Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 72
- Honours
- 90
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 50 | |
| 1973 | 66 | |
| 1974 | 82 | |
| 1975 | 98 | |
| 1976 | 80 | |
| 1977 | 63 | |
| 1978 | 45 |
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 Shirley Babashoff ranks #45 in Swimming
Shirley Babashoff ranks 45th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 573rd of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 94, Longevity 72, Honours 90, 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 1972–1978 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1975, 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 medals 8, olympic gold medals 2, world records set 11, world championship titles 3.
Immediately ahead sits Sippy Woodhead on 86.6, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Paul Biedermann on 86.5. 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.
Shirley Babashoff GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Babashoff stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1975. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity72/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 6 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 72/100.
- Honours90/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 90/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Babashoff comparisons
Shirley Babashoff — frequently asked
- Is Shirley Babashoff the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Shirley Babashoff ranks 45th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 86.5, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Shirley Babashoff's GOAT Score?
- 86.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 72 (20%), Honours 90 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Shirley Babashoff rank all time?
- 573rd of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 45th within Swimming.
- Shirley Babashoff vs Sippy Woodhead: who ranks higher?
- Sippy Woodhead, on 86.6 against Shirley Babashoff's 86.5 — a margin of 0.1 points.