Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 59.58 | |
| 2002 | 59.85 | |
| 2003 | 59.3 | |
| 2004 | 59.44 | |
| 2005 | 59.92 | |
| 2006 | 59.03 | |
| 2007 | 58.97 | |
| 2008 | 58.94 | |
| 2009 | 59.15 | |
| 2010 | 59.4 | |
| 2011 | 59.6 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics
- Olympedia
- IOC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Natalie Coughlin ranks #4 in Swimming
Natalie Coughlin ranks 4th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 92nd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 92, Longevity 88, Honours 92, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full Swimming reference universe of 288 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1998–2016 with 11 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2005, 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 golds 3, olympic medals 12, world championship golds 6, world records 3.
Immediately ahead sits Dara Torres on 89.4, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Sarah Sjöström on 88.6. 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.
Natalie Coughlin GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Coughlin 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 2005. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 18 years of competition and 11 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Coughlin comparisons
Natalie Coughlin — frequently asked
- Is Natalie Coughlin the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Natalie Coughlin ranks 4th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 89.4, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Natalie Coughlin's GOAT Score?
- 89.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Natalie Coughlin rank all time?
- 92nd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 4th within Swimming.
- Natalie Coughlin vs Dara Torres: who ranks higher?
- Natalie Coughlin, on 89.4 against Dara Torres's 89.4 — a margin of 0.0 points.