SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2025: Men’s #60-51

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 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

#60: Kieran Smith, USA (2024 Rank: NR) – Smith, 24, had some impressive performances last year, and he is a crucial relay swimmer for the United States. Smith did not swim at the World Championships in Doha, focusing on the Pro Swim Series meets in the United States through the beginning of the year. At the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Smith swam four individual events, qualifying for the Olympics in one, the 400 freestyle where he was the reigning bronze medalist from Tokyo. He finished one spot out of qualifying in the 200 IM, stopping the clock at 1:56.97. Like many American men, Smith had a lackluster performance at the Games, swimming 3:46.47 in the 400 to miss the final. He was also a member of the winning silver medal 4×200 freestyle relay. He came back hot from that performance, and had a much better SC World Champs in December. He won the silver medal in the 400 freestyle, coming in at 3:36.31, and he was a member of four United States gold medal relays, two of which broke world records.

#59: Apostolos Christou, Greece (2024 Rank: NR) – Christou won the first Olympic and World Championship medals of his career in 2024, a breakthrough of sorts for the Greek native despite having turned 28 in November. He snared bronze in the 100 back at the World Championships in Doha, and carried that momentum into the Olympics. After falling just .02 shy of a medal in the 100 back, placing 4th in 52.41, he shocked everyone in the 200 back, leading the field through 150 meters before holding on for silver in 1:54.82, more than a second and a half under his previous best. Christou also swept the 50 and 100 back at the 2024 European Championships, and while he’s still got some medal chances, his age, and the fact that he’s bound to have plenty out-of-the-pool duties in his home nation after his Olympic breakthrough, sees him rank lower than his 2024 results might suggest.

#58: Xu Jiayu, China (2024 Rank: 28) – Backstroker Xu Jiayu’s only major meet last year was the Olympic Games. In April, he swam at the national championships in China, where he won the 100 and 200 backstroke events. He went on to swim the 100 backstroke at the Games, earning the silver medal in 52.32. He ended up scratching out of the 200 backstroke. He still swam the mixed medley relay, which won silver, and the men’s medley relay, which won the gold. Jiayu hasn’t gone a best time in the backstroke events since 2023 (50 back) 2017 (100 back) and 2018 (200 back) respectively, though he does hold national records in all three.

#57: Zalan Sarkany, Hungary (2024 Rank: 98) – Sarkany, a Hungarian natvie, also competes in the NCAA, and is teammates with Corbeau at Indiana. Sarkany is a distance swimmer who swam at his first World Championships and Olympic Games this year. At the Hungarian Championships in April, Sarkany won the 800 and placed 2nd in the 1500. He had previously earned the Olympic Qualifying Time in the 400, and was able to swim that event at the Games as well, despite placing 4th at the Trials. At the Olympics, Sarkany finished outside the final in all three of his events, coming 11th in the 1500, and finishing 14th in both the 400 and 800. He went on to swim at the 2024 SC Worlds where he won gold in the 800 freestyle in 7:30.66. He also finished 6th in the 400 and 8th in the 1500.

#56: Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus (2024 Rank: 100) – Ilya Shymanovich is another older swimmer to sit in this section, turning 30 after the Olympic Games. Shymanovich started the year at the World Championships in Doha, where he swam the 50 and 100 breaststroke events. He finished 6th in the 100 and 10th in the 50. He went on to compete at the Games in the 100 breaststroke where he went 59.45 to finish 10th. He had a much busier SC season, participating in all three legs of the Aquatics World Cup, earning three silvers in the 50 breast, two silvers and a gold in the 100 breast, and one 200 breast bronze (Singapore). He also swam at the SC Worlds in Hungary, where he earned a bronze in the 50 breast. He also swam the 50, and finished 5th, and the 200, where he finished 8th. Shymanovich still holds the World record in the SCM 100 breaststroke at 55.28.

#55: Krzysztof Chmielewski, Poland (2024 Rank: 37) – Polish swimmer Krzysztof Chmielewski swims the butterfly and distance freestyle events. He swam all three major international meets this year, and did a different lineup at all three. At the Doha World Championships, he swam the 400 free, 1500 free, and 200 fly. He finished 19th in the 400 free, 15th in the 1500, and he disqualified his 200 butterfly, after swimming the fastest time in the semifinals for a one-hand touch. He went on to swim the 200 fly and 1500 free at the Paris Olympic Games (he missed the qualifying time in the 400). He finished 4th in the 200 fly, coming in at 1:53.90, three-tenths off his best time in the event, and 16th in the 1500. At the SC World Champs in December, he swam the 200 fly and the 800 freestyle, earning the bronze in the 200 fly and 13th in the 800 free.

#54: David Betlehem, Hungary (2024 Rank: NR) – Betlehem, a 20-year-old out of Hungary, swims the distance freestyle and open water events. Betlehem swam his first pool World Championships in July of 2023, finishing 12th in the 800 and 15th in the 1500. He really burst onto the scene this year, at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, where he ended up finishing 4th in the 1500 in 14:46.44. At the Hungarian Championships in April, Betlehem won the 1500 and 400 freestyle events, earning his first Olympic berth. At the Games, he finished 4th in the 1500, coming in at 14:40.91. While this list is only focused on pool swimming, we would be remiss to not mention his open water skills. In Paris, he earned the bronze medal in the Men’s 10k, swimming the event in 1:51:09.

#53: Tomoru Honda, Japan (2024 Rank: 20) – Japan’s Honda, 22, had a strong start to 2024, but he had a disappointing few months afterward. A butterfly specialist, Honda started the year winning a gold medal at the World Championships in Doha in the men’s 200 butterfly, swimming the event in 1:53.88. He battled a sprained ankle for part of the year, and ended up scratching the rest of his events at the World Champs. He went on to place 2nd at the Japanese Trials in the event in 1:54.18, and he missed the final entirely in the men’s 400 IM. He also finished 5th in the 100 fly. At the Olympic Games in Paris, Honda shocked everyone when he went 1:57.30 in the prelims of the 200 fly to miss the semi-finals. He did not swim the SC World Champs or any of the World Cup stops. He is the #5 performer in history in the event, at 1:52.70 from 2022, and he finished 2024 in the 4th spot in the worldwide rankings. Despite a blip at the Olympics, Honda is still a strong medal contender at this year’s World Championships.

#52: Caspar Corbeau, Netherlands (2024 Rank: 61) – Corbeau, 23, competes internationally for the Netherlands, and he is a staple in the men’s breaststroke events. He had one of the busiest years of any athlete, competing at all three major international meets and all three World Cup stops. At the 2024 Worlds in Doha, Corbeau won a silver medal in the men’s 200 breaststroke, and he finished 7th in the 100 and 11th in the 50. He carried that momentum through the Dutch National Championships in June, where he won the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, qualifying for the Games in both. In Paris, he went two new personal best times, dropping to 59.04 in the 100, where he finished 8th, and 2:07.90 where he won the bronze. He won five bronze medals and one gold through the World Cup stops before finishing 2024 at SC Worlds where he swam the 50 breast (14th), 100 breast (7th), and the 200 breast (5th).

#51: Matt Fallon, USA (2024 Rank: 46) – Fallon has proven to be a powerhouse in the 200 breast, with his 2:06.54 American Record swim at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials ranking 2nd in the world last year. The only swimmer who was faster was Olympic gold medalist Leon Marchand. Despite that breakthrough 2:06 in Indianapolis, Fallon was not able to recreate that swim in Paris, however, and ultimately finished 10th, missing the final. If Fallon can recreate his Trials swim at Worlds in July, he is a medal favorite, and he’s proven he can perform on the big stage before, winning bronze at the 2023 Worlds.