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:
#40: Lara van Niekerk, South Africa – van Niekerk has established herself as one of the world’s best pure sprint breaststrokers over the last few years, highlighted by a standout 2022 that saw her win bronze at LC Worlds, silver at SC Worlds and gold at the Commonwealth Games in the 50 breast. That momentum continued in 2023, as she was .02 shy of her lifetime best in May to rank #4 in the world (29.75) and missed a repeat Worlds medal by .05 in Fukuoka. Progress in the 100 breast has been a bit more up and down, however, as she missed the semis in Fukuoka after missing the final one year earlier in Budapest. The 20-year-old still has youth on her side, and does own an elite best time (1:05.47) from 2022 and was 1:06.65 last year. It remains a question of whether or not she can fire on all cylinders in the 100 in Paris, but there’s no doubt she’ll be in the hunt for a world title in Doha in the 50.
#39: Claire Weinstein, USA – One of the most intriguing young talents in the United States, Weinstein has proven to be able to perform under pressure with selection on the line. At the 2022 U.S. Trials, less than two months after her 15th birthday, Weinstein placed 2nd to Katie Ledecky in the 200 free to qualify for the 2022 World Championships. After gaining international experience in Budapest, placing 10th in the 200 free while leading off the victorious American 800 free relay in a personal best time of 1:56.71, Weinstein had another big domestic swim in 2023. At U.S. Nationals, the 16-year-old upset Ledecky in the 200 free in a new PB of 1:55.26, a time that stood up as the 6th-fastest in the world for the year. At the World Championships, however, Weinstein missed the 200 free final in 12th (1:57.03) and was left off the U.S. 800 free relay. With plenty of experience under her belt at such a young age, look for Weinstein to make an impact in Paris. Whether or not that results in an individual medal remains to be seen—she’ll need to be 1:54 in the 200 free. With bests of 4:06.2 and 8:21.0 in the 400 and 800, she could also be in the hunt in those races, too, but drops will be necessary.
#38: Peng Xuwei, China – Barring another upset at the U.S. Trials, gold and silver in the women’s 200 backstroke in Paris is essentially locked up with Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith dominating the event. That third spot, however, is fairly wide open, and Peng took full advantage of that in Fukuoka, snaring the bronze medal in 2:06.74, a significant improvement after being in the 2:08s in the two previous years. Also a consistent 59-mid backstroker, Peng, who turned 21 in January, is a legitimate Olympic medal contender in the 200 back and is still at an age where another time drop wouldn’t be surprising. The main thing working against her is that whoever snags the second U.S. spot will have likely had to go at least 2:05 to get there, so a medal is no slam dunk.
#37: Lana Pudar, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Pudar has the weight of a nation behind her. Possibly Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most-accomplished athlete, already, since the breakup of Yugoslavia, she was 4th at last year’s World Championships in the 200 fly and earned her second straight BIH Sportswoman of the Year award. Having turned 18 in mid-January, Pudar is an Olympic medal contender in the 200 fly to be sure, and she could also make some noise in the 100 fly after cracking the world’s top 10 last year (56.95). She’ll also race both events in Doha.
#36: Abbey Weitzeil, USA – As an established veteran, Weitzeil is coming off arguably the most impressive year of her career, having set lifetime bests in the 50 free (24.00) and 100 free (52.92) at U.S. Nationals. Despite ranking #2 in the world for the year in the 50, Weitzeil narrowly missed a medal in Fukuoka by taking 4th (24.32), and was 6th in the 100 free (53.34) with her PB ranking #8 worldwide. Now 27, the former Cal Golden Bear played a key role on the U.S. relays in Fukuoka, collecting four medals, and that will remain the case in Paris if she’s able to maintain this form. The real question will be if she can deliver that elusive individual medal that she’s yet to claim at the Olympics and LC World Championships.
#35: Benedetta Pilato, Italy – Not unlike van Niekerk, Pilato has had more of a presence atop the global leaderboard in the 50 breast compared to the 100-meter event, winning silver at the 2019 World Championships at just 14 and then setting the world record in 2021 in 29.30. After being disqualified in the 100 breast in her Olympic debut in Tokyo, the Italian broke through in the 100 by winning the 2022 world title, clocking 1:05.93 in an objectively slow final. Pilato set a PB of 1:05.70 earlier in 2022 and was 1:05.75 last year, ranking 9th in the world, though she missed qualifying for the Italian team at Worlds in the event. The now 18-year-old won bronze in the 50 breast in Fukuoka and will be in hunt for her first title in the event in Doha after winning three consecutive medals from 2019 to 2023. In terms of Paris and the 100 breast, Pilato is still in the hunt for a medal—despite Ruta Meilutyte going 1:04.62, it still only took 1:05.94 to claim bronze in Fukuoka.
#34: Isabel Gose, Germany – Gose had what might be regarded as her big international breakout at the 2022 European Championships, winning gold in the 400 free and adding individual medals in the 200 and 800 free. However, the German native has been chipping away at the elite fields we see at the Olympics and World Championships in her young career and seems to be on the precipice of a medal. She was a finalist in the 400 free and placed 9th in both the 200 and 800 free at the Tokyo Olympics at 19, and then at the 2022 World Championships, was a finalist in all three events and placed as high as 5th in the 400 free. In Fukuoka, at 21, Gose was once again a finalist in all three, setting lifetime bests across the board. Despite falling short of the podium, her impressive range tells us we could see her with a medal in 2024 in either the 800 (8:17.95) or 1500 (15:54.58). Her best event has been the 400 free, but she faces the daunting task of competing in the same era as four of the five women in history to have broken 4:00. Prior to Paris, she’ll tackle all three distances in Doha and vie for the podium.
#33: Elizabeth Dekkers, Australia – Dekkers’s name may not yet carry the same weight in the echelon of Australian butterfliers that Susie O’Neill’s, Jessicah Schipper’s, and Emma McKeon’s does, but Dekkers is still just a teenager and already is a Commonwealth gold medalist in the 200 fly. A win that catapulted her to a Short Course Worlds bronze and a runner-up finish at the 2023 World Championships. Dekkers currently ranks as the 14th fastest performer in the 200 and could easily medal in the Olympics. The only thing working against Dekkers is that she only has one event in which she is in medal contention, and it includes three of the five fastest women ever: Regan Smith, Zhang Yufei and Summer McIntosh.
#32: Simona Quadarella, Italy – If It weren’t for Katie Ledecky, Quadarella would be a lot higher up on this list. The reigning Olympic bronze medalist in the 800 free, Quadarella has medaled at every long course World Champs dating back to 2017. At the most recent one, she took silver in the 1500 (15:43.31) and ranks as the 4th fastest ever in the event (15:40.89 from 2019). If the Italian wishes to continue her streak of consecutive medals, she’ll have to hold off a strong and growing field in the women’s distance freestyle events. She’s not old by any stretch, having turned 25 in December, but other than Ledecky, is the oldest swimmer that ranked in the top 10 last year in the 800 free and second-oldest (to Australian Moesha Johnson) in the 1500.
#31: Marrit Steenbergen, Netherlands – Steenbergen, who won a pair of relay medals at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, has seen a career resurgence over the last two years. After an incredible European Championship campaign (four gold and seven total medals) and four medals including an individual title at Short Course Worlds in 2022, the Dutchwoman picked up the bronze medal in the 100 free at the 2023 World Championships. The now 24-year-old was also a finalist in the 50 free, 200 free and 200 IM in Fukuoka, and ranked top-10 in the world for the year in the 100 free (52.71), 200 free (1:55.51) and 200 IM (2:09.16). Steenbergen is versatile, has proven she can perform on the big stage, and tends to fly under the radar, making her a dangerous swimmer in both Doha and Paris.
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