Category profile
- Dominance
- 90
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 80
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 115 | |
| 2001 | 114.66 | |
| 2002 | 113.93 | |
| 2003 | 113.45 | |
| 2004 | 112.89 | |
| 2005 | 112.3 | |
| 2006 | 111.92 | |
| 2007 | 112.5 | |
| 2008 | 113 | |
| 2009 | 113.6 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics
- Olympedia
- IOC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Aaron Peirsol ranks #8 in Swimming
Aaron Peirsol ranks 8th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 158th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 90, Peak 94, Longevity 80, Honours 92, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full Swimming reference universe of 288 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1999–2011 with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2000, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic golds 5, world championship golds 12, world records 13, 200m backstroke best (sec) 111.92.
Immediately ahead sits Katinka Hosszú on 86.9, a gap of -2.3 points. Directly behind is Alexander Popov on 88.0. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Aaron Peirsol GOAT Score explained
- Dominance90/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Peirsol stood above the field while competing. Scored 90/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2000. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity80/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 12 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 80/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Peirsol comparisons
Aaron Peirsol — frequently asked
- Is Aaron Peirsol the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Aaron Peirsol ranks 8th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 89.2, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Aaron Peirsol's GOAT Score?
- 89.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 90 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 80 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Aaron Peirsol rank all time?
- 158th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 8th within Swimming.
- Aaron Peirsol vs Katinka Hosszú: who ranks higher?
- Aaron Peirsol, on 89.2 against Katinka Hosszú's 86.9 — a margin of 2.3 points.