GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
Swimming · Backstroke · United States

Kathleen Baker

2013–2021 · Olympic relay gold medallist and former 100 m backstroke world record holder.

Retired
Ranking model

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

Pure sporting data
79.9
Cultural & brand footprint 46/100 · total legacy 71.1
Olympic golds
1
Olympic medals
2
World records
1
World Championship golds
2
NCAA titles
4

Category profile

Dominance
76
Peak
92
Longevity
68
Honours
80
Statistics
86

Career timeline · Form index per season

SeasonForm index per seasonShare of career
20143
20155
20168
20179
20187
20195
20203
20212

Data sources

  • World Aquatics
  • Olympedia
  • Swimming World

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

Why Kathleen Baker ranks #97 in Swimming

Kathleen Baker ranks 97th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 1003rd of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 79.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 76, Peak 92, Longevity 68, Honours 80, Statistics 86. 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 2013–2021 with 8 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2017, 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 2, world records 1, world championship golds 2.

Immediately ahead sits Lauren Boyle on 80.2, a gap of 0.3 points. Directly behind is Daniel Wiffen on 79.9. 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.

Kathleen Baker GOAT Score explained

Dominance76/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Baker stood above the field while competing. Scored 76/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
Peak92/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2017. Scored 92/100.
Longevity68/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 8 years of competition and 8 recorded seasons. Scored 68/100.
Honours80/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 80/100.
Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.

Kathleen Baker — frequently asked

Is Kathleen Baker the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Kathleen Baker ranks 97th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 79.9, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
What is Kathleen Baker's GOAT Score?
79.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 76 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 68 (20%), Honours 80 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Kathleen Baker rank all time?
1003rd of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 97th within Swimming.
Kathleen Baker vs Lauren Boyle: who ranks higher?
Lauren Boyle, on 80.2 against Kathleen Baker's 79.9 — a margin of 0.3 points.
Compare with Phelps