GGOATRANK
AthletesTeams

Carter vs Smith

Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.

GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CarterWinner
76.0

Carter wins: Longevity

Smith
75.3

Smith wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours

Candidates
Locked to Swimming

Shareable URL · /compare/james-carter-swimmer-vs-regan-smith

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 James Carter
76.0

Carter leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories. Short-course world champion and Pan Pacific medallist.

1. James Carter
76.0
2. Regan Smith
75.3

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 season
1. 🇺🇸 Regan Smith5 seasons played · career day 2,190290.2 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 James Carter5 seasons played · career day 2,19116 major golds
-94.5% vs Smith at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Carter00021323
🇺🇸 Smith00058.8232.52462.15

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricCarterRetiredSmithActive
Short-course world titles1
Pan Pacific medals2
US national titles3
Career span in years10
200 m backstroke best118
Olympic golds2
Olympic medals8
World titles5
World records4
Personal best 100 m back (s)57.13
Dominance w25%6878
Peak w20%8688
Longevity w20%7454
Honours w20%7274
Statistics w15%8484

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Carter76.0
Smith75.3
The people
Carter
Smith

Loading votes

Create a free account to vote and comment.

Sign in to vote

What do you think?

0 comments

Make your case for Carter vs Smith. 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.

More debates

Browse the rivalry hub →