GGOATRANK
🇿🇦
Swimming · Butterfly · South Africa

Chad le Clos

2008–present · Beat Michael Phelps to 200m butterfly gold in London 2012.

Active
Ranking model

100% titles, statistics, dominance, longevity and global competition depth.

Pure sporting data
86.7
Cultural & brand footprint 46/100 · total legacy 79.4
Olympic golds
1
Olympic medals
4
World short course golds
17
Commonwealth golds
8
200m butterfly best (sec)
112.7

Category profile

Dominance
84
Peak
92
Longevity
88
Honours
88
Statistics
88

Career timeline · Form index per season

SeasonForm index per seasonShare of career
2010114.5
2011113.9
2012112.92
2013113.4
2014113.2
2015113.1
2016112.68
2017113.5
2018113.8
2019114.2
2020114.5
2021115
2022115.4
2023116

Data sources

  • World Aquatics
  • Olympedia
  • IOC

Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method

Why Chad le Clos ranks #6 in Swimming

Chad le Clos ranks 6th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 143rd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.8 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 92, Longevity 88, Honours 88, Statistics 88. 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 2008–present with 14 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2023, which sets the Peak component at 92. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic golds 1, olympic medals 4, world short course golds 17, commonwealth golds 8.

Immediately ahead sits Sarah Sjöström on 88.6, a gap of 0.8 points. Directly behind is Katinka Hosszú on 86.9. 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.

Chad le Clos GOAT Score explained

Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far le Clos stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
Peak92/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2023. Scored 92/100.
Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 18 years of competition and 14 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
Honours88/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 88/100.
Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.

Chad le Clos — frequently asked

Is Chad le Clos the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Chad le Clos ranks 6th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 87.8, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
What is Chad le Clos's GOAT Score?
87.8 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Chad le Clos rank all time?
143rd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 6th within Swimming.
Chad le Clos vs Sarah Sjöström: who ranks higher?
Sarah Sjöström, on 88.6 against Chad le Clos's 87.8 — a margin of 0.8 points.
Compare with Phelps