Guide Note

Swimming has been an Olympic event since the first modern Olympics in 1896. There are 16 different swimming events in the Olympics using four different strokes.¹ Men and women do not compete against each other, though they do perform the same strokes and distances, with a few exceptions.²

Fast Facts

1. Swimming competitions have been a part of the Olympics since the 1896 Greek Olympics¹
2. The Backstroke was added in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics³
3. The Breaststroke was added in the 1908 England Olympics⁴
4. Women first competed in swimming in the 1912 Olympics.³
5. The Butterfly was added in the 1956 Australian Olympics⁴
6. The 400m Medley race was introduced at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics⁴
7. First Olympic Marathon Swimming event to be introduced in Beijing⁵

The U.S. Olympic swimming team won a total of 31 medals, including 12 gold, nine silver and 10 bronze. American Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and set seven world records to break Olympic records for the most medals won in a single Olympic season and the most all-time gold medals won by a single athlete. Australia won a total of 20 medals, including six gold medals.⁶

At the 1896 Olympic Games, swimmers were dropped off boats into the frigid Mediterranean; the first one to reach shore won.⁷ There have been several Olympic swimming events that are now discontinued, including Swimming Obstacle Races, Plain High Diving, Swimming Plunge for Distance, Men's Sailors 100m Freestyle, Solo Synchronized Swimming and Underwater Swimming.⁸ Several swimming events have also been added since the early 20th century, including the Backstroke in 1904 and the Breaststroke in 1908.³⁴

During the 1940s, swimmers doing the breaststroke discovered that they could swim faster when they stroked overhead with both arms simultaneously. This type of stroke was quickly banned, but in a short time it became its own event: the Butterfly, appearing for the first time in the 1956 Olympics.³

Summer Olympics 2008 | US Olympic Swimming 2008 | Summer Olympics | Michael Phelps | Aaron Peirsol | Ryan Lochte | Jason Lezak | Katie Hoff | Natalie Coughlin | Dara Torres | Haley Cope | Michael Phelps Gold Medals | Michael Phelps World Records | Phelps Breaks Spitz Record