Category profile
- Dominance
- 90
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 84
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 6 | |
| 1982 | 3 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 2 | |
| 1988 | 3 | |
| 1989 | 4 | |
| 1990 | 6 | |
| 1991 | 8 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics
- Olympedia
- Swimming World records
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Michael Gross ranks #4 in Swimming
Michael Gross ranks 4th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 70th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 90.3 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 90, Peak 94, Longevity 84, Honours 92, Statistics 92. 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 1981–1991 with 11 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1991, 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 6, world championship titles 5, european titles 13.
Immediately ahead sits Therese Alshammar on 90.3, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Cate Campbell on 90.1. 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.
Michael Gross GOAT Score explained
- Dominance90/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Gross stood above the field while competing. Scored 90/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1991. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 10 years of competition and 11 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Gross comparisons
Michael Gross — frequently asked
- Is Michael Gross the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Michael Gross ranks 4th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 90.3, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Michael Gross's GOAT Score?
- 90.3 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 90 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Michael Gross rank all time?
- 70th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 4th within Swimming.
- Michael Gross vs Therese Alshammar: who ranks higher?
- Michael Gross, on 90.3 against Therese Alshammar's 90.3 — a margin of 0.0 points.