SwimSwam’s Top 100 For 2024: Men’s #70-61

After the record-setting year that was 2023, we’re gearing up for another exciting year over here at SwimSwam, and part of that is releasing our fourth annual Top 100 list—check out last year’s rankings here.

Similar to 2023, we’ve taken a statistically driven approach reliant primarily upon world rankings and World Championship medals. We’ve also taken into account things such as potential, Olympic medal opportunities, injuries, and versatility. Long course is weighted more than short course, though performance potential in both formats is factored in.

We’ve also moved Russian and Belarusian swimmers way down this list because of their likely absence from the Olympics or either World Championship meet. While that doesn’t preclude them from swimming fast at domestic meets (including whatever Russia comes up with to replace the Olympics), those swims just won’t mean quite as much without the international spotlight.

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.

Braden Keith, Sophie Kaufman, Anya Pelshaw and Mark Wild contributed to this report.

Men’s Rankings:

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

We’ve got more established veterans in this group, highlighted by two-time defending Olympic champion Adam Peaty. Can he three-peat in Paris? With Qin Haiyang in the mix, he’s going to need to be near his absolute best, which seems like a longshot, but he’s got to be capable of getting on the podium….right?

#70: Felix Auboeck, Austria – After hitting career-best form in 2022, Auboeck continued to be one of the best 400 freestylers in the world last year. He went 3:44.14 in the prelims at Worlds to qualify 2nd into the final, but ended up 8th (3:44.33) in a stacked event. He also made the 200 free final in Fukuoka, and could easily be a double event finalist in Paris. He’ll need to be in the 3:42s to challenge for a medal, however.

#69: Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, France – Ndoye-Brouard has been a 52-second backstroker for nearly three years, but his breakthrough major title came in the summer of 2022 in the 200 back, clocking 1:55.62 at the European Championships. He hasn’t broken 1:56 since, but in the 100 back, remains a perennial medal threat on the biggest stage. After taking 4th at the 2022 World Championships, hitting a PB of 52.50, he was 5th in Fukuoka in 52.84.

#68: Federico Poggio, Italy – A semi-finalist in the 100 breast at the Tokyo Games, Poggio battled through injury to return to form in 2022, breaking 59 seconds for the first time and winning silver behind countryman Nicolo Martinenghi at the European Championships in 58.98. Poggio, who will turn 26 in April, dropped a lifetime best of 58.73 in April 2023, which ranked him 6th in the world for the year. He ultimately missed a spot in the final in Fukuoka by .01, well off his PB in 59.51, but in the final, it only took 58.72 to tie for the silver medal. He should be a finalist if he can maintain sub-59 form this year, though he was a bit off at the SC Euros in December.

#67: Alessandro Miressi, Italy – As the 100 free has gotten quicker over the last two years, Miressi has done a solid job of keeping up, though the event is beginning to knock him out of medal contention. He was 47.54 leading off the Italian relay that was a close runner-up in Fukuoka, but individually he missed the final with a 48.2 swim in the semis. His relay swim would’ve been within a tenth of a medal, but still, he’s become more of a relay horse than an individual medal contender with the likes of Popovici, Pan and Alexy emerging to go along with Chalmers and possibly Dressel. He could still win two Olympic relay medals, however.

#66: Maximillian Giuliani, Australia – Giuliani’s 2023 emergence was truly remarkable, as at the age of 20, he went from 1:48.0 in the 200 free at the Australian World Trials in June to 1:44.79 at the Queensland Championships in December. That performance ranks him #2 all-time among Aussies, and vaulted him into a tie for 6th in the world in 2023. Outside of David Popovici‘s 2022, 1:44 has been the bar for international medals (and gold medals) on the international stage since the super suits. Giuliani is right there. He could also lead the Aussie men into contention in the 800 free relay and has a shot to earn a prelim spot on the 400 free relay. Of course, all of this comes with the caveat that one bad meet (or bad swim) could end his Olympic hopes in a deep freestyle country.

#65: Kim Woomin, South Korea – Kim rolled to a pair of individual gold medals at the Asian Games in the 400 and 800 free, but perhaps more impressive was his 1:44.5 split on the South Korean 800 free relay that broke the Asian Record—splitting faster than Hwang Sunwoo. Prior to that meet, the 22-year-old placed 5th in the 400 free in Fukuoka in a PB of 3:43.92, good for 6th in the world in 2023. Kim also split sub-1:45 on the Korean relay, so making two individual Olympic finals doesn’t seem out of the question. He’ll be a medal contender at the 2024 Worlds as well.

#64: Adam Peaty, Great Britain – What to make of the most dominant 100 breaststroker we’ve ever seen? Peaty was unbeatable in the event from 2015 to 2021, but injury and mental health battles have left him well outside of that form since. We did see a glimpse that he was coming back to full force in December 2022 at SC Worlds, but he was largely out of competition in 2023 and only returned for the World Cup circuit where he went as fast as 59.25, a far cry from his 56.88 world record. Olympic gold will take at least 57-something due to the emergence of Qin Haiyang, but Peaty only needs to be 58-mid for a minor medal, which is well within reach. Additionally, Peaty will be at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, which could serve as a huge confidence booster, or the opposite, heading into the Olympics.

#63: Isaac Cooper, Australia – Cooper’s best event has been the non-Olympic 50 back early in his career, but he’s really emerged as a dual-threat over the last 13 months or so. At the 2022 SC Worlds on home soil, he showed he’s got some 50 free chops, and backed it up with a 4th-place finish in the long course pool at the World Championships in Fukuoka. His best time of 21.65 ranked 7th in the world for 2023, and was just .07 slower than what was required to medal in Fukuoka. He also ranked tied for 6th in the world in the 50 back (24.38), and he’ll be in the hunt for medals in both races at the 2024 Worlds next month in Doha. Having only turned 20 in early January, Cooper could still prevail as a top contender in the 100 back, though he ranked in the thick of the 53-mid group last year.

#62: Bradley Woodward, Australia – After falling short of both the Tokyo Olympic and 2022 Australian World Championship teams (after making the 2019 squad), Woodward returned to the top of his game in 2023. After a strong summer that included a 6th-place finish in the 200 back at Worlds and a 53.3 PB in the 100 back leading off the Aussie medley relay, the 25-year-old delivered a lifetime best 1:55.56 200 back at the Japan Open at the end of November. Excluding Russian Evgeny Rylov, who is not expected to be in Paris, that swim ranks Woodward #5 in the world for 2023. A medal might be within reach in Paris (1:55.3 won bronze in Fukuoka), and he’ll surely be in the mix in Doha.

#61: Caspar Corbeau, Netherlands – After concluding his collegiate career at Texas, Corbeau took the next step in the long course pool in 2023 while training back at home in the Netherlands. After his lifetime best in the 200 breast stood at 2:08.57 since December 2020, Corbeau took 5th at the World Championships in Fukuoka in 2:08.42 before going sub-2:08 for the first time in December. His 2:07.99 effort ranked 7th in the world for the year, while his newly-minted PB of 59.27 in the 100 breast sits 17th. He didn’t race the 100 in Fukuoka, but 59.27 would’ve made the final. The 22-year-old is good enough to make two finals in Paris right now, and could push his way up the ladder with some time drops. That seems even more likely after he notched a SC European title in December in the 200, dropping nearly two seconds in 2:02.41.