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Meagher vs Babashoff

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Quick answer

GOAT Rank currently ranks Mary T. Meagher above Shirley Babashoff: 86.7 vs 86.5. Mary T. Meagher leads on Longevity, Dominance. Shirley Babashoff leads on Honours, Statistics.

How the GOAT Score is calculated →
GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MeagherWinner
86.7

Meagher wins: Dominance, Longevity

Babashoff
86.5

Babashoff wins: Honours, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to Swimming

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Time range

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

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Mary T. Meagher
86.7

Meagher leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.

1. Mary T. Meagher
86.7
2. Shirley Babashoff
86.5

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. 🇺🇸 Mary T. Meagher5 seasons played · career day 1,825444 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Shirley Babashoff5 seasons played · career day 1,826376 major golds
-15.3% vs Meagher at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Meagher0070162444776
🇺🇸 Babashoff0050116296484

Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.

MetricMeagherRetiredBabashoffRetired
Olympic gold medals32
Olympic medals58
World Championship golds3—
World records set711
Years holding 200 fly world record19—
World Championship titles—3
US titles—27
Dominance w25%8886
Peak w20%9494
Longevity w20%7672
Honours w20%8690
Statistics w15%9092

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Meagher86.7
Babashoff86.5
The people
Meagher
Babashoff

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FAQ

Who is better, Meagher or Babashoff?

Mary T. Meagher leads with a GOAT score of 86.7 against 86.5 for Shirley Babashoff — a gap of 0.2 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.

Where does Babashoff beat Meagher?

Babashoff scores higher on honours, statistics. Meagher leads on dominance, longevity.

How is the Meagher vs Babashoff score calculated?

Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Meagher: 86.7, Babashoff: 86.5.

What do you think?

0 comments

Make your case for Meagher vs Babashoff. 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.

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