Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 82
- Honours
- 88
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2025 | 2 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics
- Olympedia
- IOC results
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Lilly King ranks #26 in Swimming
Lilly King ranks 26th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 258th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.1 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 92, Longevity 82, Honours 88, Statistics 88. 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 2016–present with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2019, 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 gold medals 3, olympic medals 7, world championship golds 12, world records 2.
Immediately ahead sits Vladimir Salnikov on 87.1, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Emma McKeon on 87.0. 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.
Lilly King GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far King stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2019. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity82/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 10 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 82/100.
- 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.
Top King comparisons
Lilly King — frequently asked
- Is Lilly King the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Lilly King ranks 26th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 87.1, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Lilly King's GOAT Score?
- 87.1 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 82 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Lilly King rank all time?
- 258th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 26th within Swimming.
- Lilly King vs Vladimir Salnikov: who ranks higher?
- Lilly King, on 87.1 against Vladimir Salnikov's 87.1 — a margin of 0.0 points.