SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2024: Men’s #60-51

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.

Men’s Rankings:

• #100 – #91
• #90 – #81
• #80 – 71
• #70 – 61
• #60 – 51
• #50 – #41
• #40 – #31
• #30 – #21
• #20 – #11
• #10 – #1

#60: Alberto Razzetti, Italy – Razzetti is an elite three-event threat in the medleys and the 200 fly, but has yet to break through with a medal at the Olympics or LC Worlds. After his lone final appearance in Fukuoka came with a 7th-place outing in the 400 IM, he was on career-best form in late November at Italian Nationals, clocking 1:56.21 in the 200 IM and 4:09.29 in the 400 IM to rank 7th and 6th in the world, respectively. At the World Championships, it took 1:56.07 and 4:09.41 to medal, so he’s right there, but he’s got to get it done at the right time. The 24-year-old will be in the hunt for multiple podiums at the 2024 Worlds in Doha and SC Worlds at the end of the year. In Paris, he’s got an outside shot.

#59: Sun Jiajun, China – Sun will battle with Yan Zibei for China’s second spot in the 100 breast in Paris behind Qin Haiyang, and he’s got youth on his side after the now 23-year-old broke 59 seconds for the first time at Chinese Nationals in the spring (58.99). But Sun is known more for his pure speed, having emerged as the bronze medalist at the World Championships last year in the 50 breast, going as fast as 26.61 in May. He’s not racing at the 2024 World Championships, but Sun has momentum coming into the year and could easily land a medal in the 100 breast if he continues to improve—in 2022, he didn’t feature anywhere on the global rankings in the 100 breast, and in 2021, his fastest time was 59.83. He’s also got the rare ability to swim breaststroke at a high level and be competitive elsewhere, having won a silver medal in Fukuoka after swimming fly on China’s prelim medley relay.

#58: Guilherme Costa, Brazil – Costa has been consistent over the last two years, holding firm as a 3:43/7:45 distance freestyler. After winning bronze in the 400 free at the 2022 World Championships in 3:43.31, he was 3:43.58 in Fukuoka to finish 4th. In the 800, he’s made back-to-back World finals but hasn’t seriously factored into the medals. Now 26, it’s hard to see him dropping significantly more time, and as the distance events continue to get faster, he’ll be in tough to medal. However, his consistency in the 400 free keeps him in the hunt if anyone slips up in the final. He is schedule to race in Doha, but was only listed in the 200 free.

#57: Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine – Romanchuk finds himself in a tough spot in the ever-evolving men’s distance scene, where the bar has been raised by the likes of Ahmed Hafnaoui, Bobby Finke and Gregorio Paltrinieri over the last two years. In 2022, Romanchuk ranked #2 in the world in the 1500 free (14:36.10) and #3 in the 800 free (7:40.05), both lifetime bests, but last year, 7:43.08 was only good for 9th and 14:40.21 ranked 6th. However, despite the emergence of Hafnaoui and Daniel Wiffen last year to go along with the elite trio of Finke, Paltrinieri and Florian Wellbrock, Romanchuk has proven he can deliver in big moments. The Ukrainian won medals in both races in Tokyo, and upset Paltrinieri on his home soil at the 2022 European Championships in the 1500 free two months after the Italian nearly broke the world record. But with all that being said, Romanchuk was only 6th in the 800 and 7th in the 1500 in Fukuoka, so he’ll need to be much better to have a shot at another podium appearance in Paris.

#56: Sven Schwarz, Germany – Schwarz isn’t necessarily in the same boat as Romanchuk, but their close to one another. Schwarz is on the come-up, having dropped best times of 7:41.77 in the 800 free and 14:43.53 in the 1500 free at the U23 European Championships after he missed Germany’s World Championship team. The presence of Florian Wellbrock and Lukas Martens gives him a tough task in qualifying for Paris, but Martens doesn’t appear to be locked in on the 1500 and in the 800, Schwarz was only two seconds back of him last year. If Schwarz continues to evolve, there’s a world where Martens just goes down to the 200/400, or at least takes the 1500 out of his schedule entirely. At the 2024 Worlds, both Martens and Schwarz will be in attendance, but only Schwarz will race the distance events.

#55: Nyls Korstanje, Netherlands – Korstanje performed when the pressure was on at the World Championships last year, recording the first two sub-51 swims in the 100 fly of his career, including a blistering 50.78 in the prelims to rank #5 in the world for the year. He went on to go 50.98 in the semis and ultimately placed 5th in 51.05, nearly six-tenths shy of what it took to make the podium. The Dutchman, who will turn 25 in February, faces a stacked, unpredictable field entering the Olympic year with the likes of Caeleb Dressel and Kristof Milak potentially re-entering the fold. However, Korstanje is trending up, and given his form, there’s a question as to what he might’ve been able to do in the 50 and free if he had raced them in Fukuoka—his PBs stand at 21.98 (2020) and 48.86 (2021), but there might be more to give there, too. He will be in attendance at the 2024 Worlds, which should serve as a good dry run for the Olympics.

#54: Ippei Watanabe, Japan – Watanabe has been more consistent over the years than he probably gets credit for, given that he only has two World Championship medals to his name despite being an elite 200 breaststroker dating back to when he broke the world record back in January 2017. That 2:06.67 showing remains his best time, but he went 2:06.73 in 2019, 2:07.08 in 2020, and then 2:07.54 in 2021. After a down year in 2022, with his fastest swim coming in at 2:09.63, he came back with a strong 2:07.55 clocking in 2023. That didn’t come at the World Championships, however, where he squeaked into the final in 8th and ultimately placed 6th in a time of 2:08.78. His fastest swim of the year would’ve landed him on the podium if done in the final, and obviously, that’s not swim math that we can use to project what he’ll do in the future. He’ll be 27 in March, and perhaps the clock is ticking on his chances at another major international medal individually. After swimming at the Rio Olympics at 19, he missed out on the Japanese team in Tokyo, so there’s surely some internal motivation driving him to get back to the Games. That seems to be on display early in 2024, having dropped a 2:07.02 at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup.

#53: Michael Andrew, USA – It certainly wasn’t a banner 2023 for Andrew, who missed the U.S. World Championship team after winning three individual and five total medals at the 2022 edition in Budapest. The 24-year-old did show that his sprint speed was still among the country’s best, winning the 50 fly and adding podium finishes in the 50 breast and 50 free at U.S. Nationals, but was left out off the Fukuoka squad due to roster limits and had poor showings in the 100 breast and 100 fly. In the 50 free, he still ranked 6th in the world for the year (21.64), and could easily win an Olympic medal this year given how close the event is outside of Cameron McEvoy. With multiple 58-mids in the 100 breast and multiple sub-51s in the 100 fly, Andrew is more than capable of being in the hunt for Olympic podiums in all three events he’s focusing on this year, but the question of consistency and delivering when it matters continues to linger. Prior to the Olympic Trials, he could do some real damage at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, where he’s slated to race all four 50s.

#52: Florent Manaudou, France – All eyes will be on the French team in the pool in Paris, and while Leon Marchand and Maxime Grousset headline the men’s team, Manaudou might be one of the most marketable athletes of the entire Games. There’s no doubt he’ll be shining in front of the camera, but he’ll also be a threat in the pool. Manaudou has only one medal at the LC World Championships in the 50 free—gold in 2015—but at the Olympics, he’s a perfect three-for-three. After storming to an upset gold at London 2012, he won consecutive silvers in Rio and Tokyo while taking an extended hiatus from the sport in between. He’s proven that he’s still at the top of his game despite turning 33 in November, ranking #3 in the world last year in the 50 free in 21.56. One month later he missed the World Championship final in 21.96, so he’s far from a lock to be in podium contention, but for someone who thrives in the spotlight, he has a chance to bring the house down in Paris. And while the 50 will surely be his primary focus, a 48.12 100 free showing last year indicates he might factor into the French 400 free relay once again.

#51: Chase Kalisz, USA – Kalisz has been a staple of men’s IM in the United States for more than a decade, and while the next generation has started to catch him in the 200, the 29-year-old—who turns 30 in March—has maintained his place as a top-two swimmer in the 400. The defending Olympic champion in the 400 IM, Kalisz won bronze at the 2022 World Championships and then took 4th last year. He was 4:08.22 at U.S. Nationals and then fell to 4:10.23 in the Fukuoka final. Outside of his training parnrter Jay Litherland, who he’s consistently been able to get the better of, the only real threat to Kalisz’s spot on the U.S. Olympic team in this event is Bobby Finke, who went 4:09.55 last year and might be hungry to add a third event to his Olympic schedule in Paris.