (21.67) would’ve earned him a finals lane–he just needs to put it all together at the right time. He’s on Hungary’s roster for the Worlds in Doha, which will give him more experience and a chance to final in both the 50 free and fly. He should also feature prominently at the end of the year at SC Worlds.
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