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Woodhead vs Biedermann

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WoodheadWinner
86.6

Woodhead wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics

Biedermann
86.5

Biedermann wins: Longevity

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
🇺🇸 Sippy Woodhead
86.6

Woodhead leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Won five golds at the 1978 World Championships and set six world records.

1. Sippy Woodhead
86.6
2. Paul Biedermann
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. 🇺🇸 Sippy Woodhead5 seasons played · career day 1,825397 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇩🇪 Paul Biedermann5 seasons played · career day 1,826331 major golds
-16.6% vs Woodhead at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Woodhead0055154397559
🇩🇪 Biedermann0045101244673

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.

MetricWoodheadRetiredBiedermannRetired
World Championship titles52
World records set62
Olympic silver medals1
US titles18
Pan American titles4
European titles5
World Championship medals5
German titles25
Dominance w25%8884
Peak w20%9694
Longevity w20%7082
Honours w20%8884
Statistics w15%9290

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Woodhead86.6
Biedermann86.5
The people
Woodhead
Biedermann

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