By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Welcome to the SwimSwam Top 100 Swimmers of 2026: Men’s Edition. This is our outlook on the top 100 swimmers to watch globally in 2026.
Like most non-Olympic even-numbered years, the world of swimming will be scattered across the globe, with no real single meet to weigh the medals from most. That means times will rule the day in the 2026 rankings, which makes some things easier and some things harder.
The principles for ranking:
Trajectory Age Performance in 2023-2024-2025 (more recent results weighted more heavily) Anomalies to trajectories (one bad year doesn’t mean a swimmer isn’t still one of the best in the world, if it was pretty isolated or illness may have impacted performance) Versatility. A swimmer who might be #3 in the world in three events could leap a one-trick pony who is #1 or #2 in their best event and outside the top 10 in their next-best event. Competitive Atmosphere. A swimmer ranked #9 in the world in a more competitive event could be ranked higher than a finalist in a less competitive event.We start with data, and then debate, massage, re-rank, re-rank again, and eventually wind up with some vision of a top 100 that makes sense to our collective hivemind.
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#100: Yu Hanaguruma, Japan (2025 Rank: 66) – After first emerging with a silver medal in the 200 breast at the 2022 World Championships, Hanaguruma placed 5th in the 200 breast at the 2024 Olympics and had gone 2:07.07 a few months earlier, helping earn him the 66th spot in last year’s Top 100. In 2025, Japan had four of the seven fastest men in the 200 breast, and Hanaguruma was 4th on that list, meaning he didn’t swim at the World Championships. However, he was under 2:08 again in the 200 (2:07.93) and ranked top 30 in the world in the 100 breast (59.70). As one of only five men who have been 2:07 or better in two straight years, Hanaguruma will be one to watch again this year, with his primary focus likely being the Asian Games.
#99: Ksawery Masiuk, Poland (2025 Rank: NR) – After ranking in the top 50 of our rankings in 2023 and 2024, Masiuk fell out of the Top 100 last year after an underwhelming 2024 that included making no individual finals at either the Olympics or Short Course World Championships. The now 21-year-old Polish native rebounded with a better 2025, placing 4th in the men’s 50 back at the World Championships in Singapore and setting a new national record in the semis (24.41) while placing 9th in the 100 back (52.67) and showing some solid fly (51.79 in the 100) and free (47.48 relay split) ability. Masiuk continued to show his expanded range at the European Short Course Championships in December, placing 6th in the 100 fly (49.52 in semis), 16th in the 100 free (46.91) and delivering a 20.62 50 free relay split. Slated to join the elite training group at the University of Texas this semester, Masiuk is a strong candidate for a big year at the European Championships and Short Course Worlds.
#98: Caeleb Dressel, USA (2025 Rank: 46) – Dressel is at an enigmatic point in his career–after dominating the sport from 2017 until mid-2022, he was able to come back from an extended break out of the water to have a solid run up to the Olympics in 2024. Opting not to vie for a spot at the World Championships last year, and narrowly missing a spot on the 2026 Pan Pac team, this is surely a building year for the 29-year-old, who has a new training home and seems to have a rejuvenated outlook on the sport with eyes on 2028. Dressel has shown some progress in recent months, and given his talent, he simply could not be left off the rankings. He finished 2025 ranked 32nd in the world in the 100 fly (51.33), tied for 38th in the 50 fly (23.28), and tied for 43rd in the 50 free (21.94). Though he won’t race at Pan Pacs, he’ll likely be a fixture at the U.S. National Championships two weeks earlier, and at the end of the year, Short Course Worlds could be just what the doctor ordered for him to get some mojo back on the international stage.
#97: Andrej Barna, Serbia (2025 Rank: NR) – After having a breakthrough year in the 100 free in 2024, Barna has since shifted his focus exclusively to the 50 free, and it’s paying dividends. The 27-year-old Serbian didn’t race any other event in all of 2025, and managed to break 22 seconds on 12 different occasions–something he had only done twice coming into the year. At the World Championships in Singapore, Barna set a new Serbian Record in the prelims of the 50 free (21.44) to advance 1st out of the heats, and followed up by clocking 21.45 in the semis (3rd overall) and ultimately placed 6th in the final (21.60). That time from the prelims ranked him 6th in the world for the year, and he carried his momentum into the rest of the year, posting 21.58 and 21.62 swims at the U.S. Open in December. He also went 21.52 at a Serbian meet just before the World Championships, giving him six swims 21.62 or faster in 2025.
#96: Blake Tierney, Canada (2025 Rank: NR) – Beginning at the Short Course World Championships at the end of 2024, Tierney has taken a giant leap forward over the last 13 months, entering the upper echelon of men’s backstroke globally. The Canadian, who turned 24 on January 10, took a giant leap late last year at SC Worlds in the 100 back, going sub-50 three times to ultimately place 5th in 49.39, knocking more than two seconds off his previous PB (51.73). After squeaking onto the Canadian World Championship team at the Trials in June with a win in the 50 back (25.23) and two runner-up finishes in the 100 back (54.28) and 200 back (1:57.04), Tierney was leaps and bounds better the following month in Singapore. He broke through and smashed the Canadian Record twice in the 200 back, clocking 1:55.03 in the semis before placing 4th in the final (1:55.09), and also became the first Canadian sub-53 in the 100 back, leading off the 400 medley relay in 52.95. At the U.S. Open in December, the Vancouver-trained athlete went 53.52 in the 100 back, which is his fastest ever outside of the 2025 Worlds and 2024 Olympic Trials. The men’s backstroke scene is a blood bath right now with several elite swimmers entering their prime, but Tierney has emerged as a medal threat coming off a big breakout year.
#95: David Betlehem, Hungary (2025 Rank: 54) – Coming off an impressive Olympic campaign that saw him win bronze in the marathon 10km and place 4th in the 1500 free, Betlehem once again balanced open water and pool swimming in 2025, though he may have been spreading himself a bit thin. At the World Championships in Singapore, the Hungarian placed 6th in the 5km, 9th in the 10km, and then won two open water medals with a silver in the 3km knockout sprint and a bronze in the 4×1500 relay. However, this ranking is dedicated to the pool, and there, after his busy open water schedule, he took 10th in the 1500 free in a time of 14:59.09, more than 18 seconds slower than his best time from Paris (14:40.91) and an add of over 10 seconds from his season-best of 14:48.73 set in April. However, Betlehem only just turned 22 in September, and has the ability to be one of the best milers in the world if he continues to progress. He had an impressive finish to the year at the SC European Championships in December, placing 4th in the 1500 free in 14:19.65. Moving forward, the question will be how he balances the pool with open water–at the 2026 European Championships, like last year’s Worlds, open water will come first.
#94: Lucas Matzerath, Germany (2025 Rank: NR) – With Adam Peaty off the radar for the time being and Qin Haiyang coming back down to earth after his standout 2023, the men’s 100 breast is looking like a bit of a crapshoot right now. Germany’s Matzerath holds the distinction of being the fourth-fastest in the world last year, giving him a reasonable shot at doing some damage at the European Championships in 2026. Matzerath, 25, has five career swims under 59 seconds, doing so three times at the 2023 World Championships and then twice in Singapore. He went 58.75 in the prelims at Worlds, then progressively slowed by going 58.93 in the semis and 59.14 in the final to take 6th. Despite his finish, only Qin, Kirill Prigoda and Nicolo Martinenghi were faster last year, and given that Matzerath has shown he’s not a one-and-done 58-point guy, with three 58.7 swims under his belt, we should expect he’s capable of more this year. He didn’t have a great year in the 50 or 200, however, with his fastest 50 breast of 27.16 ranking him tied for 36th in the world and 2:11.43 200 ranking 68th. In short course, he made the Euro final in the 100 breast, taking 8th (57.15) after clocking a PB of 56.82 in the semis.
#93: Taku Taniguchi, Japan (2025 Rank: NR) – As we’ve already touched on regarding Hanaguruma, Japan is loaded in men’s breaststroke, generally leaning towards the 200 as their best events. Taniguchi, however, is more sprint-oriented. He was Japan’s fastest man in the 50 last year, ranking 7th in the world at 26.65, and also ranked 17th globally in the 100 breast in 59.30–third-fastest among Japanese men. Now 24, Taniguchi had an up-and-down World Championships, setting the Japanese Record in the 50 breast (26.65) to qualify 2nd out of the heats before falling to 16th in the semis (27.07). He also took 14th in the 100 breast (59.59). He also has some experience racing at the highest level in short course, placing 5th in the 100 breast (56.32) and 10th in the 50 breast (25.96) at the 2024 SC Worlds, meaning he could be a player at the end of 2026 at the Short Course World Championships in addition to what he’ll do at the Asian Games.
#92: Quintin McCarty, USA (2025 Rank: NR) – McCarty emerged as one of the world’s best pure sprint backstrokers in 2025, unleashing seven sub-25 swims in the 50 back in a three-month span from May to August, headlined by his 24.34 at U.S. Nationals that ranked him 5th in the world for the year. The now 22-year-old also placed 4th at Nationals in the 50 free in a personal best of 21.79, ranking him 26th globally, and then performed well in his major international debut in Singapore, placing 5th in the men’s 50 back final in a time of 24.58. McCarty enters the year as arguably the gold medal favorite in the 50 back at the 2026 Pan Pacs, and though it’s still taking some getting used to, it is an Olympic event in 2028 and holds just as much importance as every other race. He also shouldn’t be overlooked in the 50 free, especially given that he’s now been under 22 seconds six times.
#91: John Shortt, Ireland (2025 Rank: NR) – One of the most intriguing names on the list, Shortt had an explosive year in the pool and though his long course credentials would normally leave him on the outside looking in, his combination of youth, upward trajectory and newfound short course prowess lands him in the Top 100. He hit the ground running in 2025 at the Irish Open Championships in April, setting best times in the 100 back (53.90) and 200 back (1:56.61), setting a new Irish Record in the latter. He then won gold at Euro Juniors in the 100 back, got some senior international experience in Singapore by taking 15th in the 200 back (1:57.30) and 26th in the 100 back (54.26) at Worlds, and then won double gold in the 100 back (53.86) and 200 back (1:56.19) at the World Junior Championships while adding a bronze in the 50 back (25.06). His best showing of the year came at the European SC Championships, however, where he scorched his way to a gold medal and new World Junior Record of 1:47.89 in the 200 back. He also made the final in the 100 back, setting a new Irish Record of 50.10. Set to turn 19 in February, Shortt will be one to watch this year. He’ll surely be a contender for a 200 back medal at SC Worlds at the end of the year, but what will be really interesting is how he’s able to progress in long course at the European Championships. He’s got a ton of potential and could arguably be ranked higher, but his best long course world ranking in 2025 was 21st in the 200 back, which keeps him in this range right now.
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