Who is better, Cavanaugh or Caldwell?
Hilary Caldwell leads with a GOAT score of 72.9 against 72.6 for Chris Cavanaugh — a gap of 0.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Cavanaugh vs Caldwell
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Hilary Caldwell above Chris Cavanaugh: 72.9 vs 72.6. Hilary Caldwell leads on Longevity, Statistics. Chris Cavanaugh leads on Peak, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CaldwellWinner
72.9Caldwell wins: Longevity, Statistics
Cavanaugh
72.6Cavanaugh wins: Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/chris-cavanaugh-vs-hilary-caldwell
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇦 Hilary Caldwell
72.9
Caldwell leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Hilary Caldwell
2. Chris Cavanaugh
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Chris Cavanaugh5 seasons played · career day 1,826400 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇨🇦 Hilary Caldwell5 seasons played · career day 1,825346 major golds
-13.5% vs Cavanaugh at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Cavanaugh | 0 | 0 | 60 | 132 | 304 | 544 |
| 🇨🇦 Caldwell | 0 | 0 | 52 | 114 | 346 | 698 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | CavanaughRetired | CaldwellRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 1 | — |
| World records in relays | 1 | — |
| Pan American Games medals | 2 | 2 |
| US national podiums | 4 | — |
| Olympic Games contested | 1 | 2 |
| Olympic medals | — | 1 |
| World Championship medals | — | 1 |
| Canadian national titles | — | 5 |
| Dominance w25% | 68 | 68 |
| Peak w20% | 84 | 82 |
| Longevity w20% | 64 | 68 |
| Honours w20% | 76 | 74 |
| Statistics w15% | 72 | 74 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Caldwell72.9
Cavanaugh72.6
FAQ
Where does Cavanaugh beat Caldwell?
Cavanaugh scores higher on peak, honours. Caldwell leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the Cavanaugh vs Caldwell score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Cavanaugh: 72.6, Caldwell: 72.9.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Cavanaugh vs Caldwell. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.