SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2025: Men’s #20-11

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

#20: Carson Foster, USA (2024 Rank: 9) – The versatile Foster has shown he’s got the ability to be the clear #2 men’s medley swimmer in the world behind Leon Marchand, winning silver in the 200 and 400 IM at the 2022 World Championships and then matching that result in the 400 in 2023 (while taking 5th in the 200 IM, unable to recreate his 2022 form). In 2024, Foster ranked 2nd in the world in the 400 IM (4:07.64) and 4th in the 200 IM (1:55.65), but had his fastest swims of the year come at the U.S. Olympic Trials. In Paris, he won bronze in the 400 IM but was edged out of a medal in the 200 by a tenth, taking 4th. At the 2024 LC Worlds, Foster showed off his ability in the 200 free, splitting 1:43.94 in the 4×200 free relay, and then at SC Worlds in December, won a trio of medals including individual silvers in the 400 free and 400 IM. The 23-year-old is capable of being among the best in the world in both medley events, has shown an elite level in the 200 fly in LC, and is strong in the 200 and 400 free as well.

#19: Maxime Grousset, France (2024 Rank: 6) – Grousset rocketed up to the #6 ranking last year after a breakout 2023 World Championships that included a 50.14 clocking in the 100 fly and a blazing 49.27 fly relay split. At the Olympics, the Frenchman failed to reach the podium individually despite having three solid chances. He placed 5th in the 100 free (47.71) and 100 fly (50.65), and scratched out of the 50 free final after initially qualifying 6th out of the semis. His fastest times of the year ranked 11th worldwide in the 50 free (21.60), 5th in the 100 free (47.33) and 5th in the 100 fly (50.41). He did contribute another blistering fly split for France in the medley relay in Paris, 49.57, to help the team win bronze on home soil, and closed the year with a strong swim in the 100 fly at SC Worlds, claiming silver in 48.57. The 25-year-old has medal opportunities in the 50 and 100 of free and fly this year at Worlds, the only question is if he can put it together at the right time—with an added hurdle being three of the events fairly bunched up during the second half of the program.

#18: Ryan Murphy, USA (2024 Rank: 7) – Murphy is coming up on a decade of being one of the world’s fastest backstrokers, and despite an up and down Olympic performances, he’s still among the best as he comes up on his 30th birthday in July. While Murphy was still quick last year with times of 52.08 in the 100 back and 1:54.33 in the 200 back, the rest of the world may be catching up. He settled for silver in a close 100 back final in Paris in 52.39, and then was a stunning 10th in the 200 back, missing out on the final—which was won by Hubert Kos in 1:54.26, just seven one-hundredths faster than Murphy was at the Olympic Trials. Murphy showed his level is still incredibly high, but may have coughed up his best chance at individual Olympic gold since he swept the backstroke events in Rio with his 200 back miss in Paris. Still, he’s a threat for gold in both backstroke events at Worlds in 2025, and has the capability of making some noise in the 50 back, too.

#17: Duncan Scott, Great Britain (2024 Rank: 15) – After winning Olympic silver in the 200 free and 200 IM in Tokyo, Scott almost had the exact same result in Paris. He was the runner-up to Leon Marchand in the 200 IM, clocking 1:55.31, and in the 200 free, he placed 4th in 1:44.87, just 17 one-hundredths back of gold medalist David Popovici. Scott, 27, ranked 2nd in the world last year in the 200 IM, and his fastest swim in the 200 free, 1:44.75, ranked tied for 4th. He was also 24th in the 100 free (47.92), and showed off his short course ability on the World Cup circuit in the fall, setting new British Records in the 200 free (1:39.83) and 400 free (3:34.46). Scott is also a clutch relay performer, owning the third-fastest 100 free split ever (46.14) and having two sub-1:44 legs in the 200 free under his belt. He’s a multi-medal threat individually and is key for Great Britain in the team events.

#16: Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy (2024 Rank: 45) – Paltrinieri’s ranking dropped significantly last year after he only raced one pool event at the 2023 World Championships, the 800 free, and placed 8th. The Italian reasserted himself as one of the best distance swimmers in the world in 2024, winning silver at the Olympics in the 1500 free (14:34.55) and bronze in the 800 free (7:39.38), nearing his personal best times in both. Now 30, Paltrinieri ranked 3rd in the world last year in both events, and although the next generation of distance swimmers are starting to post comparable times to him, he seems to be able to execute when he needs to and land on the podium more times than not.

#15: Ilya Kharun, Canada (2024 Rank: 42) – Kharun is coming off a massive 2024, winning a pair of Olympic bronze medals in the men’s butterfly events while racking up five medals at SC Worlds, including claiming the first world title of his career in the 200 fly. Having turned 20 in early February, the Canadian native has been constantly improving since heading to Arizona State, taking a big step last year with swims of 50.45 in the 100 fly (#6 in the world) and 1:52.80 in the 200 fly (#3 in the world). At the 2025 Worlds, it looks to be Kharun, Kristof Milak and Leon Marchand jockeying for position on the podium in the 200 fly, and Kharun will always have a chance in the 100 with his speed and closing ability. Already under 50.5, he could be the next one to start pushing the 50-second barrier. Something to watch for will be if his freestyle progression in the NCAA translates to the international stage.

#14: Josh Liendo, Canada (2024 Rank: 27) – Liendo became the fifth man in history to dip under the 50-second barrier in the 100 fly last year, doing so in the Olympic final no less to win the silver medal behind Kristof Milak. Liendo was already a multi-time World Championship medalist when he joined the University of Florida in 2022, but he’s only gotten better since moving to Gainesville. He matched his lifetime best in the 100 free last year with a 47.55 clocking at the Canadian Olympic Trials, ranking him 9th in the world last year, and he ranked 5th in the 50 free after hitting a National Record 21.48 at the Trials. The 22-year-old is a legitimate medal threat in three individual events at Worlds this year, with the schedule (50 free/100 fly semis and final on same days) being his biggest hurdle.

#13: Sam Short, Australia (2024 Rank: 4) – Short’s breakout 2023 was followed by an injury-plagued year that resulted in zero Olympic medals after he walked away with three at the World Championships in Fukuoka. After winning gold in the 400 free, silver in the 800 free and bronze in the 1500 free at the 2023 Worlds, Short was 4th in the 400, 9th in the 800 and 13th in the 1500 in Paris. He acknowledged that a “combination of illnesses and injuries” derailed his Olympic Trials and Olympic preparation and that he was “likely never going to be on PB form,” but after undergoing shoulder rehab in the back half of 2024, was motivated to come back strong in 2025. Given how far he was from his best times in the 800 and 1500 in Paris, the Aussie still incredibly took 4th in the 400 free (3:42.64) at the Games. Still just 21, a return to his 2023 form will make Short a force to be reckoned with this year.

#12: Hubert Kos, Hungary (2024 Rank: 16) – Kos’ 200 back victory at the 2023 World Championships was one of the bigger surprises or “upsets” of the meet, but that wasn’t the case in Paris as the Hungarian backed up his world title with a definitive Olympic title. American Ryan Murphy was his biggest threat on paper, and after Murphy missed the final, it was Kos’ race to lose. Greece’s Apostolos Christou made it close for 150-plus meters, but Kos ran away down the stretch to win gold in 1:54.26, a time that ranked him #1 in the world for the year. Kos, 21, was also 52.78 in the 100 back (13th in the world) and 50.84 in the 100 fly (tied for 10th in the world last year), and he’s seemed to stray away from the 200 IM a bit since moving to the U.S. in favor of the 200 back, but he’s clearly still got a high-end ability in the medley event. He was 1:57.21 last year to rank 15th in the world, but didn’t swim it at the Olympics, instead racing the 100 back (10th) and 100 fly (16th) to go along with the 200 back. He’s the best in the world in the 200 back with three more events where he’s in top-10 range, and he’s only getting better.

#11: Noe Ponti, Switzerland (2024 Rank: NR) – An underwhelming 2023 saw Ponti omitted from last year’s rankings which was obviously a massive oversight. The 23-year-old was on fire last year, though he fell shy of landing on the Olympic podium. After winning bronze in the 100 fly in Tokyo, Ponti was 4th in Paris in a time of 50.55—which came after he clocked 50.16 in April which now ranks #7 all-time. Ponti also placed 5th in the 200 fly at the Olympics in a PB of 1:54.14, ranking 7th in the world in 2024, and then he really exploded during the second half of the year in the short course pool. Ponti swept the men’s 50 and 100 fly at all three stops of the World Cup series, earning a pair of Triple Crown titles, breaking the world record in the 50 twice while also picking up a 100 IM win, tying with Leon Marchand, at the second leg. Ponti finished 2nd in the overall series behind Marchand, and then culminated the year with a dominant performance at SC Worlds. Ponti won gold and set world records in the 50 fly (21.32) and 100 fly (47.71), and added a third title in the 100 IM. Entering 2025 with plenty of momentum, the 23-year-old has to be penciled in as the gold medal favorite in the 50 fly at LC Worlds, a medal threat in the 100 fly, and one of the men who could rack up a big medal haul at SC Euros.