Reviewing SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2025
A little over a year ago, SwimSwam started releasing the Top 100 for 2025. This is a list we make annually, where we do our best to rank men and women for the coming calendar year.
With 2025 wrapping up, and the first of our 2026 lists coming out earlier this week, it is time to review how we did with last year’s rankings.
2025 Women’s Rankings
Rank | Swimmer | Individual World Championships Medal(s)
1 | Summer McIntosh (https://swimswam.com/bio/summer-mcintosh/) | 4 gold, 1 bronze
2 | Kaylee McKeown (https://swimswam.com/bio/kaylee-mckeown/) | 2 gold
3 | Katie Ledecky (https://swimswam.com/bio/katie-ledecky/) | 2 gold, 1 bronze
4 | Gretchen Walsh (https://swimswam.com/bio/gretchen-walsh/) | 2 gold
5 | Kate Douglass (https://swimswam.com/bio/kate-douglass/) | 1 gold, 1 silver
6 | Regan Smith (https://swimswam.com/bio/regan-smith/) | 4 silver
7 | Mollie O’Callaghan | 1 gold, 1 silver
8 | Torri Huske (https://swimswam.com/bio/torri-huske/) | 1 bronze
9 | Tang Qianting (https://swimswam.com/tag/tang-qianting/) | 1 silver, 1 bronze
10 | Zhang Yufei (https://swimswam.com/bio/zhang-yufei/)
11 | Evgeniia Chikunova (https://swimswam.com/tag/evgeniia-chikunova/) | 1 silver
12 | Siobhan Haughey (https://swimswam.com/bio/siobhan-haughey/)
13 | Katie Grimes (https://swimswam.com/bio/katie-grimes/)
14 | Isabel Gose (https://swimswam.com/tag/isabel-gose/)
15 | Katharine Berkoff (https://swimswam.com/bio/katharine-berkoff/) | 1 gold, 1 bronze
16 | Lani Pallister (https://swimswam.com/bio/lani-pallister/) | 1 silver, 1 bronze
17 | Alex Walsh (https://swimswam.com/bio/alex-walsh/) | 1 silver
18 | Anastasiya Kirpichnikova (https://swimswam.com/tag/anastasiya-kirpichnikova/)
19 | Ruta Meilutyte (https://swimswam.com/bio/ruta-meilutyte/) | 1 gold
20 | Claire Curzan (https://swimswam.com/bio/claire-curzan/)
21 | Tes Schouten (https://swimswam.com/tag/tes-schouten/)
22 | Meg Harris (https://swimswam.com/tag/meg-harris/) | 1 gold
23 | Claire Weinstein (https://swimswam.com/bio/claire-weinstein/) | 1 bronze
24 | Paige Madden (https://swimswam.com/bio/paige-madden/)
25 | Mary-Sophie Harvey (https://swimswam.com/bio/mary-sophie-harvey/) | 1 bronze
26 | Marrit Steenbergen (https://swimswam.com/bio/marrit-steenbergen/) | 1 gold
27 | Yang Junxuan (https://swimswam.com/bio/yang-junxuan/)
28 | Simona Quadarella (https://swimswam.com/bio/simona-quadarella/) | 1 silver
29 | Li Bingjie (https://swimswam.com/bio/li-bingjie/) | 2 silver
30 | Erika Fairweather (https://swimswam.com/tag/erika-fairweather/)
31 | Iona Anderson (https://swimswam.com/tag/iona-anderson/)
32 | Mona McSharry (https://swimswam.com/tag/mona-mcsharry/)
33 | Kylie Masse (https://swimswam.com/bio/kylie-masse/)
34 | Benedetta Pilato (https://swimswam.com/bio/benedetta-pilato/) | 1 bronze
35 | Elizabeth Dekkers (https://swimswam.com/bio/elizabeth-dekkers/) | 1 bronze
36 | Eneli Jefimova (https://swimswam.com/tag/eneli-jefimova/)
37 | Yu Yiting (https://swimswam.com/tag/yu-yiting/)
38 | Lilly King (https://swimswam.com/bio/lilly-king/)
39 | Shayna Jack (https://swimswam.com/bio/shayna-jack/)
40 | Anastasia Gorbenko (https://swimswam.com/tag/anastasia-gorbenko/)
41 | Feya Colbert
42 | Angelina Kohler
43 | Beryl Gastaldello (https://swimswam.com/bio/beryl-gastaldello/)
44 | Phoebe Bacon (https://swimswam.com/bio/phoebe-bacon/)
45 | Angharad Evans (https://swimswam.com/tag/angharad-evans/)
46 | Tessa Giele (https://swimswam.com/tag/tessa-giele/)
47 | Abbie Wood (https://swimswam.com/tag/abbie-wood/)
48 | Kasia Wasick (https://swimswam.com/bio/kasia-wasick/)
49 | Alex Shackell (https://swimswam.com/bio/alex-shackell/)
50 | Ariarne Titmus (https://swimswam.com/bio/ariarne-titmus/)
51 | Emma Weyant (https://swimswam.com/bio/emma-weyant/)
52 | Mizuki Hirai (https://swimswam.com/tag/mizuki-hirai/)
53 | Jaclyn Barclay (https://swimswam.com/tag/jaclyn-barclay/)
54 | Alexandria Perkins (https://swimswam.com/tag/alexandria-perkins/)
55 | Anastasiya Shkurdai (https://swimswam.com/tag/anastasiya-shkurdai/)
56 | Sydney Pickrem (https://swimswam.com/bio/sydney-pickrem/)
57 | Vivien Jackl (https://swimswam.com/tag/vivien-jackl/)
58 | Abbey Connor (https://swimswam.com/tag/abbey-connor/)
59 | Mio Narita (https://swimswam.com/tag/mio-narita/) | 1 bronze
60 | Ingrid Wilm (https://swimswam.com/tag/ingrid-wilm/)
61 | Barbora Seemanova (https://swimswam.com/tag/barbora-seemanova/)
62 | Freya Anderson (https://swimswam.com/bio/freya-anderson/)
63 | Arina Surkova (https://swimswam.com/tag/arina-surkova/)
64 | Alina Zmushka (https://swimswam.com/tag/alina-zmushka/) | 1 bronze
65 | Kennedy Noble (https://swimswam.com/tag/kennedy-noble/)
66 | Jenna Forrester (https://swimswam.com/tag/jenna-forrester/) | 1 silver
67 | Lara van Niekerk (https://swimswam.com/tag/lara-van-niekerk/)
68 | Louise Hansson (https://swimswam.com/bio/louise-hansson/)
69 | Nikolett Padar (https://swimswam.com/tag/nikolett-padar/)
70 | Jillian Cox (https://swimswam.com/bio/jillian-cox/)
71 | Airi Mitsui (https://swimswam.com/tag/airi-mitsui/)
72 | Ella Ramsay (https://swimswam.com/tag/ella-ramsay/)
73 | Olivia Wunsch (https://swimswam.com/tag/olivia-wunsch/)
74 | Chen Luying (https://swimswam.com/tag/chen-luying/)
75 | Waka Kobori (https://swimswam.com/bio/waka-kobori/)
76 | Brianna Throssell (https://swimswam.com/bio/brianna-throssell/)
77 | Ksenia Misharina (https://swimswam.com/tag/ksenia-misharina/)
78 | Rebecca Meder (https://swimswam.com/tag/rebecca-meder/)
79 | Katie Shanahan (https://swimswam.com/tag/katie-shanahan/)
80 | Amelie Blocksidge (https://swimswam.com/tag/amelie-blocksidge/)
81 | Ellen Walshe (https://swimswam.com/tag/ellen-walshe/)
82 | Maria Costa (https://swimswam.com/tag/maria-costa/)
83 | Emma Terebo (https://swimswam.com/tag/emma-terebo/)
84 | Marie Wattel (https://swimswam.com/bio/marie-wattel/)
85 | Melanie Henique (https://swimswam.com/tag/melanie-henique/)
86 | Jamie Perkins (https://swimswam.com/tag/jamie-perkins/)
87 | Lydia Jacoby (https://swimswam.com/bio/lydia-jacoby/)
88 | Simone Manuel (https://swimswam.com/bio/simone-manuel/)
89 | Analia Pigree (https://swimswam.com/tag/analia-pigree/)
90 | Moesha Johnson (https://swimswam.com/tag/moesha-johnson/) | 3 golds (open water)
91 | Helena Rosendahl Bach (https://swimswam.com/tag/helena-rosendahl-bach/)
92 | Eve Thomas (https://swimswam.com/tag/eve-thomas/)
93 | Kotryna Teterevkova (https://swimswam.com/tag/kotryna-teterevkova/)
94 | Rhyan White (https://swimswam.com/bio/rhyan-white/)
95 | Rikako Ikee (https://swimswam.com/bio/rikako-ikee/)
96 | Ageha Tanigawa (https://swimswam.com/tag/ageha-tanigawa/)
97 | Bella Sims (https://swimswam.com/bio/bella-sims/)
98 | Liu Yaxin (https://swimswam.com/tag/liu-yaxin/)
99 | Roos Van Otterdijk (https://swimswam.com/tag/roos-vanotterdijk/) | 1 silver, 1 bronze
100 | Alina Gaifutdinova (https://swimswam.com/tag/alina-gaifutdinova/)
Top 10 Analysis
When looking at last year’s rankings, our top 10 picks were strong with nine of the 10 winning at least one individual medal at Worlds and eight of them winning multiple medals. The only place we were slightly off the mark in the top 10 was the #10 ranked Chinese butterflyer, Zhang Yufei (https://swimswam.com/bio/zhang-yufei/) . Zhang was coming off three bronze medals at the 2024 Olympics, and it seemed likely she would win multiple at Worlds as well. She ended up only swimming the 100 fly where she finished 4th overall.
Katharine Berkoff (https://swimswam.com/bio/katharine-berkoff/) and Lani Pallister (https://swimswam.com/bio/lani-pallister/) both won multiple medals as well, sitting at #15 and #16 respectively. Berkoff won the gold medal in the 50 backstroke and a bronze in the 100 back while Pallister took a silver in the 800 free and a bronze in the 1500.
There were a few medalists that we missed ranking entirely, with German breaststroker Anna Elendt (https://swimswam.com/bio/anna-elendt/) being our biggest oversight. After not making an Olympic semifinal in 2024, she did not earn a spot on our top 100, but she had a massive turn around in 2025 that culminated in her earning the gold medal in the women’s 100 breaststroke at the World Championships as our only unranked gold medalist on the women’s side.
At #26, Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen (https://swimswam.com/bio/marrit-steenbergen/) was the lowest ranked pool swimming gold medalist with her win in the 100 freestyle, and at #90 Moesha Johnson (https://swimswam.com/tag/moesha-johnson/) was the lowest ranked gold medalist with three open water gold medals, though our ranking was focused on pool swimming only.
Roos Van Otterdijk (https://swimswam.com/tag/roos-vanotterdijk/) was another majorly under-ranked swimmer in 2025, coming in at 99 to just make the list before making five event semifinals and winning a silver medal in the 100 fly and a bronze medal in the 50 fly at the 2025 World Championships.
The event we struggled the most with on the women’s side was the 50 free. Gold medalist Meg Harris (https://swimswam.com/tag/meg-harris/) was ranked 22nd and silver medalist Wu Qingfeng (https://swimswam.com/tag/wu-qingfeng/) and bronze medalist Cheng Yujie (https://swimswam.com/tag/cheng-yujie/) went completely unranked.
There were two other medalists we missed ranking, Wan Letian (https://swimswam.com/tag/wan-letian/) — who won bronze in the 50 back — and Kaylene Corbett (https://swimswam.com/tag/kaylene-corbett/) — who won bronze in the 200 breast
