By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
Welcome to the SwimSwam Top 100 Swimmers of 2026: Women’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.
Women’s Rankings
#100 – #91 #90 – #81 #80 — #71 #70 — #61 #60 — #51 #50 — #41 #40 — #31 #30 — #21 #20 — #11#10 Li Bingjie, China (2025 Rank: 29) – The women’s distance events are stacked at the top right now, and China’s Li Bingjie continues to make her mark on the leaderboards. After failing to earn any individual medals in Paris, she had a huge year in 2025. At the World Championships in Singapore, she had her most successful major international meet ever, winning two silver medals in the 200 and 400 freestyles while finishing 5th in the 800 and 4th in the 1500. Li came into the meet with a lifetime best 400 free time of 3:59.99 from the Chinese Nationals in May. At Worlds, she dropped nearly two seconds to swim 3:58.21, out touching Katie Ledecky, breaking her own Asian Record, and moving up to the 4th fastest performer in history and the 3rd fastest performer in 2025. In the 200 free, the 23-year-old set a personal best 1:55.52 at the Chinese Nationals. She found another second drop at Worlds, swimming 1:54.52 to come within three tenths of the Chinese Record in the event and set the 2nd fastest time in the world in 2025. She was 8:15.59 in the 800 free to rank 5th in the world and 15:43.94 in the 1500 to rank 4th. After struggling to string together good races across all of her events during her career, Li turned over a new leaf in 2025 and will be looking to replicate that magic in 2026. She has steep freestyle competition coming at the Asian Games and Pan Pacs, but if she continues to improve, she could be a major threat.
#9 Marrit Steenbergen, Netherlands (2025 Rank: 26) – Dutch sprinter Marrit Steenbergen is the highest ranked European female on the list, and her performance at the SC European Championships speaks for itself. Steenbergen started her year coming off a disappointing Olympics that saw her finish 7th in the 100 free after setting the 3rd fastest time in the world in 2024, and miss the 200 IM final entirely. She came into the 2025 World Championships as the reigning champion in the women’s 100 freestyle, after taking the top time at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, setting a lifetime best 52.26. At Worlds, she repeated her title, swimming 52.55 to set a new season best swim for the gold medal. She finished the year ranked 2nd in the world in the event behind Torri Huske’s 52.43 from the United States Nationals. Steenbergen’s most impressive performances at Worlds came from her relay splits, though. On the women’s 400 freestyle relay, she split 51.64 to set the fastest non-Australian relay split in history. She went on to split two more 51s during the meet, coming in at 51.95 on the mixed 400 free relay and 51.91 on the mixed 400 medley. Her only other top-20 ranking in long course was her 100 backstroke where the 58.96 she swam in June ranked 12th in the world. She finished 14th in the event in Singapore, touching in 59.94. While her relay splits were her most impactful performance from Worlds, Steenbergen’s best performance of the year came at the 2025 SC European Championships. There, she swam four individual events, winning four gold medals, and setting four new European Records. In the 100 IM (56.26) and 200 IM (2:01.83) she took down records from IM legend Katinka Hosszu and in the 100 free (50.42) and 200 free (1:50.33) she broke another legend, Sarah Sjostrom’s records. She picked up a 5th European Record in the 50 backstroke leading off the Netherlands’ 200 medley relay in 25.47. She is now the 4th fastest performer in history in the 100 free, 3rd in the 200 free, 6th in the 50 back, 2nd in the 100 IM, and 2nd in the 200 IM. If Steenbergen can come close to replicating those performances at the long course European Championships in the summer, she will be unstoppable. Despite being so strong in the short course events at Euros, she will likely have a harder time at the SC World Championships considering the World Record holders in all five of her European Record events are currently active, but she is still a heavy medal favorite and gold medal contender in all five events.
#8 Lani Pallister, Australia (2025 Rank: 16) – We have talked a lot about breakthrough years during this series, and it feels weird to say an Olympic finalist “broke through” in 2025, but that feels like what happened with Lani Pallister. In 2024, she swam one event at the Paris Olympics, the 800 freestyle, where she finished 6th overall in 8:21.09 after testing positive for COVID. She had a stronger performance at SC Worlds, winning gold in the 800 free, grabbing silver in the 400 free, and finishing 4th in the 200 free. Pallister came into 2025 with best times of 1:55.57 in the 200 free, 4:01.75 in the 400 free, 8:15.11 in the 800 free, and 15:48.96 in the 1500 free. During 2025, she dropped all of those times, setting new Oceanian Records in the 800 and 1500 freestyle long course, and breaking the World Record in the SCM 800 free. She started her 2025 campaign at the Australian trials, where she swam 1:54.89 in the 200, 3:59.72 in the 400, 8:10.84 in the 800, and 15:39.14 in the 1500 to earn individual Worlds roster spots in all four events. Her 1500 free was a new Oceanian Record. At Worlds, she dropped the 200 freestyle individually, but still set a new personal best 1:54.77 to lead off the Australian gold-medal relay. She also set a new personal best in the 400 free of 3:58.87 to finish 4th overall. The swim of her meet, however, was the women’s 800 free, where she won the silver medal in 8:05.98, which was also an Oceanian Record. She also picked up a bronze medal in the 1500, touching in 15:41.18 as the only event she did not drop time in during Worlds. She wrapped up her year at the World Cup Series, where she won the Triple Crown in the women’s distance races and shattered Katie Ledecky’s 800 free World Record with a 7:54.00. Pallister is on a massive improvement curve, and she will be a huge swimmer to watch in 2026, particularly at the SC World Championships where she will be hunting multiple golds, and potentially more World Records.
#7 Mollie O’Callaghan, Australia (2025 Rank: 7) – Mollie O’Callaghan dominated the women’s 200 freestyle field in Singapore, and it wasn’t particularly close. She won the gold medal in 1:53.48, coming in more than a second ahead of the rest of the field. This was her 3rd straight gold medal in the event at major international meets (excluding the 2024 World Championships in which she did not swim), winning the 200 free at the 2023 Worlds, 2024 Olympics, and now the 2025 Worlds. She also swam the 100 free, earning the silver medal in 52.67, coming in just behind Steenbergen in the event. After Worlds, O’Callaghan swam at the World Cup series in North America, winning the Triple Crown in the 200 free. At the 2nd stop in Westmont, she broke Siobhan Haughey’s World Record, swimming 1:49.77 to become the first woman under 1:50 in the event. She wasn’t done there, however, and the following weekend in Carmel, she swam 1:49.36 to drop the record event lower. She now sits nearly a second ahead of the 2nd fastest performer in history, Haughey at 1:50.31. With the retirement of country mate and World Record holder Ariarne Titmus, O’Callaghan is the clear favorite to earn the gold medal in the event at Pan Pacs and at the Commonwealth Games, depending on which meets she attends. She will also be the favorite to win the event at the SC World Championships in December on top of her major relay duties for Australia. O’Callaghan also has exceptional speed in the backstroke events, ranking 10th in the world last year in the 50 and the 100 with the 27.39 and 58.85 she swam at the Australian Trials. She also holds a lifetime best of 57.88 from the 2024 Australian Trials, which is the 5th fastest time in history. She has not swum a backstroke event at a major international meet since she changed her schedule to the 100 and 200 free at the 2023 World Championships, but she could always choose to return to them for 2026 as she has proven the speed is still there.
#6 Regan Smith, United States (2025 Rank: 6) – We have talked about versatility a lot on this list, and while Regan Smith did not win any gold medals at the 2025 World Championships, she won silver in four different events, and ranked in the top-20 in the world in seven different events. At the 2025 Worlds, she picked up silver medals in the 50 back (27.25), 100 back (57.35), 200 back (2:04.29), and 200 fly (2:04.99) while she continued to swim the fastest backstroke split in the field in the women’s World Record medley relay. She ended the 2025 long course season ranked 6th in the 50 back (27.20), 2nd in the 100 back (57.35), 2nd in the 200 back (2:04.29), 14th in the 50 fly (25.63), 3rd in the 100 fly (56.18), 2nd in the 200 fly (2:04.99), and 18th in the 200 IM (2:10.25). During the World Cup Series, Smith won the triple crown in the 200 fly, setting the American Record in the event at the 2nd stop in Westmont when she swam 2:00.20. She also won the first two stops in the 100 back, tying her SCM World Record time of 54.02 at the 2nd stop in Westmont, picking up head-to-head wins against rival Kaylee McKeown at both meets. She also swam under the 200 backstroke World Record in Westmont and Toronto, setting a new American Record in 1:57.86, dropping from the 1:58.04 she swam at the 2024 SC World Championships, though McKeown swam faster at both meets. The format of Pan Pacs, which allows swimmers to race whatever events they want in prelims and the top two from each country move to finals is perfectly suited to Smith, who, if she is on at the meet, could walk away with a multitude of medals. She is also the current World Record holder in the 50 and 100 backstroke SCM, and will be one of the favorites to win all three backstroke races at the 2026 SC World Championships in December.
#5 Katie Ledecky, United States (2025 Rank: 3) – There is a lot to say about the GOAT, and her 2025 was exceptional. At the 2025 Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, she shocked the whole world of swimming when she broke her own 800 freestyle world record, swimming 8:04.12 in the event to set her first best time in the event since the Rio Olympics in 2016. This was Ledecky’s first world record since 2018, when she set the 1500 World Record at 21-years-old. At the same meet, she swam 3:56.81 in the 400 freestyle, which was her 2nd fastest swim ever in the event, just under four tenths off her former World Record time of 3:56.46. At the 2025 World Championships, Ledecky won the 1500 free in 15:26.44, about two seconds off the 15:24.51 she swam in Fort Lauderdale, and she earned the bronze in the 400 free, touching in 3:58.49. Her most impressive performance came in the women’s 800 freestyle, which was billed as the “race of the century” coming in. She was up against the current best swimmer in the world in Summer McIntosh, who had recently swam 8:05.07 at the Canadian Trials. Ultimately, Ledecky came out on top, swimming 8:05.62 to win her 6th world title in the event and fighting off McIntosh and Lani Pallister. She also split 1:53.71 on the American Record 800 freestyle relay to help them earn the silver medal. Ledecky wrapped up her year by setting a new American Record in the SCY 1650 freestyle at the inaugural Katie Ledecky Invitational, touching in 14:59.62 to become the first woman under 15 minutes in the event. We are only a month into 2026, and she has already had a very strong start to this year, swimming the 2nd fastest 1500 in history at the Pro Swim Series in Austin, touching in 15:23.21, faster than she swam to win the gold in Singapore. Ledecky typically does not race at the SC World Championships, prioritizing long course racing, but she will almost certainly walk away from Pan Pacs with numerous medals and at least one gold.
#4 Kate Douglass, United States (2025 Rank 5) – In the 2025 long course season, Kate Douglass dropped the 200 IM from her international schedule, adding the 100 breaststroke instead. At the United States Nationals in June, Douglass won the 100 breast (1:05.79) and the 200 breast (2:21.45) and also finished 2nd in the 50 fly (25.39) to earn an individual spot in three events. Douglass was 3rd in the 50 free (24.04) and 4th in the 100 free (53.16), setting new season best times in both races. At Worlds, she beat world record holder Evegeniia Chikunova in the 200 breaststroke, touching in a new personal best, American Record, and Championship Record time of 2:18.50, officially moving her up to the #2 performer all time in the event. She picked up the silver medal in the 100 breaststroke, swimming another personal best 1:05.27 as she came in behind Anna Elendt. In the 50 fly, she was 14th in 25.74, nearly three tenths off her Nationals time of 25.39 that was the 4th fastest time in the world last year. In the women’s 400 freestyle relay, she helped the American team to a silver medal with a massive 51.90 split, one of just three women at Worlds to break that barrier on a relay. Douglass also swam all three stops of the World Cup, and, while she was already the world record holder in the SCM 200 breaststroke and 200 IM, she added a 3rd record to her repertoire, swimming 50.19 in the 100 freestyle in Westmont before becoming the 1st woman in history to drop under 50 seconds in the event, touching in 49.93 at the final stop in Toronto to win the overall title of the series and the Triple Crown. Douglass had a strong SC World Championships in 2024, and is looking for a similar performance in 2026 as she tries to win four events during the meet. She will also be hoping to carry her short course 100 free speed over to the long course event, where she will need to be in the top two from the U.S. to move onto finals at Pan Pacs. Regardless of her 100 free, Douglass will be the favorite in the 200 breast and one of the favorites in the 100 breast for the title, and, if she adds the 200 IM back into her schedule, she will be a major podium contender in that as well, with her 200 IM time of 2:07.85 ranking 3rd in the world last year.
#3 Kaylee McKeown, Australia (2025 Rank: 2) – Australian superstar backstroker Kaylee McKeown won two individual gold medals at the 2025 World Championships, taking the top time in the 100 and 200 backstroke. She swam a personal best 57.16 in the 100, missing Regan Smith’s world record time of 57.13 by three hundredths, but setting a new Oceanian record in the event. In the 200, she swam 2:03.33, two tenths off her own world record time of 2:03.14 from March of 2023. Both swims were the top times in the world last year. A few days before the meet, McKeown dropped the 50 backstroke from her lineup, but the 27.06 she swam in March of last year at the NSW State Open was the 2nd fastest time in the world behind American Katharine Berkoff. She also held a top 10 ranking in the 200 IM, coming in at 6th in the world last year with the 2:08.58 she swam in April. She has said that she would be dropping the event from her international schedule, but in September during the SwimSwam podcast, she hinted that she might swim it this summer. During the short course World Cup Series, McKeown won the Triple Crown in the 200 backstroke, breaking the world record in the event during the final two stops in Westmont and Toronto to drop the record by nearly a second to 1:57.33 from the 1:58.04 Smith swam at the 2024 SC Worlds. She also won the 100 backstroke at the final stop in 54.33, “busting” Smith’s crown in the event. McKeown has been the top backstroker in the world for nearly five years now, and she doesn’t seem ready to give up that title in 2026. She has proven time and again that when it comes down to the individual races, she knows how to get her hand on the wall first, and she will be the favorite in all three backstroke races, wherever she swims them.
#2 Gretchen Walsh, United States (2025 Rank: 4) – At the end of 2024, Gretchen Walsh had an electric SC World Championships, winning seven gold medals and setting 11 world records over six different events in Budapest, confirming her title as the best short course swimmer in the world. She did not have the same level of success at the Olympic Games, after setting the World Record in the 100 fly at Trials in 55.18, she earned silver in the event in Paris, which was her only individual medal. Last year, in 2025, Walsh swam an absolutely monster 54.60 in the 100 fly at the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, shattering her world record from the previous summer and becoming the fastest swimmer in history by nearly a second. At Nationals, she qualified to swim four events at Worlds, winning the 50 free (23.91), 50 fly (24.66), and 100 fly (54.76), and finishing 2nd in the 100 free (52.78). Her 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly swims were all new personal bests. Walsh was one of the victims of the illness that affected the American team at Worlds, ultimately scratching the 100 freestyle. She still won gold medals in the 50 fly (24.83), and 100 fly (54.73), and finished 4th in the 50 free (24.40), though her time from Trials was the fastest time in the world last year. During the SC World Cup, she finished 2nd overall in the series after setting a new world record time of 23.72 in the 50 fly at the 1st stop, taking two tenths off the 23.94 mark she set at the 2024 World Championships. She also won the 100 fly and 100 IM at all three stops. Heading into 2026, Walsh is the undisputed best swimmer in the world in the sprint butterfly events, and should earn gold medals in the 50 and 100 fly at Pan Pacs. She also had the fastest 50 free in the world last year, and will be looking to pick up her first long course international medal in the event. At the SC World Championships in December, we will likely see another dominant performance reminiscent of what we saw from her in 2024.
#1 Summer McIntosh, Canada (2025 Rank: 1) – For the 4th year in a row, Canada’s Summer McIntosh tops the women’s list and there wasn’t any question about who this would be. There is almost too much to say about McIntosh to fit into a small section, especially after the year she had. McIntosh had a few major milestones in 2025, and she has not been shy about what her biggest goal for 2026 is. At the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, McIntosh had one of the best single meet performances ever, setting three world records in five days, picking up two records she did not hold. She broke Ariarne Titmus’ 400 free record to swim 3:54.18, becoming the first woman in history under 3:55 in the event, nearly breaking 3:54 in the process. She also took down the legendary 200 IM record of 2:06.12 set by Katinka Hosszu to touch in 2:05.70. Finally, she broke her own 400 IM record, swimming 4:23.65 to take nearly eight tenths off her previous time of 4:24.38. She also became the 2nd fastest performer in history in the women’s 800 freestyle, swimming 8:05.07 to come within a second of Katie Ledecky’s world record in the event. At Worlds, she did not break any world records, but she still walked home with four gold medals in the 400 free (3:56.26), 200 IM (2:06.69), 400 IM (4:25.78), and 200 fly. Her 200 fly was one of the most impressive swims of the meet, coming in at 2:01.99 which was the 2nd fastest swim in history. The women’s 200 fly is the final women’s supersuit world record, standing at 2:01.81, which was set by Liu Zige at the 2009 Chinese National Games. McIntosh has been very open that this is the record she wants more than anything else, and she will be gunning for it in 2026. She will be the undisputed favorite in the 400 free, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM, and she will also be looking for a 5th gold, and potentially a world record, in the 800 free at Pan Pacs. Her SC Worlds lineup could look different from Pan Pacs. In 2024, she swam the 200 backstroke instead of the 200 IM and she did not race the 800 freestyle. She currently holds the world records in the 400 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM SCM, but she could be looking to pick up more golds and world records in Beijing. McIntosh only continues to improve, and if 2026 goes like the last few years have gone, we are in for an exciting 12 months from the Canadian.
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