Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 96
- Longevity
- 64
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 55 | |
| 1972 | 99 | |
| 1973 | 89 | |
| 1974 | 80 | |
| 1975 | 70 | |
| 1976 | 60 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics records
- Olympedia
- Swimming Hall of Fame
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Melissa Belote ranks #77 in Swimming
Melissa Belote ranks 77th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 968th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 84.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 96, Longevity 64, 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 1971–1976 with 6 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1972, which sets the Peak component at 96. Peak 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 gold medals 3, world records set 3, us titles 6, olympic games contested 1.
Immediately ahead sits Michael Klim on 84.3, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Bronte Campbell on 84.1. 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.
Melissa Belote GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Belote stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak96/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1972. Scored 96/100.
- Longevity64/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 5 years of competition and 6 recorded seasons. Scored 64/100.
- 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.
Top Belote comparisons
Melissa Belote — frequently asked
- Is Melissa Belote the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Melissa Belote ranks 77th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 84.2, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Melissa Belote's GOAT Score?
- 84.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 96 (20%), Longevity 64 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Melissa Belote rank all time?
- 968th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 77th within Swimming.
- Melissa Belote vs Michael Klim: who ranks higher?
- Michael Klim, on 84.3 against Melissa Belote's 84.2 — a margin of 0.1 points.