Swimming at the Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Summer Olympics
Swimming at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	World Aquatics
Events	34 (men: 17; women: 17)
Summer Olympics
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024; 2028;
	Medalists men; women; ; Records;

Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. Along with track & field athletics and gymnastics, it is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games. Swimming has the second largest number of events (after Athletics).

Men's events

Event	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	22	Years
Current program
50 metre freestyle			X^[1]																		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	9
100 metre freestyle	X		X^[1]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	27
200 metre freestyle		X	X^[1]													X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	14
400 metre freestyle			X^[1]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	26
1500 metre freestyle			X^[1]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	26
100 metre backstroke			X^[1]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	25
200 metre backstroke		X													X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	15
100 metre breaststroke																X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
200 metre breaststroke				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	25
100 metre butterfly																X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	12
200 metre butterfly													X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	16
200 metre individual medley																X	X			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
400 metre individual medley															X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	14
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay															X	X	X			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	12
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	25
4 × 100 metre medley relay														X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	15
Marathon 10 km																										X	X	X	3
Past events
500 metre freestyle	X																												1
880 yard freestyle			X^[1]																										1
1000 metre freestyle		X																											1
1200 metre freestyle	X																												1
4000 metre freestyle		X																											1
400 metre breaststroke			X^[1]		X	X																							3
4 × 50 yard freestyle relay			X^[1]																										1
200 metre team swimming		X																											1
200 metre obstacle event		X																											1
Underwater swimming		X																											1
100 metre freestyle for sailors	X																												1
Events	4	7	9	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	8	10	15	15	13	13	15	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17

Women's events

Event	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	22	Years
50 metre freestyle																	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	8
100 metre freestyle	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	24
200 metre freestyle												X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
400 metre freestyle		X^[2]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	23
800 metre freestyle												X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
100 metre backstroke			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	22
200 metre backstroke												X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
100 metre breaststroke												X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
200 metre breaststroke			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	22
100 metre butterfly									X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	16
200 metre butterfly												X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	13
200 metre individual medley												X	X			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
400 metre individual medley											X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	14
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	24
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay																			X	X	X	X	X	X	6
4 × 100 metre medley relay										X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	15
Marathon 10 km																						X	X	X	3
Events	2	3	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	8	14	14	13	13	14	15	15	16	16	16	17	17	17

Olympic records

The International Olympic Committee recognise the best performances in all 32 current pool-based swimming events at the Games as Olympic records.

Medal table

Total

Last updated after the 2016 Summer Olympics

Total		557	554	555	1666
1	United States (USA)	246	172	135	553
2	Australia (AUS)	60	64	64	188
3	East Germany (GDR)	38	32	22	92
4	Hungary (HUN)	28	25	20	73
5	Japan (JPN)	22	26	32	80
6	Netherlands (NED)	21	18	19	58
7	Great Britain (GBR)	16	28	30	74
8	China (CHN)	13	19	11	43
9	Germany (GER)	13	18	28	59
10	Soviet Union (URS)	12	21	26	59
11	Sweden (SWE)	9	15	14	38
12	Canada (CAN)	8	15	25	48
13	France (FRA)	8	15	20	43
14	South Africa (RSA)	6	6	6	18
15	Unified Team (EUN)	6	3	1	10
16	Russia (RUS)	5	9	9	23
17	Italy (ITA)	5	5	11	21
18	Ukraine (UKR)	4	5	1	10
19	West Germany (FRG)	3	5	14	22
20	Denmark (DEN)	3	5	6	14
21	Romania (ROU)	3	2	4	9
22	Ireland (IRL)	3	0	1	4
23	Zimbabwe (ZIM)	2	4	1	7
24	Australasia (ANZ)	2	3	3	8
25	Spain (ESP)	2	2	4	8
26	New Zealand (NZL)	2	1	3	6
27	Tunisia (TUN)	2	0	1	3
28	Austria (AUT)	1	6	4	11
29	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	5	6	12
30	Brazil (BRA)	1	4	9	14
31	Greece (GRE)	1	4	3	8
32	Poland (POL)	1	3	2	6
33	South Korea (KOR)	1	3	0	4
34	Belgium (BEL)	1	2	2	5
35	Costa Rica (CRC)	1	1	2	4
36	Argentina (ARG)	1	1	1	3
36	Bulgaria (BUL)	1	1	1	3
38	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	1	0	2
39	Mexico (MEX)	1	0	1	2
39	Suriname (SUR)	1	0	1	2
41	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	1	0	0	1
	Lithuania (LTU)	1	0	0	1
	Singapore (SIN)	1	0	0	1
44	Belarus (BLR)	0	2	1	3
45	Slovakia (SVK)	0	2	0	2
46	Finland (FIN)	0	1	3	4
47	Cuba (CUB)	0	1	1	2
47	Norway (NOR)	0	1	1	2
49	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	0	1
	Slovenia (SLO)	0	1	0	1
	Serbia (SRB)	0	1	0	1
52	Philippines (PHI)	0	0	2	2
53	Switzerland (SUI)	0	0	1	1
	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	0	0	1	1
	Venezuela (VEN)	0	0	1	1

Long course swimming

Last updated after the 2016 Summer Olympics

Total		551	548	549	1648
1	United States (USA)	246	171	135	552
2	Australia (AUS)	60	64	64	188
3	East Germany (GDR)	38	32	22	92
4	Hungary (HUN)	27	25	20	72
5	Japan (JPN)	22	26	32	80
6	Netherlands (NED)	18	18	19	55
7	Great Britain (GBR)	16	25	29	70
8	China (CHN)	13	19	11	43
9	Germany (GER)	13	17	27	57
10	Soviet Union (URS)	12	21	26	59
11	Sweden (SWE)	9	15	14	38
12	Canada (CAN)	8	15	24	47
13	France (FRA)	8	15	19	42
14	South Africa (RSA)	6	6	6	18
15	Unified Team (EUN)	6	3	1	10
16	Italy (ITA)	5	4	10	19
17	Russia (RUS)	4	9	9	22
18	Ukraine (UKR)	4	5	1	10
19	West Germany (FRG)	3	5	14	22
20	Denmark (DEN)	3	5	6	14
21	Romania (ROU)	3	2	4	9
22	Ireland (IRL)	3	0	1	4
23	Zimbabwe (ZIM)	2	4	1	7
24	Australasia (ANZ)	2	3	3	8
25	Spain (ESP)	2	2	4	8
26	New Zealand (NZL)	2	1	3	6
27	Austria (AUT)	1	6	4	11
28	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	5	6	12
29	Brazil (BRA)	1	4	8	13
30	Greece (GRE)	1	3	3	7
31	Poland (POL)	1	3	2	6
32	South Korea (KOR)	1	3	0	4
33	Belgium (BEL)	1	2	2	5
34	Costa Rica (CRC)	1	1	2	4
35	Argentina (ARG)	1	1	1	3
35	Bulgaria (BUL)	1	1	1	3
37	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	1	0	2
38	Mexico (MEX)	1	0	1	2
	Suriname (SUR)	1	0	1	2
	Tunisia (TUN)	1	0	1	2
41	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	1	0	0	1
	Lithuania (LTU)	1	0	0	1
	Singapore (SIN)	1	0	0	1
44	Belarus (BLR)	0	2	1	3
45	Slovakia (SVK)	0	2	0	2
46	Finland (FIN)	0	1	3	4
47	Cuba (CUB)	0	1	1	2
47	Norway (NOR)	0	1	1	2
49	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	0	1
	Serbia (SRB)	0	1	0	1
	Slovenia (SLO)	0	1	0	1
52	Philippines (PHI)	0	0	2	2
53	Switzerland (SUI)	0	0	1	1
	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	0	0	1	1
	Venezuela (VEN)	0	0	1	1

Marathon swimming

Last updated after the 2016 Summer Olympics

Total		6	6	6	18
1	Netherlands (NED)	3	0	0	3
2	Hungary (HUN)	1	0	0	1
	Russia (RUS)	1	0	0	1
	Tunisia (TUN)	1	0	0	1
5	Great Britain (GBR)	0	2	1	3
6	Germany (GER)	0	1	1	2
6	Italy (ITA)	0	1	1	2
8	Greece (GRE)	0	1	0	1
8	United States (USA)	0	1	0	1
10	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	1	1
	Canada (CAN)	0	0	1	1
	France (FRA)	0	0	1	1

Nations

Nation	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	22	Years
Argentina (ARG)							4	4																				22
Australasia (ANZ)				5	9																							2
Australia (AUS)		1				6	5	5																				22
Austria (AUT)	2	3	1	1	8			3																				25
Belgium (BEL)		1		7	5	12	6	5																				24
Brazil (BRA)						2																				25		19
Canada (CAN)				1	1	3	2	6																				23
Chile (CHI)								4																				23
Czechoslovakia (TCH)						4	9	1																				17
Denmark (DEN)		1		5	1		4	5																				23
East Germany (GDR)																												5
Estonia (EST)										1												4	1	4	6	9		6
Finland (FIN)				3	6	1	2	1																				23
France (FRA)		47		4	3	13	20	13																				24
Germany (GER)		6	4	5	17			19																				13
Great Britain (GBR)		7		25	18	18	26	21	15	22	32	26	22	32	33	27	36	40	32	44	31	28	39	32	37	24		24
Greece (GRE)	15				1		1																					22
Hungary (HUN)	1	1	2	10	8		6	8																				25
Ireland (IRL)								2																				23
Italy (ITA)		2		4	2	4	6	5																				24
Japan (JPN)						2	6	10																				19
Latvia (LAT)																						1	4	4	5	2		5
Lithuania (LTU)																						2	8	6	10	9	4	6
Luxembourg (LUX)						2	4	3																				21
Netherlands (NED)		4		7		4	12	14																				23
New Zealand (NZL)						1	1	4																				20
Norway (NOR)					5	2	1	1
Panama (PAN)								1																				23
Philippines (PHI)								2																				23
Poland (POL)								2																				23
Portugal (POR)							1																					22
Puerto Rico (PUR)																		12	X	5	3	6	7	3	6	4
Russia (RUS)					4																							6
South Africa (RSA)					1	1		5																				16
Spain (ESP)						2	4	5													11	21	18	23	16	23		20
Sweden (SWE)		1		12	24	13	14	9												24	18	17	18	16	15	18		24
Switzerland (SUI)						4	2	1
Tunisia (TUN)																												9
Soviet Union (URS)																				X								9
United States (USA)	1	2	25	8	7	22	26	23										51	X	43	44	40	44	48	43	43		25
Yugoslavia (YUG)							6																					22

Nations	4	12	4	14	17	19	23	28					33	45	42	51	52	51	41	67	77	92
Swimmers	19	76	32	100	120	116	118	182					235	380	405	468	532	471	333	494	633	641
Year	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	22	26

Notable changes to the sport

Times have consistently dropped over the years due to better training techniques and new developments withinin the sport.

In the first four Olympics, competitions were not held in pools, but rather in open water (1896, the Mediterranean Sea; 1900, the Seine; 1904, an artificial lake; 1906, the Mediterranean). The 1904 Olympics' races were the only ones ever measured in yards, instead of the usual metres. A 100-metre pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and was located in the centre of the main stadium's track and field oval. The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbour, marked the beginning of electrical timing.

Male swimmers wore full body swimsuits up until the 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern swim-wear counterparts. Also, over the years, pool designs have lessened the drag. Some design considerations allow for the reduction of swimming resistance making the pool faster. Namely, proper pool depth, elimination of waves, elimination of currents, increased lane width, energy absorbing racing lane lines and gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic, illumination, and swimwear designs.

The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 metre pool with marked lanes. In the freestyle, swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were incorporated starting at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The flip-turn was developed by the 1950s. Swimming goggles were first allowed in 1976.

The butterfly stroke events were not held until 1956. Previous rules permitted the butterfly stroke in breaststroke races. After 1956, when these rules were changed, butterfly became its own stroke entirely.

Women were first allowed the longer distance of 800 metres freestyle in 1968, which remains the longest distance for women. Up until then, women were considered to be too "delicate" to swim a race this long, even though the men had had the 1,500 metre freestyle from the very early years.

Both men and women were granted the 200 metre freestyle race in 1968, giving swimmers an intermediate distance race between 100 metres and 400 metres.

Women's teams were first granted the 800 metre freestyle relay race in 1996 - even though there had been a men's relay race at that distance since 1912. At six Olympiads, the men had two freestyle relay races, but the women only had one. Now, both sexes have two.

The medley relay races (4×100 metres) were not held for men or for women until 1960, but they have continued in every Olympiad since then.

Starting in 2008, both men and women compete in 10 Km open water marathon swim events.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Distances at the 1904 Olympics were measured in yards rather than metres. The 50 yard freestyle was 45.7 metres and the 100 yard freestyle and backstroke races were 91.4 metres. The 220, 440, and 880 yard freestyle races were 201, 402, and 804 metres, respectively. Instead of a 1500 metre race, there was a 1 mile race which made for 1609 metres. The 440 yard breaststroke, like the freestyle, was 402 metres. The relay, 4 × 50 yards, was 4 × 45.7 metres.
^ In 1920, the women's event was 300 metres.

References

International Olympic Committee results database

External links

Swim Rankings results

[1904Games-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Distances at the 1904 Olympics were measured in yards rather than metres. The 50 yard freestyle was 45.7 metres and the 100 yard freestyle and backstroke races were 91.4 metres. The 220, 440, and 880 yard freestyle races were 201, 402, and 804 metres, respectively. Instead of a 1500 metre race, there was a 1 mile race which made for 1609 metres. The 440 yard breaststroke, like the freestyle, was 402 metres. The relay, 4 × 50 yards, was 4 × 45.7 metres.

[W300-2] In 1920, the women's event was 300 metres.

[1]

[2]

v t e Swimming at the Summer Olympics
Editions	1896 1900 1904 1906 (Intercalated) 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Current events	50 m free 100 m free 200 m free 400 m free 800 m free 1500 m free 100 m back 200 m back 100 m breast 200 m breast 100 m fly 200 m fly 200 m IM 400 m IM 4 × 100 m free relay 4 × 200 m free relay 4 × 100 m medlay relay 10 km
Past events	500 m free (1896) 1000 m free (1900) 1200 m free (1896) 4000 m free (1900) 400 m breast 1904 1912 1920 4 × 100 yd free relay (1904) 200 m team (1900) 200 m obstacle (1900) underwater (1900) 100 m free sailors (1896)
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World Aquatics

Men's events

Women's events

Olympic records

Medal table

Total

Long course swimming

Marathon swimming

Nations

Notable changes to the sport

Notes

See also

References

External links