The beep or bleep test, or more correctly known as the Multistage Shuttle Run Test, is a test of aerobic (endurance) fitness that is a common test undertaken by many team sports and school groups. See a description of the Beep Test. The test involves running between two markers 20 meters apart. There are several versions of the test, and the one that is used is not always reported with the results, and this should be considered when comparing test results. For example, there are versions of the beep test conducted over 15m, and the Yo-Yo test is sometimes mistakenly called the beep test.

There are some unconfirmed rumors that some athletes have completed the test, such as David Beckham (football/soccer), Lance Armstrong (cyclist) and Neil Back (England rugby player), which is completing 23 levels on the commonly used version. This is very unlikely - David Beckham is fit, but not the fittest in the teams he has played in, and Lance Armstrong is built for cycling not running - though when he retired from cycling he ran a few credible marathons, his best the 2007 New York marathon in 2:46:43 placing 232nd. We don't think anyone has completed the 23 levels.

As this is a field test of endurance that is often used to test large groups, the best endurance athletes in the world would probably not have even tried the test. Elite-level endurance athletes would more likely perform a VO2max test to measure their aerobic fitness.

beep test runners

Male Top Performances

Many of these scores have not been verified. Data has mostly been collected from online newspaper articles and lists. Also check our lists of beep test scores from a range of sports. If you know of documented results that should be on this list it would be great to hear of them.

rank score name sport notes
=1 17/1 Jose Romero Australian Rules VFL/AFL player at North Melbourne (1988–1994) and Western Bulldogs (1995–2001)
=1 17/1 Marek Schirnack Royal New Zealand Navy Authenticated by two verified Physical Training Instructors (23rd November 2021). It is the RNZN Beep Test record.
=3 17 Sebastian Coe Athletics commonly reported result from this UK middle distance champion runner
=3 17 Lee Gong Dook Football (Soccer) Premier League player
=3 17 Zain Wright Field Hockey Tasmanian Kookaburras player, score confirmed by ex-player and by AIS staff member.
=3 17 Steve Nash Basketball NBA point guard, played with the Dallas Mavericks
=3 17 Neil Back Rugby Union Flanker Neil Back wrote in his autobiography that he reached level 17
=8 16/11 Dean Murphy Triathlon and Hockey An unconfirmed result sent by Luke Evans. Murphy was 17 years old. Apparently it can be verified by Australian hockey player Brent Livermore.
=8 16/11 Tim Deavin Field Hockey Achieved whilst performing a routine beep test with the Australian Kookaburras Hockey team in Perth Western Australia in 2014.
=10 16/10 David Guest Field Hockey Australian field hockey player, score confirmed by ex-player and by AIS staff member.
=10 16/10 Matt Swann Field Hockey Australian field hockey player, score confirmed by ex-player and by AIS staff member.
=12 16/9 Kacper Zajac Football (Soccer) football player at Zagłębie Lubin, a Polish professional football club based in Lubin, Poland) - submited by a website reader, no other confirmation
=12 16/9 Christian Merup Ironman performed during try-outs for a Swedish television "SVT Atlet", a show where men and women measure their strength in athletic challenges. The results were recorded by TV. He's 187 cm, 79 kg and an ironman contender and McKinsey consultant. (submitted by Anders Suneson, April 2014).
=12 16/9 Daniel Jackson AFL AFL player from Gippsland Power achieved in March 2012 TAC testing
15 16/7 Tim Brown Football (Soccer) Wellington Phoenix midfielder. Apparently it wasn't even his best result, having previously "just touched" 17. (Stuff.co.nz Aug 4, 2010)
=16 16/6 Billy Hartung AFL Player from the Dandenong Stingrays, achieved at the AFL combine. This is the best ever result at the AFL Combine (from 2013)
=16 16/6 William Murphy AFL achieved at the Vic Metro combine in 2012
=18 16/4 Scott Spriggs AFL Player from the North Ballarat Rebels TAC cup team, from about 2010. He has achieved several scores above 16 during AFL Victorian state testing.
=18 16/4 Lachlan (Lachie) Whitfield AFL AFL player from the Dandenong Stingrays achieved this score in TAC testing, March 2012.

notes: I previously had listed hockey player Brent Livermore with 17/2. His best has now been confirmed by an Australian Institiute of Sport staff member to be 15/10.

To be Confirmed

  • The Australian 400m/800m athlete Chris Colwill achieved a 18/5 in Mackay in 2008. This was video recorded at the Mackay hockey grounds. Apparently this is not an unusual result according to him but he states it is not reflected in his running ability or times. He reckons he has a high lactate threshold but not a large VO2max. (details received from Peter Reynolds, Jan 2012)
  • Dan Finster wrote to me and said he ran a 17.9 beep test at the South Australian Institute of Sports in 2002, as part of the National Speed Skating team.
  • Hello, I am a redshirt sophomore for Pitt State Men's basketball team. I recently took the beep test and scored 17.4, my coaches and trainer can vouch for it! (RJ Lawrence, Oct 2020)

Disputed High Scores

  • 19/2 Håkan Mild: There is a report of Football (Soccer) player Håkan Mild achieving 19/2. Mild played for IFK Gothenburg. He had been rumored to have completed the test, though his best of 19/2 was confirmed by him on Swedish radio (an interview on radiosporten - http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/radiosporten/nyheter/artikel.asp?artikel=2593043 link no longer working, from January 2009). As this score is way above other scores that have been recorded, it may actually be a result from the yo-yo test, developed in Scandinavia and commonly used to test soccer players.
  • 19 Graham Bashop. There was a report of Graham Bashop All Black Rugby Union scrum half achieving level 19 in the early 90's, though again it is probably the result from a yo-yo test.
  • 17/1 Kini Qereqeretabua. Fijian rugby union player, achieved in 2007. If true, this effort is very impressive, especially considering that he is 103kg. The result was taken from an article in the Fiji Times (link not working). In the same article, another player Netani Suka is listed as achieving 16/7.

Female Top Performances

There are not many results online for top female performances in the beep test. The scores below are just a sample, and generally have not been verified. Data has mostly been collected from online newspaper articles and lists. Also check our lists of beep test scores from a range of sports. If you know of documented results it would be great to hear from you.

rank score name sport notes
1 15/0 Suzie Muirhead Field Hockey testing of the New Zealand Field Hockey team (the Black Sticks) (from March 2007)
  15/0 Diana Weavers Field Hockey testing of the New Zealand Field Hockey team (from March 2007)
3 14/5 Heather Anderson AFL from AFL Talent Search screening in Darwin
4 14/0 Micaela Cocks Basketball The Oregon University women's basketball team record is by New Zealander Micaela Cocks scored this result in 2007
  14/0 Fiona Johnson Field Hockey one of the fittest players in the Australian Hockeyroos squad (reported in the Australian Online, Aug 08)
6 13/9 Ange Foley AFL  
7 13/8 Monique Hollick AFL The 27 year old from New South Wales set the women's AFL beep test record during the league's women's talent search in 2016. She also runs 2km in just over 6 min 20 sec.
8 13/0 Casey Stoney Football (Soccer) England's football Women's World Cup squad testing (as reported on thefa.com in June 2007)
9 12/6 Felicity Maltby Tennis the female record holder at the Eagle Fustar Tennis Academy in California. Achieved in Spring 2011.

Other Beep Test Records

  • Matthew Gardner, RAF trainer from Doncaster UK, attempted a 24 beep test record with his work colleagues in Dec 2012. For the attempt, 20 teams of four people will continuously do the test. A member of each team will take the bleep test and pass their level, so every time there are 20 people taking the test. Once every one from the 4 has passed their test the next member from each team will take their test and so on. This means that within the hour each member of the team will have passed the test. Once the next hour starts the process is repeated until every member of the team will have taken the test 24 times. A total of approximately 40,000 meters in total per person. See more.
  • Mike Buss - Ultra Endurance Athlete. Mike Buss apparently set six world records in just one weekend at the Swindon Designer Outlet Village, Nov 2005, running the multi-stage fitness test at different categories carrying a weight on his back of 40, 60lbs and 120lbs in weight, with and without wearing a full Nuclear Biological Chemical Warfare Suit. Unfortunately the report did not state what he achieved in the tests.