Virtual Championships | Where They Rank

Virtual Championships | Where They Rank

Virtual Swimming Rankings based on the 2018 Summer events.

Sep 12, 2018 by Ben Colin
Virtual Championships | Where They Rank

With the Asian Games swimming wrapping up at the end of last month, it’s time to combine the entire summer swim season. Lacking an international meet that included every nation, determining this year’s winners is completely based on the rankings. Although everyone can agree, racing head to head is much more exciting, a virtual podium is the only option for this summer.

All swims included in the virtual summer rankings are based on the FINA Swimming World Rankings, which only includes FINA sanctioned swims. Many swims come from any of the international meets this summer or an individual federations national championships. The Commonwealth and Asian Games are included as well as the Pan Pacific Championships and the European Championships of major competitions this summer.

The United States dominated the medal table this summer, racking up 25 total virtual medals when compared to the rest of the world. Nine medals came by way of a yearly top time. Russia, despite only claiming eight total medals, was second among gold medal-winning countries. Great Britain was third with four golds.

Top five medal table based on this summers rankings:

Rank

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

1

United States

9

8

8

25

2

Australia

1

5

6

12

3

Japan

3

5

3

11

4

Italy

0

3

7

10

5

Russia

5

1

2

8


Multiple swimmers claimed more than one top-ranking swim. Recently turned professional, Katie Ledecky, claimed the virtual gold in the 400, 800, 1500 freestyles. All of her fastest swims coming at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis in May. Ledecky also swam to second fastest in the 200 freestyle, trailing only future Stanford Cardinal Taylor Ruck.

In the individual medleys, two swimmers claimed gold in both disciplines. On the women’s side, Japan’s Yui Ohashi narrowly claimed gold with her winning swims from the Pan Pacific Championships. For the men, American Chase Kalisz convincingly took the 200 and 400 IM.

Similarly, the breaststroke events had two multi-event winners. Great Britain’s Adam Peaty lead the 50 and 100 breaststrokes by a drastic amount. The 100 breaststroke time coming in world record fashion at the European Games in Scotland as he inches ever closer to breaking the 57-second barrier. Russia’s Yulia Efimova picked up victories in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, giving American rival Lilly King the gold in the 50. The women’s 50 and 100 breaststroke podium featured the same three swimmers in different orders as American Molly Hannis joined the group for the bronze. 

The final remaining multi-event winner is Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom. The many time world record holder held onto the crown in the 50 freestyle and the 50 butterfly. The former Olympic champion found a silver in her trademark 100 butterfly, following Japan’s Rikako Ikee by 0.15.

In terms of total medals, Ledecky led the women with four and no male swimmer picked up more than two individual medals. In addition to Ledecky, five other women claimed three medals in the virtual medal table. 

13 swimmers claiming a world-leading time this summer have yet to win individually at the FINA World Championships or the Olympic Games. Many of those, including rising stars such as Canada’s Taylor Ruck or Hungary’s Kristof Milak, will make a significant splash at next summer's championships. 

Check out the entire list of virtual medal winners this summer:

Event

Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

50 Free

F

Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden

Pernille Blume, Denmark

Cate Campbell, Australia

50 Free

M

Ben Proud, Great Britain

Bruno Fratus, Brazil

Andrea Vergani, Italy

100 Free

F

Cate Campbell, Australia

Bronte Campbell, Australia

Simone Manuel, USA

100 Free

M

Vladimir Morozov, Russia

Katsumi Nakamura, Japan

Alessandro Miressi, Italy

200 Free

F

Taylor Ruck, Canada

Katie Ledecky, USA

Ariarne Titmus, Australia

200 Free

M

Danas Rapsys, Lithuania

Duncan Scott, Great Britain

Sun Yang, China

400 Free

F

Katie Ledecky, USA

Ariarne Titmus, Australia

Leah Smith, USA

400 Free

M

Sun Yang, China

Mack Horton, Australia

Jack McLoughlin, Australia

800 Free

F

Katie Ledecky, USA

Simona Quadarella, Italy

Ariarne Titmus, Australia

800 Free

M

Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukr.

Zane Grothe, USA

Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy

1500 Free

F

Katie Ledecky, USA

Simona Quadarella, Italy

Wang Jianjiahe, China

1500 Free

M

Florian Wellbrock, Germany

Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukr.

Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy

50 Back

F

Liu Xiang, China

Yuanhui Fu, China

Georgia Davies, Britain

50 Back

M

Brad Tandy, S. Africa

Cameron McEvoy, Australia

Liment Kolesnikov, Russia

100 Back

F

Kathleen Baker, USA

Kylie Masse, Canada

Emily Seebohm, Australia

100 Back

M

Ryan Murphy, USA

Xu Jiayu, China

Kliment Kolesnikov, Russia

200 Back

F

Kylie Masse, Canada

Kathleen Baker, USA

Margherita Panziera, Italy

200 Back

M

Evgeny Rylov, Russia

Ryan Murphy, USA

Xu Jiayu, China

50 Breast

F

Lilly King, USA

Yulia Efimova, Russia

Molly Hannis, USA

50 Breast

M

Adam Peaty, Great Britain

Cameron van der Burgh, S. Africa

Fabio Scozzoli, Italy

100 Breast

F

Yulia Efimova, Russia

Lilly King, USA

Molly Hannis, USA

100 Breast

M

Adam Peaty, Great Britain

James Wilby, Great Britain

Yasuhiro Koseki, Japan

200 Breast

F

Yulia Efimova, Russia

Reona Aoki, Japan

Micah Sumrall, USA

200 Breast

M

Anton Chupkov, Russia

Josh Prenot, USA

Ippei Watanabe, Japan

50 Fly

F

Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden

Rikako Ikee, Japan

Cate Campbell, Australia

50 Fly

M

Andrii Govorov, Ukr.

Ben Proud, Great Britain

Michael Andrew, USA

100 Fly

F

Rikako Ikee, Japan

Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden

Kelsi Dahlia, USA

100 Fly

M

Caeleb Dressel, USA

Piero Codia, Italy

Chad le Clos, S. Africa

200 Fly

F

Alys Thomas, Great Britain

Hali Flickinger, USA

Zhang Yufei, China

200 Fly

M

Kristof Milak, Hungary

Nao Horomura, Japan

Chad le Clos, S. Africa

200 IM

F

Yui Ohashi, Japan

Kathleen Baker, USA

Seoyeong Kim, S. Korea

200 IM

M

Chase Kalisz, USA

Mitch Larkin, Australia

Kosuke Hagino, Japan

400 IM

F

Yui Ohashi, Japan

Fantine Lesaffre, France

Ilaria Cusinato, Italy

400 IM

M

Chase Kalisz, USA

Daiya Seto, Japan

Jay Litherland, USA