Via Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
After an unparalleled yr of racing that incorporated the Olympics sandwiched between the Lengthy Path and Quick Path Global Championships, it’s time to begin liberating our 5th annual Best 100 listing—take a look at final yr’s ratings right here.
As in earlier years, we’ve taken a statistically pushed means reliant essentially upon international ratings and medals gained on the Olympics, and to a lesser extent, Quick Path Worlds and the 2024 Worlds in Doha. We’ve additionally taken under consideration issues similar to possible, long term medal alternatives, accidents, and flexibility. Lengthy route is weighted greater than brief route, regardless that efficiency possible in each codecs is factored in.
After a big contingent of Russian and Belarusian swimmers raced at Quick Path Worlds in December, the ones swimmers have began to transport again up the ratings when they have been low at the lists final yr because of loss of festival.
We’ll be breaking down the highest 100 into a couple of installments, so stay an eye fixed out as they’re launched.
Those lists are, by way of nature, subjective. For those who disagree, depart your ideas/ranks within the feedback.
Thanks to Daniel Takata for his lend a hand with the knowledge and compiling the ratings. Madeline Folsom contributed to this record.
Ladies’s Scores:
#100 – #91
#90 – #81
#80 – #71
#70 – #61
#60 – #51
#50 – #41
#40 – #31
#30 – #21
#20 – #11
#10 – #1
#90: Moesha Johnson, Australia (2024 Rank: 76) — Moesha Johnson ranked eighth on the planet within the ladies’s 1500 freestyle final season and completed sixth within the tournament in Tokyo. Alternatively, the place she in reality shines is open water, the place she gained Olympic silver in Paris. She’s construction reasonably a medal haul for herself in open water and gained gold on the 2024 Worlds within the workforce open water tournament. This listing focuses totally on pool swimming, which pushes Johnson additional down those ratings. However in spite of her good fortune in open water, Johnson continues to exhibit her talent within the pool. No longer simplest did she last within the 1500 unfastened on the Olympics, she returned to the pool for the 2024 SC Worlds, the place she completed sixth in an entire life splendid (15:45.07).
#89: Analia Pigree, France (2024 Rank: NR) — Analia Pigree is a 50 backstroke specialist, and, as that tournament doesn’t function at the Olympic time table, had an uphill adventure to Olympic qualification. She used to be off the lifetime bests she set final summer time within the 100 unfastened/100 again and in spite of environment a PB within the 50 unfastened on the French Championships, overlooked qualifying for the Olympics. In 2024, she ranked forty fourth on the planet within the 100 again and fiftieth within the 50 unfastened. She represented France to finish the yr at SC Worlds, hanging 5th within the 50 backstroke, 18th within the 100 unfastened, and twenty first within the 50 unfastened. With the 2025 Global Championships at the horizon and the 50 backstroke again at the time table, Pigree has made our best 100 and could have the danger to get again at the podium at a senior world meet. However, she’ll wish to proceed to increase her Olympic occasions to transport upper in those ratings.
#88: Simone Manuel, USA (2024 Rank: NR) — After years of labor, Simone Manuel finished her comeback to the highest stage {of professional} swimming in 2024 by way of making her third-straight Olympic workforce. Manuel first certified as a part of the ladies’s 4×100 freestyle relay, then added a person berth within the 50 freestyle. Her splendid swims of the yr got here in Indianapolis, however Manuel walked away with two silver medals from relays on the Paris Video games. She helped set an Americas document within the 4×100 freestyle relay last (3:30.20) and swam at the 4×200 freestyle prelims relay. Manuel has been changed because the go-to anchor for the American ladies’s relays, however together with her comeback entire, it’s as much as Manuel to come to a decision what’s subsequent for her within the recreation. She’s proven she’s nonetheless in a position to chasing it, which has facilitated her go back to those ratings after being absent in 2024.
#87: Lydia Jacoby, USA (2024 Rank: 23) — Lydia Jacoby used to be the 100 breaststroke bronze medalist on the 2023 Global Championships. Jacoby arrived on the U.S. Olympic Trials with a season-best of one:05.74 however didn’t means that point in Indianapolis and located herself at the improper aspect of the contact within the 100 breaststroke last for the second one time in 3 years. She took 1/3, lacking the danger to protect her Olympic gold from Tokyo, and withdrew from the remainder of the meet. Her 1:05.74 would’ve earned her a place within the Olympic last, however Jacoby’s struggles to make world rosters and being hyper-specialized within the 100 breaststroke stay her from being upper at the listing in spite of her confirmed skill to make world podiums. Since Trials, Jacoby turns out to have hit the reset button; she’s became professional and can teach in Spain whilst finding out in another country for the semester. The alternate in surroundings may just turn out to be what she wishes to seek out her long ago onto the uss world roster, however the uncertainty is what’s driven her additional down the ranks than she used to be final yr.
#86: Jamie Perkins, Australia (2024 Rank: NR) — The Australian ladies are so deep within the freestyle occasions that Jamie Perkins will get a bit of overpassed, and it additionally pushes her additional down ratings like those. However quietly, Perkins had a robust 2024; the 19-year-old certified for her debut Video games, incomes a person berth within the 400 unfastened and a relay spot at the ladies’s 4×200 unfastened relay, swimming an entire life splendid 1:56.22 within the latter. She hit an entire life splendid within the Paris 400 freestyle prelims, clocking 4:03.30 to qualify for the overall, the place she completed eighth. That swim ranks her thirtieth all-time within the tournament. Perkins earned an Olympic gold courtesy of her prelims effort at the ladies’s 4×200 freestyle relay. It’s onerous to wreck into the highest echelon of Australian ladies’s freestyle, however Perkins will attempt to use the momentum from her 2024 to stay emerging this yr.
#85: Melanie Henique, France (2024 Rank: NR) — Melanie Henique is the second one French swimmer on this batch of ten athletes that focuses on a non-Olympic tournament, which makes it onerous to rank her a lot upper. The place Pigree shines within the 50 backstroke, Henique’s space of experience is the 50 butterfly. She did qualify for the Paris Olympics regardless that, swimming what became out to be a season-best 24.53 within the 50 freestyle on the French Championships, which ties her for twenty second on the planet final season. In Paris, Henique added from the French Championships and completed twenty second general. Like Pigree, she’ll get her likelihood to polish in her splendid tournament on the Global Championships this season. At 32, she’s searching for her fourth Worlds medal after incomes bronze in 2011 and silver in 2022 and 2024.
#84: Marie Wattel, France (2024 Rank: NR) — We’ve were given Marie Wattel, 27, sandwiched between two of her teammates at the French nationwide workforce. In contrast to the 2 that we’ve already mentioned, Wattel’s splendid occasions are at the Olympic time table. She competed at her 1/3 Video games in entrance of a home-nation crowd in Paris and got here simply shy of lacking the 100 butterfly last with a 57.24 for ninth position, and seventeenth on the planet for the yr. The 100 fly is Wattel’s splendid tournament, however she could also be a robust 100 freestyler, and she or he completed tenth within the tournament on the Olympics. Wattel’s splendid within the 100 unfastened is from 2021 and her 100 fly splendid is from 2022, however even with out enhancements previously couple years, she’s difficult for a lane within the finals of the most important world meets. Wattel hasn’t raced because the Video games, so we’ll have to attend to peer what shape she’s bringing into the brand new yr.
#83: Emma Terebo, France (2024 Rank: NR) — Emma Terebo used to be a nice marvel final yr, as she made swiftly huge enhancements within the 100/200 backstroke this season. Within the lead as much as the Video games, the 26-year-old broke 59 seconds for the primary time within the 100 backstroke (58.79) and swam an entire life splendid 2:08.45 within the 200 backstroke. Terebo didn’t mirror the ones instances at her debut Video games, however she nonetheless landed a finals berth within the 100 again and took seventh, then completed ninth within the 200 backstroke. She additionally confirmed tenacity all over the Video games, proceeding to beef up on her 100 backstroke time till she virtually were given again below the 59-second barrier with a 59.00 main off France’s 4×100 medley relay right through the Video games’ last consultation.
#82: Maria Fernanda de Oliviera da Silva Costa, Brazil (2024 Rank: NR) — Brazil has been forging a robust mid-distance freestyle corps for years, and now, Maria Costa is firmly main that rate at the ladies’s aspect. After environment South American data within the 200/400 freestyle and four×200 freestyle relay, Costa turned into the primary Brazilian lady in 76 years to qualify for the 400 freestyle Olympic last, the place she took seventh. She reduced her continental document within the 200 freestyle on the Video games as smartly, swimming a 1:56.06, which tied her for 14th on the planet final season. Her absolute best score comes within the 400 freestyle, the place her 4:02.86 from Doha tests in ninth. Costa’s candy spot is from the 200 to 800 and is appearing no indicators of slowing down heading into 2025.
#81: Ellen Walshe, Eire (2024 Rank: NR) — Ellen Walshe, 23, has been swimming world fly and IM occasions since 2021, and she or he holds 8 Irish Nationwide Data within the occasions, and she or he made her first Olympic and Worlds finals this yr. On the Video games, Walshe completed eighth within the 400 IM, swimming 4:40.70. She additionally made the semi-final si n the 200 IM, coming in thirteenth at 2:11.35. Walshe additionally swam on the SC Global Champs, the place she completed best 8 in 3 occasions, the 100 fly (sixth, 55.68), 200 IM (fifth, 2:05.52), 400 IM (fifth, 4:29.86), all of that have been new Nationwide Data. She additionally broke the 50 fly (14th, 25.65) and 100 IM (ninth, 58.85) data within the semifinals.
Learn the entire tale on SwimSwam: SwimSwam’s Best 100 For 2025: Ladies’s #81-90
