GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
Swimming · Butterfly · United States

Mary T. Meagher

1979–1988 · Her 1981 200 m butterfly world record stood for almost 19 years.

Retired
Ranking model

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

Pure sporting data
86.7
Cultural & brand footprint 46/100 · total legacy 76.7
Olympic gold medals
3
Olympic medals
5
World Championship golds
3
World records set
7
Years holding 200 fly world record
19

Category profile

Dominance
88
Peak
94
Longevity
76
Honours
86
Statistics
90

Career timeline · Form index per season

SeasonForm index per seasonShare of career
197970
198092
198198
198294
198390
198495
198585
198678
198774
198876

Data sources

  • World Aquatics
  • Olympedia
  • International Swimming Hall of Fame

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

Why Mary T. Meagher ranks #43 in Swimming

Mary T. Meagher ranks 43rd among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 538th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.7 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 94, Longevity 76, Honours 86, Statistics 90. 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 1979–1988 with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1981, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic gold medals 3, olympic medals 5, world championship golds 3, world records set 7.

Immediately ahead sits Ryan Murphy on 86.7, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Sippy Woodhead on 86.6. 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.

Mary T. Meagher GOAT Score explained

Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Meagher stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
Peak94/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1981. Scored 94/100.
Longevity76/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 9 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 76/100.
Honours86/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.

Mary T. Meagher — frequently asked

Is Mary T. Meagher the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Mary T. Meagher ranks 43rd in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 86.7, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
What is Mary T. Meagher's GOAT Score?
86.7 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 76 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Mary T. Meagher rank all time?
538th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 43rd within Swimming.
Mary T. Meagher vs Ryan Murphy: who ranks higher?
Mary T. Meagher, on 86.7 against Ryan Murphy's 86.7 — a margin of 0.0 points.
Compare with Phelps