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 Roos Vanotterdijk, Belgium (2025 Rank: 99) – One of the biggest jumps from last year, Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk had a massive breakout season in 2025. She ranked 99 on this list last year after finishing 10th in the 100 back (59.86) and 100 fly (57.25) at the Paris Olympics. The recently turned 21-year-old’s explosion started at the Danish SC Championships in December of 2024, when she set new Belgian Records in the 100 free (52.61), 50 back (26.51), 50 fly (25.32) and 100 IM (57.92). From there, she continued to make her mark on the world stage. At the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, she swam six individual events. Her highest finish came from her silver medal in the 100 fly with her final time of 55.84, which was the 2nd fastest time in the world last year. She also picked up a bronze in the 50 fly (25.43), finished 10th in the 100 back (59.63), 11th in the 50 back (27.67) and 100 free (53.87), and 23rd in the 50 free (25.09). She finished the season with top 20 rankings in the 50 back (18th), 100 back (13th), 50 fly (3rd), 100 fly (2nd), and 200 IM (15th – 2:09.73). She also had an exceptional short course season, adding the breaststroke events to her repertoire and at SC Euros in December she won the silver in the 100 IM and 50 fly, and finished 5th in the 100 fly and 8th in the 200 breaststroke. Her 2026 outlook is very bright as the only swimmer at Euros who was under 56 seconds in the 100 fly last year and she could earn a multitude of medals at that meet.
#19 Isabel Gose, Germany (2025 Rank: 14) – After a strong 2024 saw her win the Olympic bronze in the 1500 free in Paris, Gose struggled slightly in long course last year. She finished 9th in the 1500 at Worlds, missing the final with a 16:08.41, nearly 30 seconds off the 15:41.16 she swam in Paris. Her 400 and 800 free were strong in Singapore, and she finished 5th in the 400 (4:02.90) and 6th in the 800 (8:18.23), though both swims were off her times from Paris. Her season best times ranked 5th in the 1500, 6th in the 800, and 8th in the 400. Gose had an electric SC Euros to bounce-back from long course, though. She won two gold medals, setting new European Records in the 400 free (3:54.33) and 800 free (8:01.90). Gose is also the reigning SC World Champion in the 1500 freestyle from 2024. In 2026, she is a clear podium favorite in all three distance events at Euros, and she could earn at least two gold medals at SC Worlds in December, particularly if Katie Ledecky chooses not to attend, though she will face steep competition in Simona Quadarella at both meets.
#18 Evgeniia Chikunova, Russia (2025 Rank: 11) – Evgeniia Chikunova is the world record holder in the 200 meter breaststroke, but she hasn’t quite been able to replicate her 2023 magic outside of Russia. She swam her first international meet of her career at the 2024 SC World Championships, where she was 2nd in the 200 breast (2:15.14) and 3rd in the 100 breast (1:03.79). Coming into worlds, she had the fastest season best time at 2:20.36, four tenths faster than American Kate Douglass. In the final, she swam 2:19.96 to finish 2nd overall, more than two seconds off her lifetime best of 2:17.55. She also finished 5th in the 100, touching in 1:06.05, about a tenth off her season best time from semifinals of 1:05.97. This was also about a second off her lifetime best of 1:04.92 from the same 2023 Russian Nationals as her 200 breaststroke time, and it was the 8th fastest time in the world last year. The 2025 World Championships were Chikunova’s first long course senior international meet, and at just 21, she has a lot of her swimming career ahead of her. In 2026, she will be the easy favorite in the 200 breast at Euros and one of the favorites for the podium in the 100 breast, and she will be looking to begin racing at the top of her game on non-Russian soil.
#17 Eneli Jefimova, Estonia (2025 Rank: 36) – Eneli Jefimova had strong seed times coming into the 2025 World Championships, setting new personal bests in the 50 and 100 breaststroke during the first few months of the year. In April, she swam 29.83 in the 50 breaststroke, which was the fastest time in the world at the time, and finished the year ranked 2nd behind Ruta Meilutyte. She ended up finishing 6th in the event at Worlds in 30.29, about four tenths off her personal best. In the 100, she was ranked 7th in the world in the 1:05.81 she swam at the AP Race London in May. At Worlds, she was 10th in 1:06.28. Jefimova wrapped up her year at the European SC Championships after moving to the United States in the fall to train with NC State. There, she won gold medals in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke, swimming Estonian Record times of 28.81 and 1:02.82 in both, taking down long course world champion in the 50 and world record holder Meilutyte in both events. Her 2026 will see her try to match her best times at the European Championships, while she challenges other top breaststrokers for the podium. She will also have the opportunity to replicate her SC Euros performance at SC Worlds in December, potentially earning multiple medals there.
#16 Katharine Berkoff, United States (2025 Rank: 15) – American backstroker Katharine Berkoff was the gold medalist in the 50 backstroke at the 2025 World Championships, swimming 27.08 to earn the top spot over fellow American Regan Smith, who was 2nd in 27.25. Berkoff’s time was about a tenth off her American Record swim of 26.97 from the 2025 United States Nationals, which was the top time in the world last year and made her the only swimmer under 27 seconds in the event. She also picked up the bronze medal in the 100 backstroke, touching in 58.15, two hundredths off the 58.13 she swam at Nationals, which was the 3rd fastest time in the world last year. In 2026, Berkoff will have her sights set on another gold medal in the 50 backstroke as the top female backstrokers in the world will all be at the Pan Pacific Championships. She will also be looking to maintain her position as the 2nd fastest 100 backstroker in the country ahead of a charging pack of Americans who will all be fighting for the 2nd finals spot. Berkoff is one of just five women in history who have been under 58 seconds in the 100 back, and she will also be trying to drop back into that range in August.
#15 Yu Zidi, China (2025 Rank: NR) – It is a testament to how difficult 2025 was to predict that every section of our 2026 rankings so far has had a swimmer who was unranked entirely in 2025. Chinese teenage phenom Yu Zidi was one of the most shocking storylines of the year, and she jumped up from not earning a ranking at all last year to sit in 15th on the 2026 list, the highest unranked swimmer. Yu began making headlines during the 2024 Chinese Nationals, when she swam 2:09.86 in the 200 fly and 2:12.57 at just 11-years-old. About a month later, she swam 4:30.21 in the SCM 400 IM. From there, she exploded. At the Chinese Nationals in May of 2025, she swam 2:10.63 in the 200 fly to finish 2nd and earn a spot on the Worlds team. She went on to swim 4:35.53 in the 400 IM and 2:06.83 in the 200 fly to win both events. She swam all three events at Worlds, finishing just off the podium at 4th in each, but setting new personal best times. In the 200 fly, she was 2:06.43, which was the 8th fastest time in the world last year. In the 200 IM, she swam 2:09.21, and in the 400 IM, she was 4:33.76 which was the 4th fastest time in the world. She was too young to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships, with the age requirement sitting at 14-years-old on December 31st. Zidi turned 13 in October of 2025, and was one year too young to compete. She raced another long course meet, however, swimming at the Chinese National Games in November as a fresh 13-year-old, and swam a monster 2:07.41 in the 200 IM, dropping two more seconds from the World Championships, and setting the 2nd fastest time in the world last year. Zidi is improving at an extreme rate and is looking like she will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
#14 Tang Qianting, China (2025 Rank: 9) – For two years in a row now, China’s Tang Qianting has been one of the best sprint breaststrokers in the world. She was the only female swimmer who won a medal at worlds in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events, earning silver in the 50 breast at 30.03 and bronze in the 100 breast at 1:05.64. She added a bit in both events from the 29.51 and 1:05.27 she swam to win silver and gold in the 50 and 100 breast at the 2024 World Championships. She raced the 100 again at the Chinese National Games in November, swimming 1:05.37 to set the 3rd fastest time in the world last year, coming within a tenth of Kate Douglass in 2nd and two tenths of Anna Elendt in 1st. The women’s breaststroke fields are tight with the top six swimmers sitting less than half-a-second apart, but Tang has won a medal in every international breaststroke race she has swum since the 2024 Worlds. She is also the reigning SC World Champion in the 100 breast and the reigning silver medalist in the 50 breast, a performance she will be attempting to replicate at the 2026 SC Worlds in December. At the Asian Games and at Pan Pacs, she will be a major threat in the 50 and 100 breast as she hunts for gold medals in both.
#13 Alexandria Perkins, Australia (2025 Rank 54) – Alexandria Perkins had a breakout year in 2024, qualifying for Australia’s Olympic team in the 100 fly with a personal best 57.10 at the Australian Trials. She ended up finishing 13th in the event in Paris, adding a little more than half-a-second to touch in 57.84. She went on to win the bronze medal in the 50 and 100 fly at the 2024 SC World Championships in new Oceanian Records. In 2025, she swam the 50 free (24.70), 100 free (53.53), 50 fly (25.36) and 100 fly (56.42) at the 2025 Australian Trials. She won the 50 and 100 fly and tied for 2nd in the 100 free with Olivia Wunsch. The roster spot ultimately went to Wunsch in the event who had a faster best time. At Worlds, she set new personal best times in the 50 fly and 100 fly en route to picking up medals in both. She finished 2nd in the 50 fly, setting a new Oceanian record of 25.31 and 3rd in the 100 fly at 56.33 after dropping a 56.19 in the prelims, nearly a second faster than her pre-season best. She finished the season ranked 18th in the 100 free, 2nd in the 50 fly, and 4th in the 100 fly. In 2026, Perkins will be shooting for multiple podium finishes at Pan Pacs and the Commonwealth Games, if she attends, and she will also be looking to improve on her two bronze medals from the 2024 SC Worlds, potentially adding a 3rd event into the mix.
#12 Meg Harris, Australia (2025 Rank: 22) – Just ahead of Perkins and Wunsch at the Australian Trials in the 50 free was 23-year-old Aussie Meg Harris. She won the Australian Trials in 24.17, two tenths off her personal best of 23.97 that she swam to win the silver medal in Paris. She improved upon that finish at the 2025 World Championships, taking the gold medal in the 50 at 24.02, two tenths ahead of China’s Wu Qingfeng, who touched in 24.26 for 2nd. Her swim was the 3rd fastest time in the world last year after the pair of Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske from the United States, who both went under 24 seconds at the U.S. Nationals. She also had the 3rd fastest time in the world in the 100 free, swimming 52.56 at the Queensland Championships in December to sit behind Huske and 100 free World Champion Marrit Steenbergen. If Harris can bring that 100 free speed internationally in 2026, she could medal in multiple individual events for the first time in her career.
#11 Torri Huske, United States (2025 Rank: 8) – Torri Huske was one of the swimmers who was most impacted by the American illness that spread through the 2025 World Championships. After a down year in 2023, she came out swinging in 2024, winning the Olympic gold medal in the 100 fly ahead of world record holder Gretchen Walsh. She also picked up a silver in the 100 free and threw down some of the fastest relay splits in history during the meet including a blistering 51.88 on the anchor leg of the American mixed medley relay. Her 2025 was shaping up to be excellent as well after she won the 100 free at the United States Trials in 52.43, which was the fastest time in the world last year. She also finished 2nd in the 100 fly (56.61) and 2nd in the 50 free (23.98). One of the most surprising swims from her at Nationals, though, was her 200 freestyle of 1:55.71, which was 3rd overall and could have earned her another individual swim, but she turned the position down. In Singapore, she was one of the first American scratches of the meet, dropping the 100 fly to focus on the 400 freestyle relay, which was the same day. She ended up finishing 3rd in the 100 free (52.89) and 6th in the 50 free (24.50), while contributing to a number of American relays, though she also did not swim on the 800 free relay. Huske finished 2025 ranked 2nd in the 50 free, 1st in the 100 free, 14th in the 200 free, and 8th in the 100 fly. A healthy Huske at the 2026 Pan Pacs will have huge medal potential in at least three different events.
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