SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2025: Men’s #50-41

After an unprecedented year of racing that included the Olympics sandwiched between the Long Course and Short Course World Championships, it’s time to start releasing our fifth annual Top 100 list—check out last year’s rankings here.

As in previous years, we’ve taken a statistically driven approach reliant primarily upon world rankings and medals won at the Olympics and, to a lesser extent, Short Course Worlds and the 2024 Worlds in Doha. We’ve also taken into account things such as potential, future medal opportunities, injuries, and versatility. Long course is weighted more heavily than short course, though performance potential in both formats is factored in.

After a large contingent of Russian and Belarusian swimmers raced at Short Course Worlds in December, those swimmers have started to move back up the rankings after they were low on the lists last year due to lack of competition.

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.

Thank you to Daniel Takata for his help with the data and compiling the rankings. Braden Keith 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

#50: Tom Dean, Great Britain (2024 Rank: 10) — The British men have become notorious for their depth in the 200 freestyle. That strength was a double-edged sword for Tom Dean, one of the men who helped establish that legacy, as he missed out on his chance to defend his 200 freestyle Olympic gold in Paris. He swam a 1:45.09 at the British Trials, which held up for 9th in the world last year. Dean still qualified for Team GB, earning a roster spot in the 200 IM and on the 4×100 and 4×200 freestyle relays. Dean took 5th in his lone individual event in Paris, swimming a 1:56.46 that’s just off his lifetime best 1:56.07. He ranked 7th on the year, behind a slew of 1:55s. He split 1:45.28 on the 4×200 freestyle relay, helping Great Britain become the first nation to defend its Olympic relay gold with the same four swimmers. Dean hasn’t raced since the Olympic Games, and as long as he chooses to suit up in 2025, he will likely remain a key piece of the British roster. It hurt his stock in these rankings only to make the Olympic roster in one individual event but at his best, Dean is a threat in both the 200 freestyle and 200 IM.

#49: Nyls Korstanje, Netherlands (2024 Rank: 55) — Sprint butterflyer Nyls Korstanje swam a lifetime best of 50.59 in the Paris 100 butterfly semifinals, qualifying 4th for the final in a deep field that left many big names on the outside looking in. The swim ranks him 7th in the world last season. Korstanje added slightly in the final and placed 6th in 50.83. The swim improved on his 12th-place finish in Tokyo. Even with that success, Korstanje excelled during the short-course season, swimming lifetime bests in the 50/100 fly. Korstanje won his first individual Worlds medal in LCM or SCM at the 2024 Worlds in Budapest, winning silver and becoming the second-fastest performer in history. Long-course is weighted more heavily in these rankings, but Korstanje improved in both pool distances this past year. And with the 50 butterfly back on the schedule for Worlds, he’s got another medal opportunity to shoot for this year.

#48: Kim Woomin, South Korea (2024 Rank: 65) — Kim Woomin burst onto the global stage at the beginning of 2024, winning the men’s 400 freestyle world title in Doha with a 3:42.71. With the swim, he became the first South Korean man since Park Taehwan in 2011 to stand atop the Worlds podium in the event. He remained at the forefront of the international scene during the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, lowering his best to 3:42.42 to win at the Monaco Mare Nostrum stop. Kim, 23, delivered at the Games, winning bronze in 3:42.50, holding off Australia’s Sam Short by .14 seconds. With the swim, he earned South Korea’s first Olympic medal since 2012. Kim is a versatile freestyler, he lowered his 200 freestyle best to 1:45.68 in March 2024 and clocked 7:46.03 to win the 800 freestyle at the 2023 Asian Games. The freestyle mid-distance events are continually crowded, but Kim has carved out a space for himself over the last 12 months and is now the 12th fastest performer in 400 free history.

#47: Hunter Armstrong, USA (2024 Rank: 24) — Hunter Armstrong slipped on the start of the men’s 100 backstroke semifinal at the U.S. Olympic Trials. But the “Magic Man” clawed his way back through the field, making the final and ultimately qualifying for his second-straight Olympic Games in the event. Armstrong also finished 4th in the 100 freestyle, qualifying for the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay after swimming a lifetime best 47.59 in the semifinals. Armstrong’s best swim of the Paris Olympics came on that relay; he delivered a blistering 46.75 split to help the U.S. men win gold. Armstrong has a history of eking through round-to-round before unleashing in the final, and whether that plan misfired or he had a bad swim, Armstrong found himself locked out of the men’s 100 backstroke final in 11th. The 24-year-old hasn’t raced since Paris, but he has made a training change, returning to Ohio State after a stint at Cal. He also said he’s “shifted [his] focus from just swimming into setting up [his] life for after swimming.” The World Championships brings the 50 backstroke, where Armstrong is the world record holder, back into the event lineup; Armstrong is one of the U.S.’s most experienced sprint backstrokers, and his 100 freestyle split at the Games is intriguing.

#46: Caeleb Dressel, USA (2024 Rank: 29) — Caeleb Dressel completed his comeback to professional swimming in 2024. After a complicated two years where he reevaluated his relationship with the sport, Dressel made his third Olympic team. He had a strong week at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, qualifying for the Games individually in the 100 butterfly (50.19) and 50 freestyle (21.41), and as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay with a 3rd place in the 100 freestyle (47.53). Dressel’s fastest swims of the year came at Trials; he didn’t match them in Paris but still placed 6th in the 50 freestyle (21.61). He also took 13th in the 100 butterfly (51.57). He anchored the U.S. men’s 4×100 freestyle relay to gold, the 10th Olympic medal of his career, and the American men’s only gold until the final day of competition. With another child on the way, Dressel is doing his “due diligence” as he figures out what 2025 and the next Olympic cycle will look like. But if 2024 was it for Dressel, it was an appropriate send-off for a swimmer who has inspired many not only for his success in the pool but for his openness about his mental health and the work it took to return to the pool.

#45: Jordan Crooks, Cayman Islands (2024 Rank: 77) — 19.90. Jordan Crooks made history at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, becoming the first man to break the 20-second barrier in the 50 freestyle–a feat many of the biggest sprinters in the sport’s history came up just short of achieving. It was a legendary swim from Crooks in the Budapest semifinals as he lowered the world record he set in prelims. The next evening, he defended his 50 freestyle world title, adding a second medal to his haul after taking bronze in the 100 freestyle. Crooks has developed a pattern of having his best swim in prelims/semifinals and missing his best during the international final. It happened in both the 50 and 100 freestyle in Budapest, as it did in the 50 freestyle at the 2022 SC Worlds. The same thing happened at the Paris Games, though Crooks still showed that he could translate his SCM prowess into the long-course pool. He took 8th in Paris, becoming the first Caymanian to make a swimming Olympic final after hitting a national record 21.51 in prelims. Crooks has developed into an incredible short-course sprinter (yards and meters), and while his development in LCM has been slower, he’s continued to make steady progress. Crooks has shown he can throw down the historic time, but it would be incredible to see him produce the historic time in the international final.

#44: Nic Fink, USA (2024 Rank: 19) — Nic Fink has been the United States’ most dependable breaststroker over the last Olympic cycle, continually finding a way onto the podium and delivering timely relay splits. Fink was one of the biggest U.S names to attend the Doha World Championships, and he won five medals, medaling across all three individual breaststroke distances and winning the 100 breaststroke. Fink seemed to put more emphasis on the 100 breaststroke rather than the 200 (which he made his first Olympic team in) and he qualified for his second Games in the 100 breaststroke. The men’s 100 breaststroke final in Paris was slow, but Fink still earned the first Olympic medal of his career in a tie for silver with Adam Peaty. He then earned two more medals (1 gold, and 1 silver) contributing to relays. At 31, Fink has already begun to think beyond his professional swimming career, but he’s made no public announcement about his retirement plans. While the young American breaststrokers have caught up to him in the 200 breaststroke, Fink still holds the advantage over the field in the 100 breast. He’s racked up plenty of experience and as long as he wants to continue swimming, knows what it takes to qualify for the U.S international roster and find a way onto the podium at the big meet, no matter how fast the field.

#43: Roman Mityukov, Switzerland (2024 Rank: 39) — The Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 back, Mityukov took advantage of a light field in this event (his time was almost a second slower than the bronze medalist from 2016) to win his country’s 4th-ever Olympic medal in swimming. Still, an Olympic medal is an Olympic medal, and you can only race the swimmers who show up. He dropped half a second to land on that podium in 2024 and has dropped time basically every year of his adult life. Not much of a medal hope in any other event, but in this one, he’s a good bet for another podium finish in Singapore.

#42: Pieter Coetze, South Africa (2024 Rank: 50) — South African backstroker Pieter Coetze put a lot of emphasis in 2024, even skipping out on the 2023 World Championships to focus on last year’s packed schedule. He did show up for the 2024 World Championships in Doha, earning bronze in the 200 back in the lead-up to the Olympic Games. Coetze made finals in the 100 and 200 backstroke in Paris, finishing 5th and 7th, respectively. He broke the African record in both events (52.68/1:55.60), including downing the super-suited 200 back world record, which stood since 2009. Coetze’s onslaught on the continental record books continued at the World Cup. He reset the African record in the 50/100 backstroke as he completed Triple Crowns in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Coetze skipped the 2024 SC Worlds but has established himself as a versatile backstroker on the world stage and will look to push even further up the ranks in 2025.

#41: Chris Guiliano, USA (2024 Rank: NR) — Chris Guiliano continued his meteoric rise on the U.S. national scene in 2024. He followed up his surprise qualification to the 2023 World Championship team with a breakout season in yards that saw him vault up the all-time ranks in the sprint freestyle events. He rose even higher at the U.S. Olympic Trials, becoming the first American man since Matt Biondi to qualify for the Olympics in the 50/100/200 freestyle. Guiliano swam lifetime bests in all three events (21.59/47.25/1:45.38) as he qualified for his debut Games, and in many ways, Trials was the peak of his season as those times held up to rank 9th/4th/12th on the year. He missed the semifinals in both the 50 and 200 freestyle at the Paris Olympics. He made the 100 freestyle final and placed 8th. If Guiliano can implement the lessons from his first Games, it will likely serve him well in 2025 and further along in the Olympic quad. He was likely closer to his goals at the 2024 Short Course World Championship, taking fourth in the 50/100 freestyle. Since the Notre Dame men’s swimming team’s suspension, Guiliano has popped up at Texas to electrify their sprint squad, which presents another big learning opportunity as he trains with Bob Bowman and one of the most star-studded teams in the United States.