Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 68
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 82
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 70 | |
| 1979 | 86 | |
| 1980 | 92 | |
| 1981 | 94 | |
| 1982 | 90 | |
| 1983 | 86 | |
| 1984 | 96 |
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 Rowdy Gaines ranks #170 in Swimming
Rowdy Gaines ranks 170th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 1665th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 80.3 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 90, Longevity 68, Honours 82, Statistics 82. 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 1978–1984 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1984, 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 championship golds 3, world records set 11, us national titles 10.
Immediately ahead sits Stephanie Rice on 80.3, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Jakob Andkjær on 80.3. 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.
Rowdy Gaines GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Gaines stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1984. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity68/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 6 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 68/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics82/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 82/100.
Top Gaines comparisons
Rowdy Gaines — frequently asked
- Is Rowdy Gaines the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Rowdy Gaines ranks 170th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 80.3, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Rowdy Gaines's GOAT Score?
- 80.3 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 68 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 82 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Rowdy Gaines rank all time?
- 1665th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 170th within Swimming.
- Rowdy Gaines vs Stephanie Rice: who ranks higher?
- Rowdy Gaines, on 80.3 against Stephanie Rice's 80.3 — a margin of 0.0 points.