Who is better, Matthes or Caulkins?
Tracy Caulkins leads with a GOAT score of 89.8 against 89.6 for Roland Matthes — a gap of 0.2 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Matthes vs Caulkins
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Tracy Caulkins above Roland Matthes: 89.8 vs 89.6. Tracy Caulkins leads on Statistics, Peak, Honours. Roland Matthes leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CaulkinsWinner
89.8Caulkins wins: Peak, Honours, Statistics
Matthes
89.6Matthes wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to SwimmingShareable URL · /compare/roland-matthes-vs-tracy-caulkins
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Tracy Caulkins
89.8
Caulkins leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Tracy Caulkins
2. Roland Matthes
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. 🇺🇸 Tracy Caulkins5 seasons played · career day 1,825338 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇩🇪 Roland Matthes5 seasons played · career day 1,82513 major golds
-96.2% vs Caulkins at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇪 Matthes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 25 |
| 🇺🇸 Caulkins | 0 | 0 | 55 | 116 | 338 | 616 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | MatthesRetired | CaulkinsRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 4 | 3 |
| Olympic medals | 8 | — |
| World records | 19 | — |
| World Championship golds | 3 | — |
| Years unbeaten in backstroke | 7 | — |
| US national titles | — | 48 |
| World Championship titles | — | 5 |
| American records set | — | 63 |
| World records set | — | 5 |
| Dominance w25% | 92 | 92 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 96 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 74 |
| Honours w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 96 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Caulkins89.8
Matthes89.6
FAQ
Where does Matthes beat Caulkins?
Matthes scores higher on longevity. Caulkins leads on peak, honours, statistics.
How is the Matthes vs Caulkins score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Matthes: 89.6, Caulkins: 89.8.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Matthes vs Caulkins. 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.