SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2026: Men’s #60-51

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
• #70-61

#60 Denis Petrashov, Kyrgyzstan (2025 Rank: NR) – Breaststroker Denis Petrashov picked up his first major international medal with a huge breakthrough in the men’s 100 breaststroke in Singapore, grabbing the bronze in a time of 58.88. That time finished the season ranked 5th in the world and was a new national record time. It also marked his first ever swim under 59 seconds, taking nearly four tenths off his previous record time of 59.23 from the 2025 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale. Before 2025, his lifetime best in the event was 59.46 from December of 2023. This was his only top-20 ranking in 2025, but he was tied for 33rd in the 50 breast with his time of 26.94 from Fort Lauderdale and 33rd in the 200 breast with the 2:10.29 he swam at the same Pro Swim Series. Petrashov also finished 4th at the 2024 SC World Championships in the 100 breast, and he will be a serious medal threat at this year’s meet.

#59 Thomas Heilman, United States (2025 Rank: 75) – Heilman was coming off a huge 2024 that saw him make his first Olympic Team in the men’s 200 butterfly as the youngest swimmer on the U.S. team. At the Olympics, he finished 10th in the 200 fly and 18th in the 100 fly. In 2025, he made the World Championships team in the 100 fly, setting a personal best 50.70 to earn the 2nd spot in the event. This was a tenth faster than the 50.80 he swam at the Olympic Trials in 2024. In Singapore, he was off his best, swimming 52.02 in the event to finish 26th missing semifinals entirely. He could have been a victim of the illness in Singapore that affected large numbers of American swimmers, but he did not confirm this at the meet. He finished the season as the top junior swimmer in the 100 and 200 fly ranked 10th in the world 100 and 7th in the world in the 200 fly with the 1:54.03 he swam at Nationals. His Nationals swim was two tenths off his lifetime best of 1:53.82 from the 2023 Worlds. Heilman will be looking to drop in both distances of fly at Pan Pacs this summer as a medal contender in both.

#58 Jack McMillan, Great Britain (2025 Rank: NR) – Jack McMillan is an excellent 200 freestyler in a country chock full of excellent 200 freestylers. The recently turned 26-year-old won a gold medal at the 2025 World Championships as a member of the Great Britain 800 freestyle relay, where he swam the 3rd leg in 1:45.65 after leading off in a personal best 1:45.28 in prelims. This finished the year ranked 15th in the world. He also swam the individual 400 freestyle, finishing 14th in 3:47.28, a new personal best after he returned to the event in 2025. He actually finished 3rd at the GB Championships, but ended up as the only British entrant in the event. His World Championships time finished the season ranked 40th. At the SC European Championships in December, McMillan won the 200 freestyle prelims, touching in 1:41.41 to ensure his place in the event semifinal. Great Britain picked up the top three spots in the prelims, and due to the two swimmer rule, Matt Richards was not allowed to advance. McMillan ended up finishing 2nd in finals in another new personal best of 1:40.94. At this summer’s Euros, he will first face the challenge of being one of the top two swimmers from Great Britain, but if he makes it through, he could go home with a medal.

#57 Harrison Turner, Australia (2025 Rank: NR) – Turner burst onto the international scene in 2025 with a huge swim in the men’s 200 fly final in Singapore. Turner’s breakthrough actually started at the end of 2024 when he replaced Kaylee McKeown’s roster spot on Australia’s SC World Championships roster. At that meet, he finished 17th in the 200 fly (1:53.38) and 26th in the 100 free (47.31). In June, Turner had a monster 200 fly swim at the Australian Swimming Trials, touching in 1:54.90 to take more than two seconds off his previous best time of 1:57.07 from the 2024 Olympic Trials. In Singapore, he became the 1st Australian to qualify for the World Championships final in the 200 fly since 2003 (which was before Turner was born), swimming 1:54.94 to squeak into the final in 8th place. In the final, he won the bronze medal in a new Australian Record time of 1:54.17, marking a near three second drop during the year. This was Australia’s first ever World Championships medal in the event. Turner finished the year ranked 8th in the event, which was his only top-10 ranking.

#56 Kuzey Tuncelli, Turkey (2025 Rank: 38) – Men’s distance swimming is crowded at the top right now as new names continue to present themselves as major medal contenders. Tuncelli appeared on the international scene in 2023 when he became the youngest swimmer to break 15 minutes in the 1500. In 2024, he broke the World Junior Record in both the short course and long course 1500 free, swimming 14:41.22 at the Olympics and 14:20.64 at the SC World Championships. In 2025, his 1500 was slightly off his best times, with his fastest 1500 coming from the European Junior Championships, where he swam 14:45.05 to win gold. He still finished 6th in the 1500 at Worlds and won at World Juniors while his time ranked 8th in the world. Where he shone was in the 800 free. He did not make the Olympic final in the event in 2024, but in 2025, he set a personal best 7:46.01 at European Juniors to win, and then lowered that time again to swim 7:45.13 in the Worlds prelims. In finals, he finished 6th in 7:49.09, but his prelims time finished the year ranked 10th. He also won the World Junior title in the men’s 800. Tuncelli will be swimming his first season as a senior swimmer in 2025, and if he can swim his best in the 1500 and 800, he is a serious threat at Euros.

#55 Pavel Samusenko, Russia (2025 Rank: NR) – Samusenko had a strong long course season in 2025, but his short course season was exceptional. In long course, he qualified to swim the 50 backstroke at the World Championships, touching 2nd in 24.01. He finished 3rd in the 100 back at 52.40 at the Russian Championships. At Worlds, he won the silver medal in the 50 back, swimming 24.17 to add just a bit from his lifetime best, which was still the 2nd fastest time in the world last year behind countrymate Kliment Kolesnikov. His 100 back time was 10th in the world. Where Samusenko really shined in 2025, though, was in the last month of the year at the Vladimir Salnikov Cup in December. He opened the meet by upsetting Miron Lifintsev and Kliment Kolesnikov to swim 48.75 for the gold in the men’s 100 back, making him the 6th fastest performer in history. On the 2nd day of the meet, he swam 22.26 to lead off the mixed 4×50 medley relay, which was the 3rd fastest performance in history. This swim came just hours after he won the 50 back in 22.37, which ties the 5th fastest performance in history. In 2026, Samusenko will be trying to replicate that performance in long course to earn a spot on the Russian Neutral delegation’s Euros roster. There is also a SC World Championships in 2026, and based on his performance in December, he is a threat to take multiple medals.

#54 Zalan Sarkany, Hungary (2025 Rank: 54) – Hungarian distance swimmer Zalan Sarkany swam at his first major international meets in 2024, finishing 13th in the 400 and 800 free and 11th in the 1500 free. He went on to win the 800 at the 2024 SC Worlds and he finished 6th in the 400 and 8th in the 1500. In 2025, Sarkany won his 2nd NCAA Title in the 1650 free before qualifying for the Hungarian Worlds team again. He did not make the team in the 800 free for Worlds, finishing 3rd in the event at the Hungarian Championships, but he still swam the 400 and 1500 free. In the 400, he swam a personal best 3:46.82, dropping about half a second to finish 13th. In the 1500, he qualified for the final, finishing 7th after setting a personal best 14:47.89 in the prelims to qualify. He took five seconds off his previous best of 14:52.42 from the Olympics. He wrapped up the long course season ranked 19th in the 800 and 9th in the 1500. Sarkany’s best performances of 2025 came from the SC European Championships where he won the 800 free (7:26.84), finished 6th in the 400 free (3:38.03), 2nd in the 1500 free (14:15.51), and 8th in the 400 IM (4:06.30). He set new Hungarian records in both the 800 and 1500 freestyle, and jumped to 5th all-time in the 800 and 7th all-time in the 1500. Sarkany will be one of the top distance swimmers to watch at the SC Worlds in December.

#53 Jack Aikins, United States (2025 Rank: 92) – Jack Aikins was one of the primary victims of the 2025 Singapore illness, which put a spoiler on his international debut after setting a blistering 1:54.25 mark at the U.S. Nationals to hold the top seed coming into the meet. This was a half second drop from the 1:54.78 he swam at the 2024 Olympic Trials, and he seemed poised for a massive breakout in Singapore. He ended up finishing 24th in the prelims, touching more than four seconds back of his Nationals time at 1:58.56. His season best finished the season ranked 3rd in the world behind Hubert Kos and Pieter Coetze. Aikins also held a top 20 time in the 100 backstroke with the 53.19 he swam at Nationals ranking 19th in the world. He ended up finishing 44th in the event at Worlds in 56.54. This summer, he is on the Pan Pacs team, so he will be seeking redemption from Worlds in the 200 back, and with Hubert Kos absent, he could find his way to the top of the podium in the event. Ultimately, his 100 back time from US Trials was #3 ranked in the world across the season.

#52 Ludovico Viberti, Italy (2025 Rank: NR) – Ludovico Viberti was another swimmer who had a huge breakthrough this year after missing the final in the 100 breaststroke at both the 2024 Worlds and the Olympic Games. At the 2025 Italian Championships, he finished 3rd in the 50 breast (27.01). In the 100 breast, he was 9th, winning the ‘B’ final in 59.04, which was faster than any other swimmer in the field. Viberti ended up making the Italian team in the 100, but just a month before Worlds, he swam the 50 breaststroke at the Sette Colli in Rome, touching in a massive personal best of 26.27. While he was not able to race this event at Worlds due to Italy’s selection policy, he had the fastest time in the world last year. In the 100 breast, he set a personal best 58.89 in semifinals before touching in 59.08 in the final to finish 5th overall. His semifinals time finished the year ranked 6th in the event. At SC Euros, he was 4th in the 50 (25.89) and 7th in the 100 (57.15). The breaststroke landscape is tough in Italy, but if Viberti makes the Italian team in the 50 breaststroke for the 2026 European Championships, he will be one of the favorites for gold.

#51 Campbell McKean, United States (2025 Rank: NR) – This time last year, Campbell McKean was a good breaststroker who was committed to Texas, but casual American swimming fans might not have recognized his name. Now, he is one of the best breaststrokers in the United States. At the 2025 United States Nationals, he shocked the country by winning National Titles in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke, out dueling veteran Michael Andrew in the 50 to swim a personal best 26.90, which was more than a second-and-a-half faster than his preseason best of 28.55. He followed that performance up with a massive best time in the 100 breast, touching in 58.96 to win his 2nd National Title and become the youngest person to ever break 59 seconds in the event (he was not eligible for the World Junior Record because he turned 19 in August). Coming into the meet, he had never broken 1:00, sitting at 1:00.40 from just a month earlier. McKean was slightly off at Worlds, finishing 24th in the 50 breast (27.32) and 15th in the 100 breast (59.74), though he split 59.07 on the American mixed medley that missed the final. In 2026, McKean will have international experience under his belt, and has no double taper coming for Pan Pacs making him a serious threat in the breaststroke events.