GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
Swimming · Sprint freestyle · United States

Dara Torres

1982–2012 · Twelve Olympic medals across five Games spanning 24 years.

Retired
Ranking model

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

Pure sporting data
89.6
Cultural & brand footprint 46/100 · total legacy 81.8
Olympic golds
4
Olympic medals
12
Olympic Games contested
5
World records
3
50m freestyle best (sec)
24.1

Category profile

Dominance
84
Peak
90
Longevity
96
Honours
90
Statistics
88

Career timeline · Form index per season

SeasonForm index per seasonShare of career
198425.6
198525.4
198625.3
198725.1
198824.9
198924.8
199024.6
199124.4
199224.3
199324.07
199424.4

Data sources

  • World Aquatics
  • Olympedia
  • IOC

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

Why Dara Torres ranks #3 in Swimming

Dara Torres ranks 3rd among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 45th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 90, Longevity 96, Honours 90, 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 1982–2012 with 11 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1984, which sets the Peak component at 90. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic golds 4, olympic medals 12, olympic games contested 5, world records 3.

Immediately ahead sits Katie Ledecky on 94.8, a gap of 5.4 points. Directly behind is Natalie Coughlin on 89.4. 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.

Dara Torres GOAT Score explained

Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Torres stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
Peak90/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1984. Scored 90/100.
Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 30 years of competition and 11 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
Honours90/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 90/100.
Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.

Dara Torres — frequently asked

Is Dara Torres the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Dara Torres ranks 3rd in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 89.4, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
What is Dara Torres's GOAT Score?
89.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 90 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Dara Torres rank all time?
45th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 3rd within Swimming.
Dara Torres vs Katie Ledecky: who ranks higher?
Katie Ledecky, on 94.8 against Dara Torres's 89.4 — a margin of 5.4 points.
Compare with Phelps