Who is better, Kahanamoku or Perkins?
Duke Kahanamoku leads with a GOAT score of 86.8 against 86.7 for Kieren Perkins — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Kahanamoku vs Perkins
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Duke Kahanamoku above Kieren Perkins: 86.8 vs 86.7. Duke Kahanamoku leads on Longevity. Kieren Perkins leads on Honours, Statistics, Dominance.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
KahanamokuWinner
86.8Kahanamoku wins: Longevity
Perkins
86.7Perkins wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/duke-kahanamoku-vs-kieren-perkins
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Duke Kahanamoku
86.8
Kahanamoku leads in 1 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Duke Kahanamoku
2. Kieren Perkins
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. 🇦🇺 Kieren Perkins5 seasons played · career day 2,19072.5 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Duke Kahanamoku5 seasons played · career day 2,1912 major golds
-97.2% vs Perkins at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Kahanamoku | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 🇦🇺 Perkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.58 | 57.92 | 116.63 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | KahanamokuRetired | PerkinsRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 3 | — |
| Olympic silver medals | 2 | — |
| Olympic Games contested | 4 | — |
| World records | 6 | 4 |
| Years at world level | 20 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 2 |
| World Championship golds | — | 2 |
| 1500m best (min) | — | 14.41 |
| Commonwealth golds | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 88 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 86 | 74 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Kahanamoku86.8
Perkins86.7
FAQ
Where does Perkins beat Kahanamoku?
Perkins scores higher on peak, dominance, honours, statistics. Kahanamoku leads on longevity.
How is the Kahanamoku vs Perkins score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Kahanamoku: 86.8, Perkins: 86.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Kahanamoku vs Perkins. 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.