The U.S. still reigns in men’s swimming, but the world rankings show the field is as diverse as ever and much tighter than on the women’s side, where there are U.S. medal contenders in every event.
U.S. men would earn four golds and eight medals overall from the 14 individual Olympic events based on fastest times from 2018 across all competitions. That’s one more gold and two more total medals than the second-place nations. It’s close.
Japan, ramping up to host the Olympics in two years, is second in the world in men ranked in the top three (six) and top five (11 to the U.S.’ 14) of Olympic events.
The biggest meet remaining on the calendar, the Asian Games, finished last week. Every swimming power has had its major international meet of the year among the Commonwealth Games in April and the European Championships, Pan Pacific Championships and Asian Games this month.
Gone for now are the days of the U.S. and Australia dominating and American superstars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte collecting four or five individual gold medals in Olympic events.
Caeleb Dressel could succeed Phelps and Lochte. He did earn a Phelps record-tying seven golds at the 2017 Worlds, including three in individual Olympic events. This year, Dressel ranks Nos. 1, 8 and 12 in those events (100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle), although he did his job in qualifying for all three for the 2019 Worlds after a whirlwind spring turning professional.
The other Americans on top of the rankings are Ryan Murphy (100m back), who swept the backstrokes in Rio, and Chase Kalisz, who leads both individual medleys after sweeping them at the 2017 Worlds. No doubt Kalisz is the world’s best all-around swimmer.
But look around the world.
Lithuania, which has never put a man in the top six of an Olympic swimming event, has the world’s fastest 200m freestyler. Germany, which last earned Olympic men’s swimming gold as West Germany, and Ukraine, with no Olympic golds, have world leaders in distance freestyles.
Great Britain has two individual men’s medals total from the last three Olympics. But on 2018 times, it would earn two golds and two silvers, shared among four different swimmers. Adam Peaty has company in the British camp.
Russia last earned an Olympic men’s swimming gold in 1996, but it now has men in three different strokes atop world rankings.
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2018 Swimming World Rankings — Men
50m Freestyle
1. Ben Proud (GBR) — 21.11
2. Bruno Fratus (BRA) — 21.35
3. Andrea Vergani (ITA) — 21.37
4. Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) — 21.44
4. Vladimir Morozov (RUS) — 21.44
100m Freestyle
1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS) — 47.75
2. Katsumi Nakamura (JPN) — 47.87
3. Alessandro Miressi (ITA) — 47.92
4. Pedro Spajari (BRA) — 47.95
5. Gabriel Santos (BRA) — 47.98
200m Freestyle
1. Danas Rapsys (LTU) — 1:45.12
2. Duncan Scott (GBR) — 1:45.34
3. Sun Yang (CHN) — 1:45.43
4. Kyle Chalmers (AUS) — 1:45.56
5. Townley Haas (USA) — 1:45.56
400m Freestyle
1. Sun Yang (CHN) — 3:42.92
2. Mack Horton (AUS) — 3:43.76
2. Jack McLoughlin (AUS) — 3:44.20
4. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 3:45.18
5. Zane Grothe (USA) — 3:45.32
5. James Guy (GBR) — 3:45.32
800m Freestyle
1. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 7:42.96
2. Zane Grothe (USA) — 7:43.74
3. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) — 7:45.12
4. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA) — 7:45.19
5. Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 7:45.60
1500m Freestyle
1. Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 14:36.15
2. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 14:36.88
3. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) — 14:42.85
4. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA) — 14:46.93
5. Jack McLoughlin (AUS) — 14:47.09
100m Backstroke
1. Ryan Murphy (USA) — 51.94
2. Xu Jiayu (CHN) — 52.34
3. Kliment Kolensikov (RUS) — 52.51
4. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) — 52.53
5. Matt Grevers (USA) — 52.55
200m Backstroke
1. Evgeny Rylov (RUS) — 1:53.36
2. Ryan Murphy (USA) — 1:53.57
3. Xu Jiayu (CHN) — 1:53.99
4. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) — 1:55.11
5. Mitch Larkin (AUS) — 1:55.40
100m Breaststroke
1. Adam Peaty (GBR) — 57.10
2. James Wilby (GBR) — 58.64
3. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN) — 58.78
4. Anton Chupkov (RUS) — 59.06
5. Arno Kamminga (NED) — 59.14
5. Ross Murdoch (GBR) — 59.14
200m Breaststroke
1. Anton Chupkov (RUS) — 2:06.80
2. Josh Prenot (USA) — 2:07.28
3. Ippei Watanabe (JPN) — 2:07.56
4. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN) — 2:07.81
5. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) — 2:07.89
100m Butterfly
1. Caeleb Dressel (USA) — 50.50
2. Piero Codia (ITA) — 50.64
3. Chad le Clos (RSA) — 50.65
4. Jack Conger (USA) — 51.00
5. Joseph Schooling (SIN) — 51.04
200m Butterfly
1. Kristof Milak (HUN) — 1:52.71
2. Nao Horomura (JPN) — 1:53.79
3. Chad le Clos (RSA) — 1:54.00
4. Tamas Kenderesi (HUN) — 1:54.14
5. Daiya Seto (JPN) — 1:54.34
200m Individual Medley
1. Chase Kalisz (USA) — 1:55.40
2. Mitch Larkin (AUS) — 1:56.21
3. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) — 1:56.37
4. Wang Shun (CHN) — 1:56.52
5. Philip Heintz (GER) — 1:56.67
400m Individual Medley
1. Chase Kalisz (USA) — 4:07.95
2. Daiya Seto (JPN) — 4:08.79
3. Jay Litherland (USA) — 4:10.21
4. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) — 4:10.30
5. David Verraszto (HUN) — 4:10.65
