SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2026: Men’s #70-61

Note: we’ve excluded swimmers who have no sign of being in the pool in 2026, and hedged on others like Sarah Sjostrom that we expect to be back but don’t really know how they’ll be. These ranks always wind up a bit wonky because there’s so much opacity to the situations.

Men’s Rankings:

• #100-91
• #90-81
• #80-71

#70: Diogo Ribeiro, Portugal (2025 Rank: 78) – Ribeiro has a decorated resume for someone who only turned 21 a few months ago, having won gold medals at the World Championships, European U23 Championships and World Junior Championships in recent years while also owning an individual bronze medal from LC Euros in 2022 and LC Worlds in 2023. Of course, it’s important to note that the two world titles he won came at the 2024 edition in Doha, where many of the world’s best didn’t attend, but he still won silver in the 50 fly at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka and has solidified himself as a contender in the event that will make its Olympic debut in 2028. In 2025, the Portuguese native was 4th in the 50 fly at the World Championships in Singapore, clocking 22.77 to rank 7th in the world. He also went 21.67 in the 50 free at U23 Euros to rank 14th globally, and was also tied for 24th in the world in the 100 fly (51.21) and tied for 83rd in the 100 free (48.63). The European Championship fields in Ribeiro’s best events will be loaded, with five of the six men ahead of him in the 50 fly last year from Europe (though Ben Proud won’t factor after his move to the Enhanced Games), but he’s still a medal hopeful.

#69: Kosuke Makino, Japan (2025 Rank: NR) – After quietly having a strong finish to 2024, despite only racing domestically in Japan, Makino took another step last year to finish 2025 ranked in the top 10 in the world in both medley events, to go along with 13th in the 200 breast. The 20-year-old broke through to qualify for the Japanese World Championship team in March 2025, clocking 1:56.20 in the 200 IM and 4:09.79 in the 400 IM, and then in Singapore, he narrowly missed a lane in the final, going 1:57.51 in the 200 IM semis to finish 9th, just two one-hundredths back of 8th. He was even stronger closing out the year, bringing his 200 IM best time down to 1:55.85 at the Japanese Sports Festival in September, a swim that ranked him 7th in the world for the year. Then, at the Japan Open in November, he set a best time of 2:08.69 in the 200 breast, good for 13th in the world, though notably only fifth-fastest among Japanese men. Makino’s 400 IM time of 4:09.79 from March also ranked 9th in the world in 2025, but again, coming in a stacked event domestically, as it only ranked 4th among Japanese men. His development will be interesting to watch this year–his 200 IM PB was only a half-second slower than what it took to medal at the 2025 Worlds, while in the 400 IM, he was only six-tenths off. What he can do at the Asian Games, amidst the strong Japanese field in his best events, will determine how good his year is.

#68: Adam Peaty, Great Britain (2025 Rank: 28) – After taking a big break after the Paris Olympics, Peaty resurfaced last fall at the World Cup circuit, and given he had been out of competition for 14 months, it was a very impressive showing. The three-time Olympic gold medalist got faster in all three breaststroke events at each leg of the series, starting with SCM times of 26.43/58.27/2:09.74 in Carmel and culminating with 25.87/56.59/2:06.50 in Toronto. Peaty appears reinvigorated as he eyes a run to the Los Angeles Olympics, and while nothing has been confirmed, there’s reason to believe he plans to return to the long course scene this year. Given how quickly he re-established himself at an elite level in short course meters late last year, he remains a legitimate medal threat in 2026, depending on where he chooses to race. The European Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Short Course Worlds could all be in play. And we can’t forget that over the last two years, Peaty is the only man to have broken 58 seconds in the 100 breast, clocking 57.94 in April 2024.

#67: Carlos D’Ambrosio, Italy (2025 Rank: NR) – D’Ambrosio established himself as an elite freestyler last year and will be one to watch in 2026. Set to turn 19 next week, the Italian native ranked tied for 75th in the world in 2024 in the 100 free (48.55) and 47th in the 200 free (1:46.69). In 2025, he elevated his game in a big way, ranking 13th globally in the 200 free (1:45.15) and 17th in the 100 free (47.78) while also breaking into the top 100 in the 50 free (81st at 22.10). He broke the Italian Record in the 200 free in the World Championship semis in 1:45.23, went on to place 6th in the final (1:45.27), and set his 100 free best of 47.78 leading off the Italian men’s 4×100 free relay that won silver, also delivering a pair of 47.3 relay splits in Singapore. One month later at World Juniors, D’Ambrosio won double gold in the 100 free (47.88) and 200 free (1:45.15), resetting his Italian Record in the latter, and added a bronze in the 50 free and recorded two 47.2 splits. He finished out the year with a 5th-place finish in the 100 free at SC Euros (46.08) after notably dropping a 1:41.61 SCM 200 free earlier in the year. He’ll be a medal contender in the 200 free at Euros this year, has a shot in the 100 free, and should be able to make an impact at SC Worlds.

#66: Chris Guiliano, USA (2025 Rank: 41) – After making history in 2024 by becoming the first American since Matt Biondi to make the Olympic team individually in the men’s 50, 100 and 200 free, Guiliano had another solid year in 2025, showing marked improvement in the 50 free while maintaining his spot as one of the world’s best in the 100 free. Despite firing off a time of 47.49 in the 100 free final at U.S. Nationals, Guiliano narrowly missed earning an individual berth in Singapore, placing 3rd, though the swim still ranked him 9th in the world for the year. He also took 5th in the 50 free (21.86) and 7th in the 200 free (1:45.73). At Worlds, he won a pair of relay medals for the U.S., including a 47.66 lead-off on the mixed free relay in the prelims and a 47.43 split on the men’s 4×100 free relay in the final. The 22-year-old had a dynamite finish to the year, showing incredible form on the World Cup circuit in the fall, earning seven podium finishes in the free events and setting new best times in the 200 free (1:40.19) and 100 free (45.50) that rank him 2nd and 4th, respectively, all-time among American men. His lone victory at the World Cup came in the 50 free in Carmel, where he clocked 20.83. At the U.S. Open in December, Guiliano was essentially in peak form, setting a new best of 21.57 in the 50 free to rank 10th in the world for the year while also clocking 47.63 in the 100 free and 1:45.67 in the 200 free, both just shy of his PBs. Given the form he showed in the back half of the year, Guiliano seems to be thriving training under Bob Bowman at Texas, and will be a medal favorite in the 50 and 100 free this year at Pan Pacs (and maybe the 200 free). And after his World Cup performances, the same can be said for Short Course Worlds, especially in the 200 free, where his 1:40.19 swim from Toronto would’ve won silver at the last edition of SC Worlds in 2024.

#65: Asaki Nishikawa, Japan (2025 Rank: NR) – Nishikawa, similar to Makino, made big strides last year to put himself in the conversation of the world’s best medley swimmers. Still just 19, Nishikawa wasn’t an unknown entering 2025, having won the 2024 Junior Pan Pac title in the 400 IM in a time of 4:16.64, but he certainly wasn’t expected to progress as quickly as he has. After lowering his best time to 4:12.28 in late 2024, Nishikawa clocked 4:09.63 at the 2025 Japanese Nationals in March, earning a berth on the World Championship team. He went on to finish 4th in Singapore in a time of 4:10.21, just over a second outside the podium, while contributing a 1:47.77 split on Japan’s 4×200 free relay in the prelim. Finishing out the year on a high note, Nishikawa dropped a time of 4:07.67 in the 400 IM at the Japan Open in late November, ranking him 5th in the world for the year and 4th all-time among Japanese men. He also went 1:57.80 in the 200 IM, good for 23rd in the world, and also closed out 2025 ranked 55th in the 1500 free (15:10.33) and 62nd in the 400 free (3:48.28). If he can build on his spectacular 4:07 400 IM this year, Nishikawa could arguably move into top-three-in-the-world territory. His countryman, Tomoyuki Matsushita, has won silver behind Leon Marchand at each of the last two major international meets (2024 Olympics, 2025 Worlds), and did so both times in 4:08-plus (owning a PB of 4:07.21).

#64: Yamato Fukasawa, Japan (2025 Rank: 69) – Fukasawa followed up his 2024 campaign with a nearly identical 2025 season. In 2024, the Japanese native ranked 5th in the world in the 200 breast (2:07.07) and 23rd in the 100 breast (59.41). Last year, he finished 2nd in the 200 breast (2:07.24) and 16th in the 100 breast (59.24), improving his world rank in both races while posting similar times. The only issue was that in both cases, he set his fastest times of the year early in the calendar in Japan. In 2024, he didn’t crack the Olympic roster, as his 2:07.07 swim came in February at the Konami Open (not the Olympic selection meet). He took a step forward last year in this regard, making the Japanese World Championship team in both events, but ultimately finished 6th in the 200 breast (2:09.21) and 18th in the 100 breast (1:00.23) in Singapore, well shy of the form he showed early in the year. After a solid showing at the World Cup circuit to finish 2025, this year will be a big one for Fukasawa to prove he can perform when it matters most, especially in two events so stacked domestically.

#63: Chen Juner, China (2025 Rank: NR) – Chen returned to top form last year after a quiet 2024 that saw him serve as a relay-only swimmer at the Olympics after breaking the super-suited Chinese Record in the 200 fly in 2023 (1:54.16). After not even swimming the 200 fly in 2024, Chen reset his national mark in the semis at the World Championships in 1:54.02 before placing 7th in the final (1:55.25). The 21-year-old also set best times in the 100 fly (51.03) and 100 free (48.00) last year, ranking him 18th and tied for 25th in the world, respectively. In the 100 fly, he was only seven one-hundredths shy of Li Zhuhao‘s Chinese Record of 50.96. Heading into this year’s Asian Games, Chen is the frontrunner for gold in the 200 fly, the co-favorite in the 100 fly alongside Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma, and he could also be a contender in the 100 free after ranking 4th among Asian men last year.

#62: Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus (2025 Rank: 56) – Shymanovich has consistently been one of the best sprint breaststrokers in the world dating back to 2019, and that continued in 2025. The Belarusian ranked 2nd in the world in the 50 breast in 26.37, the third-fastest swim of his career, while also sitting 18th in the 100 breast (59.34). At the World Championships, however, he didn’t advance past the semis, placing 10th in the 50 breast (26.94) and 12th in the 100 breast (59.44). That’s part of the reason why Shymanovich is a tough swimmer to rank–he’s likely to finish the year with one of the top times in the 50, and he’ll be up there in the 100, but he’s unreliable when it comes to performing at the biggest meets. Presuming that Belarusians can compete at Euros, he’ll be a medal threat in the 50 breast, but in the 100 breast, it might be more of an outside shot given he hasn’t broken 59 since 2023. However, looking towards Short Course Worlds, he’s a gold medal threat as the world record holder in the 100 breast (55.28) and one of the fastest ever in the 50 (25.25).

#61: Xu Jiayu, China (2025 Rank: 58) – Xu has spent the past decade as one of the world’s best backstrokers, most memorably winning back-to-back world titles in the 100 back in 2017 and 2019 and claiming individual silver medals in the event at the 2016 and 2024 Olympics. Despite remaining elite with swims that ranked 6th in the world in the 50 back (24.36) and 9th in the 100 back (52.39) in 2025, Xu only finished 11th in the 100 back (53.14) and 26th in the 50 back (25.08). The 30-year-old should still be the frontrunner for gold in the sprint backstroke events at this year’s Asian Games, but with the new crop of male backstrokers globally getting faster in their early 20s, Xu now finds himself on the back end of the elite curve, rather than at its cutting edge.