SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2026: Women’s #30-21

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.

Women’s Rankings

• #100 – #91
• #90 – #81
• #80 — #71
• #70 — #61
• #60 — #51
• #50 — #41
• #40 — #31

#30 Yang Peiqi, China (2025 Rank: NR) – Breakthrough distance freestyler Yang Peiqi wrapped up her junior career in 2025 with four gold medals at the 2025 World Junior Championships. She won the 200 free (1:56.25), 400 free (4:05.38), 800 free (8:22.93), and 1500 free (16:08.37) in Romania. This performance came just weeks after she raced at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, where she finished 7th in the 400 free (4:06.47), 9th in the 800 free (8:27.89), and 8th in the 1500 free (16:04.93). In November, she swam at the Chinese National Games, racing the 400 freestyle in 4:01.90, a new personal best and the 6th fastest time in the world last year. She also held top 20 rankings in the 800 free – where she was 7th with the 8:19.45 she swam at the Spring Nationals in May – and the 1500 free (14th). At just 18-years-old, Yang saw huge improvement last year, though her best times were spread across a variety of meets. In 2026, Yang will be trying to peak at the right time, swimming lifetime bests at the Asian Games and the Pan Pac Championships.

#29 Erika Fairweather, New Zealand (2025 Rank: 30) – Another distance freestyler, Erika Fairweather is one of a limited number of swimmers to defeat Summer McIntosh in an individual event at a World Championships or Olympic Games after she out touched the Canadian superstar for the bronze in the 400 free at the 2023 World Championships. At the Olympics in 2024, she finished just off the podium, in 4th. She was one of the favorites to earn a medal in 2025, especially with the absence of Ariarne Titmus, but she was hit with a rare false start in the 400 free prelims after qualifying 6th for the final. She still qualified for the final in the 200 free, finishing 6th in 1:55.61, and the 800 free, where she was 7th in 8:20.79. She finished the year ranked 12th in the 200 free (1:55.52), 9th in the 400 free (4:03.06), and 10th in the 800 (8:20.79). Fairweather is only 22, and if she has a clean performance in the 400, her lifetime best of 3:59.44 still makes her a medal contender at Pan Pacs, though the competition is getting steeper in the event. If she attends the Commonwealth Games, she will also be a favorite and could potentially earn the gold.

#28 Siobhan Haughey, Hong Kong (2025 Rank: 12) – Plagued by a back injury in 2025, Siobhan Haughey withdrew from the 2025 World Championships after swimming just a few long course meets. The injury was reportedly not “serious”, but Haughey’s coach Tom Rushton told SwimSwam that she was not able to resume training until April and was not able to prepare. Even with limited training at the beginning of the year, and only swimming a few meets, Haughey had some strong performances in 2025. She raced at the Chinese National Games in November, where her 52.89 in the 100 free finished the year ranked 8th in the world and her 1:54.85 in the 200 free was ranked 5th. Haughey will be a serious medal threat at the Asian Games and even Pan Pacs. She is also the three-time defending champion in the 200 free at the SCM World Championships, which will wrap up 2026. In October, Aussie Mollie O’Callaghan broke her World Record in the event, but Haughey will be looking to continue her streak in December.

#27 Zhang Yufei, China (2025 Rank: 10) – Butterflyer Zhang Yufei had sort of an off year in 2025, only swimming the 100 fly at Worlds in Singapore, where she ultimately finished 4th in 56.47. This was the 7th fastest time in the world last year, but it was nearly a second off her lifetime best of 55.62 from 2020 and three tenths off the 56.15 she swam in Paris. She did not race the 200 fly at Worlds, but she did swim it at the Chinese National Games in November, where her 2:07.90 finished the year ranked 18th in the world, more than three seconds off her best of 2:03.86 from 2021 and two seconds off her 2:05.09 from Paris. Zhang was a three-event bronze medalist at the Olympics in 2024, even swimming off her lifetime best times, which points to potential for a bounce-back year in 2026.

#26 Mio Narita, Japan (2025 Rank: 59) – Japanese IMer Mio Narita is freshly 19, and is coming off a huge season in 2025 that saw her win her first ever Worlds medal when she tied for silver in the 400 IM. Her final time of 4:33.26 was a new personal best and was more than two seconds faster than the 4:35.40 mark she set in 2024. She also qualified for the final in the 200 IM, finishing 5th in 2:09.56 after setting a personal best 2:09.16 in the semifinal, which ranked 9th in the world. Narita’s final event at Worlds was the 200 backstroke, where she swam 2:11.58 in the prelims to finish 20th. Her season best in the 200 back stood at 2:09.54 from January of 2025, and was 29th in the world. Narita also turned a corner in her racing during the World Championships. In both 2023 and 2024, she swam faster at the Japanese Championships than she did at Worlds (in 2023) and the Olympics (in 2024). In 2025, she set new Japanese High School Records in the 200 and 400 IM to qualify for the World Championships, swimming 2:09.68 and 4:35.39 respectively before dropping again in both events in Singapore. Through 2026, Narita will be aiming to continue improving as she aims to potentially earn multiple medals at Pan Pacs.

#25 Claire Curzan, United States (2025 Rank: 20) – Backstroker Claire Curzan has the curse of swimming backstroke during the reign of the two best women’s backstrokers in history. After missing the Olympic team in 2024, she bounced back strong to earn a World Championships spot by winning the 200 backstroke at the 2025 United States Nationals in a personal best 2:05.09, which makes her the 7th fastest performer in history in the event. She also set a personal best in the 50 back (27.26) while finishing 3rd in the 50 and 100 (58.60) at Nationals. At Worlds, she won the bronze medal in 2:06.04, more than a second ahead of 4th place’s 2:07.22. She had the 3rd fastest time in the world in the 200 back, and she also ranked 6th in the 100 back and 7th in the 50 back. Curzan’s 2026 performance will rely on her making out of the prelims at Pan Pacs as the pack of American backstrokers are all shooting for the same spot. Her improvement in the 50 and 200 back is a good sign for her continued progression through 2026.

#24 Simona Quadarella, Italy (2025 Rank: 28) – Coming into 2025, only one female swimmer not named Katie Ledecky had been under 15:40 in the women’s 1500 freestyle. During the final at Worlds, Italy’s Simona Quadarella had an explosive performance to swim 15:31.79, which was the 12th fastest performance in history, making her the 2nd fastest performer ever. She shattered the European Record of 15:38.88 set by Lotte Friis in 2013, and she took more than nine seconds off her six-year-old previous best of 15:40.89 from the 2019 World Championships. She also finished 4th in the electric 800 free final, setting another European Record that was overshadowed by the race for the podium. Her time of 8:12.81 jumped up to the 5th fastest performer in history, taking nearly two seconds off Rebecca Adlington’s former record of 8:14.10 from 2008. Quadarella’s previous best in the event stood at 8:14.55 from the Paris Olympics. She wrapped up her year at the European SC Championships, winning gold in the 1500 (15:29.93) and setting Italian Records in the 400 free (3:56.70) and 800 free (8:03.00). Quadarella is the reigning silver medalist in the 1500 at the SC World Championships, though if her mile from Worlds is any indication, she could earn a gold medal in 2026 if Ledecky continues to focus on long course.

#23 Anna Elendt, Germany (2025 Rank: NR) – One of the most shocking World Champions in 2025 was Germany’s Anna Elendt, who won the women’s 100 breaststroke in a new German Record time of 1:05.19. This was her first lifetime best in the event since the 1:05.58 she swam in 2022 and it was the fastest time in the world last year. Elendt had a major bounce-back in 2025 after finishing 20th in the 100 breast in Paris, missing the semifinal. She also swam the 50 breast and 200 breast at Worlds, finishing 9th in the 50 (30.40) and 11th in the 200 (2:24.39). These swims were both off her season bests, of 30.17 and 2:23.54, but they matched her 2025 world rankings of 9th in the 50 and 11th in the 200. Her performance at SC Euros in December points to a potential improvement in the 200 breaststroke in 2026. She won the gold medal in the 200 breast (2:18.16), coming in just a few tenths off the personal best and German Record 2:17.80 she swam at the first World Cup stop in Carmel. If she can peak in the 100 and the 200 at the right time, she could earn multiple medals at the 2026 Euros, and she will likely be the favorite for gold in the 100.

#22 Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania (2025 Rank: 19) – Ruta Meilutyte picked up her 4th consecutive World Title in the women’s 50 breaststroke, swimming 29.55 in the event final to be the only swimmer under 30 seconds in the event. This swim was about four tenths off her world record time of 29.16 from 2023, and was the 14th fastest performance in history in the event. Her time of 29.54 from the semifinal was the #1 time in the world last year with 2nd place in the event going to Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova in 29.83. Meilutyte will be the favorite in the 50 breaststroke at the European Championships in 2026 and at the 2026 SC Worlds in December, though Jefimova will likely challenge her for the gold, beating Meilutyte at SC Euros in the event. Meilutyte finished 2nd in 29.22, nearly a second off her world record time of 28.37 from 2022. She also swam the 100 breast at Worlds, finishing 13th in 1:06.57, just one hundredth off her season best 1:06.55 from prelims that was tied for 18th in the world last year.

#21 Claire Weinstein, United States (2025 Rank: 23) – There are a number of swimmers who hold top-30 times in a variety of events across different strokes, but American Claire Weinstein takes that to another level, finishing 2025 with top-30 times in five different distances of freestyle. After swimming five of the six distances at the 2025 United States Nationals, Weinstein almost qualified to swim the 100 free (as a member of the 400 freestyle relay) and the 1500 free on the same night, but she just missed the 100 qualification, finishing 8th in the 100 free in a personal best 53.72, which was the 25th ranked time in the world last year. She set all personal best times over the meet, winning the 200 (1:54.92) and finishing 2nd in the 400 (4:00.05), 800 (8:19.67) and 1500 (16:01.96). She also initially qualified to swim on the American Open Water team in the 10k before dropping it to focus on the pool. She dropped the 1500 free before Worlds, and scratched the 400 free on the first day of the meet (potentially due to Team USA illness, though this was not confirmed). She still raced the 200 and 800 free, setting a new personal best 1:54.67 to win the bronze medal in the 200 and finishing 17th in the 800 (8:38.70). She finished 2025 with top 10 rankings in the 200 free (3rd), 400 free (5th), 800 free (8th), and 1500 free (10th). A healthy Weinstein at Pan Pacs could find herself in multiple event finals if she continues to progress at the same rate.