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.
Women’s Rankings:
#30: Jenna Forrester, Australia – In a nation renowned for its sprinting prowess, Forrester, like Elizabeth Dekkers, is a young star. In 2022, Forrester finished 7th in the 400 IM at Worlds, her only event. Thirteen months later, Forrester exploded onto the scene, swimming three personal bests and finaling in the 200 back (8th), 200 IM (4th), and winning the bronze medal in the 400 IM at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka. Her time of 4:32.30 in the 400 IM makes her the 16th fastest performer ever and the third fastest Australian, trailing Kaylee McKeown and national record holder Stephanie Rice. With a summer like last year, Forrester could easily move up that list. We also can’t overlook the fact that the 20-year-old ranked top-30 in the world last year in both the 200 and 400 free.
#29: Evgeniia Chikunova, Russia – Chikunova is the world’s best 200 breaststroker by a wide margin, having obliterated the world record last year in 2:17.55, 1.40 seconds under the previous mark held by Tokyo Olympic champion Tatjana Schoenmaker. Furthermore, Chikunova was the world’s fastest swimmer in the event last year by nearly three seconds, with no one else even under 2:20—Schoenmaker won the world title in 2:20.80. However, as a Russian, Chikunova’s placement in these rankings is tough because she more than likely won’t race at the Olympics. The door is seemingly open for her to do so, but the chances are less likely now that she won’t race in Doha and wasn’t granted neutral status by World Aquatics as of last month (only one Russian swimmer was). So while the 19-year-old might tower over the world rankings again in 2024, without her on the international stage her ranking takes a big hit. On top of her 200 breast world record, she also ranked #3 in the world in 2023 in the 100 breast as one of only three women to break 1:05 (1:04.92).
#28: Gretchen Walsh, USA – It took a little while for Walsh to make her way onto a senior long course team. A standout junior swimmer and short course yards NAG record holder, Walsh made her mark last summer by qualifying to swim in three events at Worlds. She would final in both the 50 and 100 fly, winning a bronze medal in the former. The University of Virginia star also was a key member of the silver medal-winning 400 free relay as well as the title-winning 400 medley relay. Looking toward the Olympics, Walsh is on the right trajectory of making a large impact, but the sprint events are so tightly contested that she could just as easily make the team in zero or three individual events. However, she’s seemingly been able to consistently up her game every NCAA season, and that’s been the case again this year. If she continues to improve in long course, it’s not a stretch to suggest she could dominate the 50 and 100 free at the U.S. Trials and push for individual medals in Paris.
#27: Lani Pallister, Australia – A stand-out age group swimmer who swept the 400, 800, and 1500 free at World Juniors in 2019, Pallister announced herself on the major international stage with a bronze medal in the 1500 free at the 2022 World Championships in 15:48.96, a time that currently ranks her as the 16th fastest performer ever. That LC bronze turned into four gold medals at Short Course Worlds, where she set an Oceanic record in the 1500 as well as anchoring the 800 free relay to a new world record. In 2023, Pallister was unable to replicate the 2022 bronze, finishing 5th (just over two-tenths slower, however, in 15:94.17), but managed to walk away with a gold medal from the 800 free heats as well as a 6th-place finish in the 400 free and a 7th in the 800. At 21, she’s right in the thick of the minor medal race in all three distances, and certainly can continue to drop time and get in on the minor medals, though Katie Ledecky has gold in the 800 and 1500 on lock.
#26: Tes Schouten, Netherlands – Schouten failed to final at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest but emerged a few months later from SC Worlds with two medals and two Dutch National Records. She built upon that success and confidence to post a personal best and win a bronze medal in the 200 breast in Fukuoka. She would keep up the momentum going on to sweep the 200 breast at all 2023 World Cup stops, culminating in a new Dutch Record in Budapest (2:21.52). Schouten not only brings medal potential in the 200, but her personal best in the 100 (1:05.71) would have won silver at the 2023 Worlds. Having turned 23 on New Year’s Eve, Schouten has been on a continuous improvement curve, dropping a time of 2:16.09 en route to 200 breast gold at the European SC Championships in December, winning gold by three seconds and ranking #9 all-time. Heading into the Olympic year, Schouten is certainly in the hunt for a medal in the 200 breast and should contend in the 100 breast if she can chip off half a second or so. Her performance in December also makes her a title contender at the end of the year at Short Course Worlds.
#25: Claire Curzan, USA – Curzan is one of a large crop of American swimmers who were greatly aided by the delay of the 2020 Olympics. After qualifying for the Olympic team in the 100 fly and winning a silver medal on the U.S. women’s medley relay in 2021, Curzan exploded onto the scene in 2022, qualifying for the Worlds team in four separate events (100 free, 100 back, 50/100 fly). Despite the crowded schedule, Curzan won five medals, one individually in the 100 back, and made the final in every other individual event. She carried this momentum into Short Course Worlds, where she won a medal across every backstroke event and helped set a new World Record in the medley relay. Last year was a mixed bag for the 19-year-old, as despite winning the 200 back at NCAAs, Curzan ultimately chose to leave Stanford and failed to qualify for the Worlds team coming off illness. With a new training base in Virginia, she could be poised to make another run at a big schedule on the international stage. She seems to have been revamped at UVA, and still ranked top 10 in the world last year in three events: #4 in 100 back (#3 in U.S.), #4 in 200 back (#3 in U.S.) and #7 in 100 fly (#5 in U.S.).
#24: Emma McKeon, Australia – Fresh off of being named Young Australian of the Year, Emma McKeon is still recovering from a torn muscle under her armpit, an injury that kept her out of the 2023 Queensland Championships in December. A five-time Olympic gold medalist and the defending champion in the 50 and 100 free, McKeon faces stiff competition domestically in Australia that she’ll have to get through before she can even try and defend her titles in Paris. After taking 5th in both sprint free events and 4th in the 100 fly at the 2023 World Championships, warning bells may be sounding for McKeon fans, but she still walked away from Fukuoka with three relay medals, including anchoring the world record-breaking 4000 free relay with a 51.90 split. Individually, the placings may not have been where she wanted them to be, but she was within three-tenths of a medal in all three of those events. Certainly, she’s a near lock to make the Olympic team individually in the 100 fly, but we can’t count out the fact that she stands a chance of defending her Olympic titles in the sprint frees, should she make it through the gauntlet that is Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris, a resurgent pair of Campbell sisters as well as young guns Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch at the Aussie Trials.
#23: Lydia Jacoby, USA – Jacoby burst onto the world scene by qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Olympic team in the 100 breast at 17, setting a new 17-18 NAG record and becoming the first Olympic swimmer from Alaska. Jacoby wasn’t finished, however, as she parlayed that qualification into an individual Olympic gold title in the 100 breast, upsetting the field and joining the sub-1:05 club in 1:04.95. After missing the Worlds team in 2022, she bounced back and won bronze in Fukuoka (1:05.94), though silver was ripe for the taking as everyone was seemingly a bit slow in the final outside of Ruta Meilutyte. Jacoby, who will turn 20 at the end of February, has proven to be clutch at key times. In addition to qualifying for the Olympic team and winning gold in Tokyo, she also won the 2023 NCAA title in the 100 breast as a freshman. Meilutyte (1:04.62) and American Lilly King (1:04.75) both set a high bar last year (in terms of world ranks), and Jacoby will need to be in the 1:04-mids to have a shot at defending her Olympic crown, but a medal is well within reach if she simply matches the 1:05.16 she produced last year at Nationals.
#22: Maggie MacNeil, Canada – MacNeil needs no introduction. A gold medalist in the 100 fly across the Olympics, LC and SC World Championships, and the Commonwealth and Pan Am Games, the Canadian star is one of the world’s best underwater swimmers, as evidenced by her 50 back and 100 fly SCM world records. MacNeil had a busy 2023, winning the silver medal in the 100 fly at Worlds (56.45) as well as claiming gold in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly (56.94) at the Pan Am Games. In addition to the individual accolades, MacNeil has been an integral relay component for Canada, swimming both fly and free on the women’s and mixed relays. Looking to the 2024 season, MacNeil will look to shoulder a lot of the attention of her home nation as the defending Olympic champion will have her work cut out for her to repeat. She’s been known to perform at her best when the pressure is highest, and she’ll need that to be the case once again in Paris with a daunting field in the 100 fly—though after the top four swimmers in the Tokyo Olympic final were between 55.59 and 55.73, China’s Zhang Yufei (55.86) was the only sub-56 last year.
#21: Torri Huske, USA – Huske has been an integral part of American sprinting since her breakout at the 2021 Olympic Trials. Since then, she has gone on to win Olympic silver as well as 10 medals at LC Worlds, four of which were gold. Highlighting that list was the World Championship title in the 100 fly in 2022, where she posted a time of 55.64, a mark that stands as the American record and currently makes Huske the 4th fastest performer ever. Huske’s versatility across the free, fly, and IM makes her a considerable force in the year to come as she looks to rebound from a less-than-stellar 2023, though she did claim bronze in Fukuoka in the 100 fly and ranked #2 in the world (56.18). Similar to former training partner Curzan, a return to her 2022 form will make Huske a multi-event threat this year.
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