SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2025: Men’s #10-1

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 primarily reliant 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 accounted for factors like 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. 

Men’s Rankings:

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

#10: Lukas Märtens, Germany (2024 Rank: 22) – Märtens narrowed his focus in 2024 and it paid off. After previously spreading himself thin across the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events, the German native keyed in on the 200 and 400 free last year and reaped the rewards. After three straight podium finishes in the 400 free at the World Championships, winning silver in 2022 and bronze in both 2023 and 2024, Märtens roared to Olympic gold in Paris (3:41.78) after posting a lifetime best 3:40.33 at the German Swimming Championships to rank #4 all-time. That 400 free time ranked him #1 in the world last year, and at the same meet, he posted a PB of 1:44.14 in the 200 free, which ranked 2nd in the world. The now 23-year-old went on to finish 5th in the 200 free in Paris, and was also a surprise finalist in the 200 back, placing 8th in 1:55.97. Given that he only raced the 800 free once, the fact that Märtens ranked 6th in the world last year in 7:43.52 just shows his natural ability in the event. If he expands his focus back up to the 800-meter distance this year, he’s a three-event medal threat at Worlds.

#9: Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2024 Rank: 12) – The multi-talented Ceccon returned to the top of the heap last year in the men’s 100 back, as, after breaking the world record in 2022 and then falling short of defending his world title in 2023, he won Olympic gold in a time of 52.00. The Italian is a true all-around sprinter, with abilities across free, fly and IM to go along with backstroke. At the Olympics, his only other individual event was the 200 back, where he was 9th, while he provided a solid 47.44 leg on the Italian 4×100 free relay. Moving forward, especially in non-Olympic years, the 24-year-old will be a threat across the 50 and 100 back, 50 fly, 100 free, and maybe even the 100 fly, 200 back or 200 IM. First and foremost, the Italian will be aiming to reclaim his world title in the 100 back, and we also can’t forget that he was the 2023 world champion in the 50 fly. Whatever else he decides to swim he’ll be a contender in—his PB in the 100 free of 47.71 remains from the Tokyo Olympics, and it would be interesting to see him take that event more seriously again. At the SC European Championships, he could rack up some hardware.

#8: Qin Haiyang, China (2024 Rank: 2) – After Qin could do no wrong in 2023, last year was a bit of a letdown, especially in terms of individual Olympic results. The triple world champion in the men’s 50, 100 and 200 breast in Fukuoka, Qin underperformed in Paris in a big way, placing 7th in the 100 breast (59.50) and tying for 10th in the 200 breast (2:09.96). However, the Olympics weren’t all bad for Qin, as he came up with a big 57.98 split during China’s upset victory in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, and he also split 57.82 on the mixed medley relay that won silver. Despite his poor individual swims in Paris, Qin still ranked 2nd in the world for the year in the 100 breast (58.24), though he was nowhere near his 2023 form in the 200, ranking 16th at 2:08.87. The 25-year-old found his footing during the short course season, however, winning the World Cup Triple Crown in the 50 breast, and adding two wins in the 100 breast and one in the 200 breast during the three-stop circuit. He then doubled up with world titles in the men’s 50 breast (25.42) and 100 breast (55.47) at SC Worlds, setting new Asian Records in both during the season (25.38 in the 50 from the World Cup). He missed the 200 breast final, however. Qin seems to be back on form in the sprints heading into the 2025 Worlds, making it hard not to pencil him in as the favorite in the 50 and 100. The 200 is a bigger question mark, and even if he were to approach his 2023 form, Leon Marchand will be a tough swimmer to beat.

#7: Kliment Kolesnikov, Russia (2024 Rank: 41) – Having been absent from international competition since December 2021, Kolesnikov has declared his intention to return for the 2025 World Championships with an eye on the 2028 Olympics. That’s good news for swimming fans, as Kolesnikov is one of the most talented athletes in the sport, with elite abilities across sprint free, back and IM. The 24-year-old is the current world record holder in the 50 back in both LCM and SCM, and ranked #1 in the world in the big pool last year in the event (23.90). Kolesnikov was an individual medalist in the 100 back (silver) and 100 free (bronze) at the Tokyo Olympics, and has won two SC world titles in the 100 IM and was the 2021 world champion in the 50 back. Last year, in addition to ranking #1 in the world in the 50 back, Kolesnikov ranked 8th in the 100 back (52.64) in 2024, though he notably went 51.82 in the summer of 2023 to rank #2 all-time. He also had respectable showings in the 50 free (21.89) and 100 free (48.11) last year, and given he’ll have a renewed commitment now with international racing on the horizon, we should expect him closer to his best times of 21.69/47.11. At LC Worlds, Kolesnikov should be the gold medal favorite in the 50 back, among the top medal threats in the 100 back, and an outside threat in the 100 free. Looking ahead to SC Euros, he could rack up the medals. Between the 2017, 2019 and 2021 SC European Championships, Kolesnikov won a combined 13 gold and 18 total medals.

#6: Daniel Wiffen, Ireland (2024 Rank: 23) – Wiffen continued to rise to the top of men’s distance swimming in 2024, following his massive SCM world record at the end of 2023 by sweeping the men’s 800 and 1500 free at the World Championships in Doha before winning Olympic gold in the 800 free and bronze in the 1500 free in Paris. Coming through under pressure, Wiffen held off Bobby Finke to win the 800 free Olympic title in a time of 7:38.19, moving him to #5 all-time and #1 in the world for the year. In the 1500 free, Wiffen set his best time of 14:34.07 at the 2024 Worlds, also ranking him #5 all-time, and then in Paris, despite not having his best stuff in the final, held on bronze in 14:39.63. Finke was the only swimmer faster than Wiffen last year in the 1500 free, and moving forward, Wiffen will be a perennial gold medal threat in both events, with a chance to break through into a medal position in the 400 free given his best time of 3:44.35. At SC Euros at the end of 2025, Wiffen will be coming in as the defending champion in the 400, 800 and 1500 free.

#5: David Popovici, Romania (2024 Rank: 17) – Popovici is coming off a resurgent 2024 that saw him nearly recreate the earth-shattering swims he produced at the 2022 European Championships and win the first two Olympic medals of his career. After breaking the world record in the 100 free (46.86) and becoming the third swimmer ever (first textile) sub-1:43 in the 200 free (1:42.97) in 2022, Popovici missed the podium at the 2023 World Championships, but he came back with a vengeance in 2024. At the European Championships in June, Popovici won double gold with swims of 46.88 in the 100 free and 1:43.13 in the 200 free, which ranked him #2 and #1 in the world last year, respectively. One month later at the Olympics, the now 20-year-old Romanian won gold in the 200 free (1:44.72) and earned bronze in the 100 free (47.49), and while he wasn’t able to hit his times from earlier in the year, it was still a strong showing under pressure. It still feels like Popovici is only scratching the surface of his potential, and heading into 2025, he has to be considered the World Championship favorite in the 200 free, as his 1:43.13 time was the fastest in the world last year by more than a second. In the 100 free, he’s got his work cut out for him with Pan Zhanle, but Popovici would have to be regarded as #2 in the world.

#4: Kristof Milak, Hungary (2024 Rank: 30) – Milak’s commitment to training last year was a hot topic, but whatever he did in practice worked well enough to win Olympic gold in the 100 fly and take silver after a close battle in the 200 fly. After he was the runner-up in Tokyo, Milak edged out Josh Liendo for gold in the 100 fly in Paris, clocking 49.90 to rank #1 in the world last year. In the 200 fly, Milak went out aggressively in the final and led the race through 150 meters before being run down by Leon Marchand (1:51.21), with Milak touching 2nd for silver in 1:51.75. The swim was only the sixth fastest of Milak’s career, but it seemed like no one was denying Marchand in an individual event in Paris. Milak also won European titles in the 100 and 200 fly last year, and has shown flashes of his freestyle potential over the past few years, with best times of 21.89/47.47/1:45.74. Milak has admitted his training leading up to Paris 2024 was not up to par, and with full commitment, he’s the frontrunner for gold at Worlds in the 100 fly and a big challenger to Marchand in the 200 fly—as good as Marchand was in Paris, Milak has been nearly nine-tenths faster at 1:50.34.

#3: Bobby Finke, USA (2024 Rank: 5) – Finke put U.S. swimming fans at ease during the final session of racing in Paris when he won the first and only gold medal in a men’s individual event for the Americans in the 1500 free. Finke always delivers when it matters most, and he did it again by breaking Sun Yang‘s longstanding world record (14:31.02) in the 1500 in the Olympic final, clocking 14:30.67 to defend the title he won in Tokyo. Finke settled for silver in the 800 free (7:38.75) after winning gold in 2021, but was still right on his American Record (7:38.67 from 2023) and ranked #2 in the world in the event trailing only gold medalist Daniel Wiffen (7:38.19). Finke, now 25, will have his eyes on winning the first 1500 world title of his career in 2025, having won silver in both 2022 and 2023, while he’ll be aiming to reclaim the 800 free crown after winning it in 2022. He’s also got some ability in the 400 free and 400 IM, but in terms of international medal prospects, he’s only really got two events but he’s a near lock for a top-two finish in both.

#2: Pan Zhanle, China (2024 Rank: 8) – Pan had one of the most dominant performances of the Olympics in one of the shortest races, obliterating the field in the men’s 100 free by a historic margin. After breaking Popovici’s world record in the event at the 2024 World Championships in 46.80, Pan unearthed a stunning 46.40 swim in the Olympic final, winning gold by 1.08 seconds over Kyle Chalmers. The performance made Pan the fastest man in history by nearly half a second (46 one-hundredths), and his margin of victory was the biggest in the event at the Olympics in 96 years. Pan also became the first swimmer to split sub-46 on China’s 4×100 medley relay, anchoring in 45.92 as they pulled off a historic upset over the U.S., and he also won silver on China’s mixed medley relay. Earlier in the year at the 2024 Worlds, in addition to breaking the world record in the 100 free on a relay lead-off, Pan won the world title in the event (47.53) and showed off his ability in the 200 free, splitting 1:43.90 on China’s 4×200 free relay. After impressing in the 400 free during the World Cup in short course meters, it’s possible we seen Pan take on the 200 more seriously in long course this year, which is a scary prospect for everyone. He was 1:45.68 last year to rank 15th in the world, and he actually ranked higher in the 400, having gone 3:45.58 in April for 12th.

#1: Leon Marchand, France (2024 Rank: 1) – Marchand is the undisputed best male swimmer in the world after what he did at the Paris Olympics, going four-for-four individually in front of his home crowd under a tidal wave of pressure. Marchand produced the second-fastest swim in history in the 200 breast (2:05.85), 200 IM (1:54.06) and 400 IM (4:02.95) at the Olympics to win gold, and in the 200 fly, his time of 1:51.21 moved him to #2 all-time behind Kristof Milak. All four of Marchand’s swims also marked new Olympic Records. In addition to ranking #1 in the world in all four of those events last year, Marchand also split 58.62 swimming breast on France’s medley relay to help them win bronze, and ranked 11th in the world in the 100 breast with a time of 59.06. After his Olympic dominance, Marchand got back into training and took on the three-stop World Cup circuit in Asia, winning the overall men’s title and earning Triple Crowns in the 100 IM, 200 IM and 400 IM for the series, highlighted by breaking the world record in the 200 IM (1:48.88) previously held by Ryan Lochte. At the 2025 Worlds, Marchand is a clear-cut favorite in the four events he won Olympic gold in last year, and similar to Michael Phelps in past years, he could be a contender in several more races if it weren’t for scheduling conflicts. If he opts to race at SC Euros, there’s no telling what kind of medal haul Marchand could bring in, especially if he expands his event lineup and races some freestyle.