Apple vs Smith
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Smith wins: Dominance, Statistics
Apple wins: Longevity
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Smith leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Multiple backstroke world records and a stack of Olympic medals for the USA.
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| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Apple | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 30 |
| 🇺🇸 Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58.8 | 232.52 | 462.15 |
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.
| Metric | AppleRetired | SmithActive |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 2 | 2 |
| World Championship golds | 3 | — |
| Olympic Games appearances | 1 | — |
| World Championship medals | 5 | — |
| Relay world records | 1 | — |
| Olympic medals | — | 8 |
| World titles | — | 5 |
| World records | — | 4 |
| Personal best 100 m back (s) | — | 57.13 |
| Dominance w25% | 68 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 88 |
| Longevity w20% | 62 | 54 |
| Honours w20% | 74 | 74 |
| Statistics w15% | 82 | 84 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
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