GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
Swimming · Backstroke · United States

James Carter

1995–2004 · Short-course world champion and Pan Pacific medallist.

Retired
Ranking model

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

Pure sporting data
76.0
Cultural & brand footprint 46/100 · total legacy 69.5
Short-course world titles
1
Pan Pacific medals
2
US national titles
3
Career span in years
10
200 m backstroke best
118

Category profile

Dominance
68
Peak
86
Longevity
74
Honours
72
Statistics
84

Career timeline · Form index per season

SeasonForm index per seasonShare of career
19962
19973
19984
19994
20003
20013
20022
20032

Data sources

  • World Aquatics
  • Olympedia
  • Swimrankings

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

Why James Carter ranks #121 in Swimming

James Carter ranks 121st among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 1498th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 76.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 68, Peak 86, Longevity 74, Honours 72, Statistics 84. Those categories are normalised against the full Swimming reference universe of 289 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.

The record covers 1995–2004 with 8 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1998, which sets the Peak component at 86. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 86 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes short-course world titles 1, pan pacific medals 2, us national titles 3, career span in years 10.

Immediately ahead sits Zoë Baker on 76.1, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Mike Brown on 75.7. 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.

James Carter GOAT Score explained

Dominance68/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Carter stood above the field while competing. Scored 68/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
Peak86/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1998. Scored 86/100.
Longevity74/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 9 years of competition and 8 recorded seasons. Scored 74/100.
Honours72/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 72/100.
Statistics84/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 84/100.

James Carter — frequently asked

Is James Carter the GOAT?
Not on the current data. James Carter ranks 121st in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 76.0, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
What is James Carter's GOAT Score?
76.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 68 (25%), Peak 86 (20%), Longevity 74 (20%), Honours 72 (20%), Statistics 84 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does James Carter rank all time?
1498th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 121st within Swimming.
James Carter vs Zoë Baker: who ranks higher?
Zoë Baker, on 76.1 against James Carter's 76.0 — a margin of 0.1 points.
Compare with Phelps