How the swimming points, open water ranking and water polo ranking work
World Aquatics runs three different systems.
Swimming points compare times across events. A time equal to the "base time" (set from the world record) is worth 1000 points. Slower times score less, along a cubic curve: a swim 5% slower than the base time scores about 860. Points are used to compare swimmers in different events, for example to choose a country's universality swimmer for the Olympics. Pool swimmers are not ranked by points for the Olympics; they need qualifying times.
The open water world ranking counts each swimmer's best eight races over 24 months. A race is worth more if it is a big event (Olympics, World Championships), a longer distance (10 km), against a strong field, and recent. Within a race, the winner gets the full value and the rest a share by finishing place.
The water polo world ranking scores every match: points for the result (more for a bigger win), plus points for playing a better-ranked team, multiplied by the importance of the competition, the round and how recent the match was. Matches count for eight years, losing value every two years.
Swimming points
Points = 1000 × (base time ÷ swim time)³, rounded down to a whole number.
- Base times are set each year from the latest approved world records: long course (50 m pool) at 31 December, short course (25 m pool) at 31 August.
- There are separate tables for men and women, long and short course.
Worked example. The 2026 long course base time for the men's 100 m freestyle is 46.40 s.
| Time | Points |
|---|---|
| 46.40 (the base time) | 1000 |
| 47.86 (the LA28 A time) | 911 |
| 48.34 (the LA28 B time) | 884 |
| 49.00 | 849 |
Open water world ranking
Step 1: the value of a race.
| Level | 10 km | 5 km | 3 km |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Olympic Games, World Championships) | 100.00 | 85.00 | |
| Tier 2 (World Cups) | 72.25 | 61.41 | 50.58 |
| Tier 3 (continental and regional) | 49.00 | 41.65 | 34.30 |
| Tier 4 (international meets run by a national federation) | 30.25 | 25.71 | 21.18 |
| Tier 5 (others named by World Aquatics) | 16.00 | 13.60 | 11.20 |
The Olympic Games get an extra 75. Junior races and relays do not count.
Step 2: the strength of the field. The race value is multiplied by a quality-of-field factor worked out from the world ranking positions of the swimmers entered. A race entered by every ranked swimmer would have a factor of 1; smaller or weaker fields have less.
Step 3: the place. Points = race value × (1 − (place − 1) ÷ finishers). The winner gets the full race value.
Step 4: the age. Points are multiplied by 1 − days since the race ÷ 1460, so a race two years old keeps half its value.
Step 5: the total. The best eight results (by aged points) are added and divided by 8. A swimmer with fewer than eight results is still divided by 8.
Only finishers count: disqualified, did not finish, did not start or over the time limit score nothing. Ties in the ranking go to the swimmer who beat the other more often in 24 months.
Worked example. Made up to show the arithmetic. A World Cup 10 km (72.25) with a field factor of 0.40 is worth 28.9. Finishing 5th of 40: 28.9 × (1 − 4 ÷ 40) = 26.0. Six months later (182 days): 26.0 × (1 − 182 ÷ 1460) = 22.8.
Where the document disagrees with itself. The formula multiplies the tier value and the distance value (100 × 100 = 10,000 for a 10 km at Tier 1), but the summary table gives 100.00, which implies a division by 100 the formula does not show.
Water polo world ranking
Total points = sum over all matches of (rating points × match weight).
Rating points = basis points + home/away points + opposition ranking points
| Result | Basis points |
|---|---|
| Win by 11 or more | 75 |
| Win by 5 to 10 | 70 |
| Win by 1 to 4 | 65 |
| Win on penalties | 60 |
| Lose on penalties | 40 |
| Lose by 1 to 4 | 35 |
| Lose by 5 to 10 | 30 |
| Lose by 11 or more | 25 |
| Forfeit | 70 to the winner, 0 to the loser |
- Home/away: a team at home gets −3, its opponent +3; neutral 0. Only the host and its opponent are affected.
- Opposition ranking points = 1.5 × (ranking position of the lowest-ranked team in the competition − ranking position of the opponent). So beating (or losing to) a higher-ranked team earns more. Counted from January 2026; unranked teams count as last plus one.
Match weight = time decay × competition weight × round weight
| Competition | Weight |
|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 3 |
| World Championships | 2 |
| Other Tier 1 events | 1.5 |
| Tier 2 | 1 |
| Tier 3 continental: Europe 1; Americas 0.75; Asia 0.75; Oceania 0.5; Africa 0.35 | |
| Tiers 4 and 5: Europe 0.75; Americas 0.5; Asia 0.5; Africa 0.2; Oceania 0.2 |
| Round (Tiers 1 to 3) | Weight |
|---|---|
| Preliminaries | 0.2 |
| Crossovers | 0.3 |
| Classification | 0.4 |
| Quarter-finals | 0.6 |
| Semi-finals, bronze medal match | 0.8 |
| Gold medal match | 1 |
| Any round at Tiers 4 and 5 | 0.2 |
| Age of the match | Time decay |
|---|---|
| Under 2 years | 1 |
| 2 to 4 years | 0.75 |
| 4 to 6 years | 0.5 |
| 6 to 8 years | 0.25 |
| 8 years or more | 0 |
World Aquatics' own example. Spain beat France 8–10 in the Paris 2024 Olympic preliminaries (in France): 65 (win by 1 to 4) + 3 (away) = 68 rating points; match weight 1 × 3 × 0.2 = 0.6; so 40.8 points.
The same win in an Asian championship preliminary would weigh 1 × 0.75 × 0.2 = 0.15.
Where the document disagrees with itself. Its version table lists version 2.2 of January 2026, but every page is dated 30 January 2025 and says "in force as from 1 January 2025".
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Swimming points | Yes |
| Open water world ranking | Yes |
| Water polo world ranking (elite; age-group lists work the same way) | Yes |
| Diving, artistic swimming | No ranking in the saved sources |