Category profile
- Dominance
- 84
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 70
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 84
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 2 | |
| 1968 | 3 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 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 Mike Burton ranks #79 in Swimming
Mike Burton ranks 79th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 817th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 82.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 90, Longevity 70, Honours 82, Statistics 84. 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 1966–1972 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1968, which sets the Peak component at 90. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 90 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic gold medals 3, world records 7, pan american golds 1, us national titles 12.
Immediately ahead sits Thomas Ceccon on 82.2, a gap of 0.2 points. Directly behind is Missy Franklin on 81.8. 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.
Mike Burton GOAT Score explained
- Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Burton stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1968. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity70/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 6 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 70/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics84/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 84/100.
Top Burton comparisons
Mike Burton — frequently asked
- Is Mike Burton the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Mike Burton ranks 79th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 82.0, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Mike Burton's GOAT Score?
- 82.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 70 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 84 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Mike Burton rank all time?
- 817th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 79th within Swimming.
- Mike Burton vs Thomas Ceccon: who ranks higher?
- Thomas Ceccon, on 82.2 against Mike Burton's 82.0 — a margin of 0.2 points.