Now that the year’s biggest swim meets are finished, there’s an opportunity to compare times and rank the fastest U.S. women’s swimmers per event.
The top two swimmers per event make the U.S. Olympic team at the trials next June and July, plus likely the top six from the 100m and 200m freestyles for relays.
Before getting to the rankings, two notes:
- Katie Ledecky is the only U.S. woman ranked No. 1 in the world in an event, for the second straight year. Though Ledecky swept the 200m, 400m and 800m World titles (and the 1500m, but that’s not an Olympic event), she is fourth fastest in the world in the 200m in 2015. Ledecky is also ranked No. 42 in the world in the 100m free (ninth among Americans).
- Natalie Coughlin, a 12-time Olympic medalist who made the London 2012 team only in the 4x100m freestyle relay, ranks No. 2 in the 50m free, No. 3 in the 100m free and No. 1 in the 100m back, ahead of Olympic champion Missy Franklin. If Coughlin makes the Rio team and wins one medal, she will break her tie with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for the most Olympic medals won by an American woman.
How U.S. Olympic men’s swim team would look based on 2015 times
Here are the rankings with world ranking in parentheses.
50m Freestyle
1. Simone Manuel — 24.47 (8)
2. Natalie Coughlin — 24.66 (14)
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3. Madison Kennedy — 24.71 (15)
4. Amanda Weir — 24.85 (23)
100m Freestyle
1. Missy Franklin — 53.68 (9)
2. Simone Manuel — 53.81 (10)
3. Natalie Coughlin — 53.85 (14)
4. Margo Geer — 53.95 (19)
5. Amanda Weir — 54.24 (29)
6. Allison Schmitt — 54.34 (34)
200m Freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky — 1:55.16 (4)
2. Missy Franklin — 1:55.49 (5)
3. Allison Schmitt — 1:56.23 (10)
4. Leah Smith — 1:57.52 (25)
5. Katie McLaughlin — 1:57.55 (26)
6. Melanie Margalis — 1:57.91 (33)
400m Freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky — 3:59.13 (1)
2. Leah Smith — 4:04.66 (6)
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3. Lindsay Vrooman — 4:07.28 (21)
4. Hali Flickinger — 4:07.93 (25)
800m Freestyle
1. Katie Ledecky — 8:07.39 (1)
2. Becca Mann — 8:24.13 (9)
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3. Leah Smith — 8:24.74 (10)
4. Lindsay Vrooman — 8:26.67 (11)
100m Backstroke
1. Natalie Coughlin — 59.05 (6)
2. Missy Franklin — 59.40 (7)
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3. Claire Adams — 59.58 (9)
4. Kathleen Baker — 59.63 (11)
200m Backstroke
1. Missy Franklin — 2:06.34 (3)
2. Maya DiRado — 2:08.50 (10)
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3. Lisa Bratton — 2:09.31 (14)
4. Claire Adams — 2:09.44 (17)
100m Breaststroke
1. Katie Meili — 1:05.64 (3)
2. Jessica Hardy — 1:06.68 (7)
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3. Lily King — 1:06.69 (8)
4. Breeja Larson — 1:07.33 (22)
200m Breaststroke
1. Micah Lawrence — 2:22.04 (4)
2. Laura Sogar — 2:23.54 (14)
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3. Molly Hannis — 2:25.57 (27)
4. Annie Lazor — 2:26.23 (31)
100m Butterfly
1. Kelsi Worrell — 57.24 (3)
2. Katie McLaughlin — 57.87 (14)
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3. Kendyl Stewart — 58.05 (17)
4. Felicia Lee — 58.54 (34)
200m Butterfly
1. Cammile Adams — 2:06.40 (5)
2. Katie McLaughlin — 2:06.95 (8)
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3. Hali Flickinger — 2:07.59 (10)
4. Cassidy Bayer — 2:08.03 (17)
200m Individual Medley
1. Maya DiRado — 2:08.99 (4)
2. Melanie Margalis — 2:10.26 (7)
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3. Caitlin Leverenz — 2:10.51 (8)
4. Madisyn Cox — 2:10.75 (9)
400m Individual Medley
1. Maya DiRado — 4:31.71 (2)
2. Caitlin Leverenz — 4:35.46 (6)
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3. Elizabeth Beisel — 4:36.71 (11)
4. Sarah Henry — 4:38.88 (21)
